Farm Share June 29-July 3

Jun 28, 2021 | Box Contents

Hello farm and food family!

It’s not hard to believe that July is around the corner with the muggy heat enveloping us today. This means asparagus is ready to bid us goodbye and summer faves like zucchini and green beans are just around the corner.

L-R (Fruit shares this week, kohlrabi and beets, redcurrants)

This week amid picking redcurrants (tiny red tart berries) we are hoping to get the tomato plants all staked. Staking them is a big task with all those long 100 ft rows or so that we have, but I know it will help us have a much better crop in the end. So many things are like this in farming- a smaller effort at the right time yields a very helpful result. But finding the timing! And simply the hours in the day. Time passes at lightning speed here at the farm, with seeding, planting, hoeing, weeding, trellising, fertilizing (with only good ol compost and organic inputs of course) and more going on each week. Eventually we all have to go to sleep at the end of the day, and hope we spent our time where it will benefit. Of course we don’t have much trouble falling asleep with the physical labour.

Before I go on about the farm stuff, I have to share the highlight of my week- Regina and Mark (my brother and sister in law), who manage a couple of their own fields to grow veggies for the farm and also work in the office here, welcomed my new niece Yohanna this past Wednesday! She is perfect and I think my face in this picture says how I feel about her.

This week we also have red beets! My kids love them peeled and simply boiled but the real connaisures seem to agree that roasting is ideal (though it takes longer). Do save those greens and cook them up with your swiss chard. They look and taste pretty similar.

Here are 2 swiss chard recipes to get the great nutrition benefits of swiss chard into you. A key for even cooking is to separate the stems and cook them first, just adding the leaves for the last couple minutes of cooking.

Do you eat burgers? Whether beef or chicken or portabello and vegan ones, there seems to be a burger for everyone! Funny enough, my less than particular husband is a lettuce purist..lol…he was so irked that I could put romaine on a hamburger. It has to be green leaf! You can try it and tell me if you agree. I also like the green leaf shredded in tacos as I don’t really go for that iceberg lettuce stuff. There is so much more flavour and nutrients in the other varieties.

Simply Six Shares

  • Bunched Red beets
  • Carrots
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Cucumbers
  • Green leaf lettuce
  • Green swiss chard

Half

  • Bunch carrots
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Snow peas
  • Cucumber
  • Green leaf lettuce
  • Green swiss chard
  • Redcurrants
  • Green kale
  • Red radish
  • Romaine lettuce

Whole

  • Bunch carrots
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Snow peas
  • Cucumber
  • Green leaf lettuce
  • Green swiss chard
  • Redcurrants
  • Green kale
  • Red radish
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Garlic scapes
  • Asparagus
  • Red beets
  • 2nd bunch carrots

Fruit

  • 1lb organic strawberries
  • 1 organic pineapple
  • 5-6 organic white flesh peaches
  • 3 organic mangos
  • 6 organic d’anjou pears

Recipes

Sauteed Swiss Chard

from Masalaherb.com

A simple, FAST recipe featuring swiss chard- you can use your green swiss chard, beet tops or even kale for this recipe. Vegans/vegetarians, see next recipe for swiss chard.

Get the Recipe for Sauteed Swiss Chard Here

Sauteed Swiss Chard & White Beans

Am I the only one who thinks Italian=pasta? Italian has a lot more to offer, my friend, like this quick and healthy side dish. The only ingredients are swiss chard, white beans, garlic (perfect use for those garlic scapes!) and olive oil. Get the recipe here Sauteed Swiss Chard and Beans Recipe – These Old Cookbooks

Lemon and Red Currant Yogurt Loaf

I know some of you will be wondering what to do with the tart little redcurrants in your boxes this week. If you enjoy the tart flavour, then they are really good just raw with some dark chocolate. If you want to put some effort in, this recipe fits the bill. Lemon and redcurrant are a perfect pairing. I like how this recipe uses yogurt and lots of eggs for a healthy dose of protein. If you have a fruit share, you may already have the fresh lemons! Try the recipe here.

Kolhrabi Carrot Fritters with Avocado Cream Sauce

I keep sending kohlrabi for the whole shares as they slowly mature in the greenhouse. While these are great simply peeled and then grated for a nice coleslaw salad, I thought this fritter recipe would be fun for something different and includes some of those wonderful carrots that are now in season :). Try the recipe for Kolrabi Carrot Fritters here.

 

 

Happy Creating and Stay Cool!