a nest in the orchard!
our first peach harvest (we hope)
Welcome to summer! We have arrived officially and now each day will get shorter as we approach the winter solstice, but that is still, oh, so far off, and we will just enjoy all the lovely long days until then.
Things here are really starting to come on now especially after a few days of rain! We got at least three inches in the last week, which is more rain than we had in April and May combined, i do believe! Between the dryness and the leaf miners, this is the slowest start to the CSA season that we have ever had. But this week, we will be picking lots of new things and once we have a few more sunny days, i'm sure we will actually be able to see the plants take off with recordable growth throughout the day.
pea blossoms aplenty
we have finished the bulk of the planting and now will be mostly direct seeding and planting successions of crops for later in the season. The greenhouse still houses our fall planting of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower (collectively called Brassicas), of course there are always trays of lettuce being started in there, and a few other random trays, but the greenhouse right now is almost empty.
This week we have a couple of really delicious recipes sent in by a member, i wish i had gotten them before dinner, so i could have made them, but it will have to be for a dinner later in the week!
I have been experimenting with saving money on buying canned beans and have tried soaking and cooking a large batch of beans and then freezing them ready to eat. It seems to be a huge success! I cooked about 4 lbs of dried black beans, we ate a huge meal of them (as two farmers are apt to do in the middle of the growing season), and then froze 6 more quart bags of them (4 cups in each bag). Now we just remove the bags when we want one and there is a large meal of beans ready to eat with just a few minutes of thawing. So, for $8 and the same amount of time as it takes to cook one cup of beans, we have at least seven very large meals of beans with a substantial leftover size meal. A big saving over buying the cans at the store. Yum!
I can tell that summer is upon us as our freezer and canning shelves are beginning to fill back up again. thanks to my mom, who helped me defrost the freezer last weekend and then helped me to start refilling it and the canning shelves. We canned strawberries whole and as jam and froze lots, too for smoothies this winter or cakes or other desserts! Don't miss the tail end of asparagus season and the last bit of strawberry season! There are several great u-pick places where you can get a great deal on berries! We'll be seeing local cherries very soon too, i'm sure. I'll let you know when i see the signs as we are lucky enough in Hector to have quite a few u-pick cherry spots.
Things you may see in your share this week:
Lettuce
Garlic Scapes
Scallions
Zucchini
Green Beans! (Haircot verts, very slender, gourmet,expensive & delicious!)
snow peas (snap and shell peas toward the week's end)
cilantro
chard or kale
broccoli
will see soon:
beets, cukes, new potatoes!, cabbage
Some great recipes this week, check them out!
Linguine with Walnuts, Green Beans, and Feta from Sunset, thanks Laurie for sending this on, sounds so good and its perfect since the beans this week are Haircot verts!
Yield
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
1 cup walnut halves or pieces
12 ounces dried linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces slender green beans (1/4 in. thick) such as haricots verts
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup toasted walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (5 oz.)
Preparation
1. Put walnuts in a 10- by 15-inch pan and bake in a 350° oven until golden under skins (break one to check), 8 to 10 minutes. Pour from pan. Increase oven temperature to 500°.
2. Meanwhile, in a covered 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring about 3 1/2 quarts water to a boil. Stir in linguine and boil, uncovered, until barely tender to bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and return to pan.
3. Trim ends from green beans; rinse and drain beans. In the 10- by 15-inch pan, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil and green beans; spread level in pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast in a 500° oven until green beans just begin to brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
4. In a large serving bowl, combine walnut oil, lemon peel, and feta cheese. Add pasta, walnuts, and green beans; mix gently. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
Wheat Berry Salad with Dried apricots, this recipe is making my mouth water and fits so well, too as we have wheat berries and snow peas available this week! Thanks for two great recipes, Laurie! this one from better homes and gardens.
Ingredients
1 cup wheat berries, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1 cup slivered fresh snow peas
1/2 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 Tbsp. toasted walnut oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Directions
1. In a medium bowl combine wheat berries, 3 cups water and 1/8 teaspoon salt; cover and refrigerate overnight. Transfer to medium saucepan; bring to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 45 to 60 minutes or until tender. Drain; cool 1 hour.
2. In large bowl combine drained wheat berries, garbanzo beans, snow peas, apricots, cranberries and green onions. In bowl whisk together oil, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour over wheat berry mixture; stir to coat. Serve at once or cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Makes 8 side-dish servings.
Braised Red Chard and Shiitake Mushrooms:
10-12 dried Shitake mushrooms
1 bunch chard
1 tsp. Olive oil
1 onion, diced into ½ inch pieces
1 large clove garlic minced, or 1-2 scapes minced
1 cups water
Salt to taste
Cover mushrooms with ½ inch boiling water, Soak 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash chard, cut stalks into ½ inch pieces and set aside. Coarsley chop leaves and measure 6 cups, set aside separately
Heat oil in skillet with a tight cover. Add oil to coat pan, add diced onion and garlic and saute for 5-10 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Remove mushrooms from liquid, save the liquid. Cut the tough stems from the mushrooms and discard, quarter caps and set aside.
Add mushrooms to onions and cook for 2 minutes to brown lightly.
Stir in chard stalks and enough mushroom-soaking liquid and water to equal one cup. Cook, covered, over medium heat for 5 minutes, until stalks are almost tender.
Sir in chard leaves, cover, and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the leaves are tender and wilted, but not dull in color. Drain excess cooking water and save. Season with salt and serve hot. Place cooking liquid in a bowl and pass it with some crusty bread for dipping. Great flavor! From greens glorious greens
have a stupendous week!
liz and matthew
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