Tag: mint

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Farm Share Week 8 (July 25-28, 2018)

Picking blackberries for the fruit shares…so gorgeous!

Hello from the farm,

Hope you are having a wonderful week. We’ve been busy picking all sorts of yummy things as usual (more broccoli, now some cauliflower, and kohlrabi). What do you do with some kohlrabi you say? It’s got a nice crunchy texture and is in the brassica family like broccoli. The taste I find is similar. I peeled and sloced mine as a crudite, and also peeled and grated another one for in some collard green wraps with salmon salad and lettuce. What a satisfying and easy meal it was, and it’s low carb, gluten and dairy free as well.

I am super stoked about Melanie at Sparks Honey’s first harvest of the year with the bees living on our farm. I never knew the taste could vary that much in honey, but seriously, this is the best honey I’ve tasted! Looks like the organic veggie life is agreeing with our 6 legged friends :). If you are dying to know how great it tastes, or want the health benefits of raw local honey, message me and I’ll send a jar with your farm share or pick it up from the farm store. The cost is $15 for 2lbs.

This week I had the immense but slightly painful pleasure of picking blackberries! Those thorns had my by the head and shirt at some points, but they are so worth it! What a treat for me. This was the first time I got to try them freshly picked. Hope you are as jazzed as I am fruit share people.

Watermelom will be ready so soon! They really look gorgeous out there. Maybe 1 more week, and green beans are coming soon too.

Another new item is those pickling cucumbers. We will have them for bulk orders soon, but we thought we’d give you the first taste. No, you do not have to go to great efforts to enjoy pickles. Here’s an easy recipe to savour the fresh pickles for longer.

Now, for your list:

 

Half Shares

  • Cucumber
  • Zucchini
  • Snow or sugar snap peas
  • Beets
  • Broccoli, cauliflower or kohlrabi
  • Endive or dandelion greens (curly leafy veg. We recommend them as a cooking green as they are a bitter veg)
  • Collard greens (make amazing raw wraps)
  • Red kale
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Pickling cucumbers

Whole Shares (same as above with…)

  • Carrots
  • Radish
  • Cauliflower or broccoli and kohlrabi
  • Fennel
  • Mint (remember, it’s mojito season!) Try mint syrup with some club soda…yumm
  • Red leaf lettuce

Fruit Shares

  • 2.5lbs bananas
  • 1lb strawberries
  • 1/2 pint locally picked (and organic of course) blackberries
  • 4 grapefruits
  • 1 pineapple

Hope you enjoy the fruits of our labours!

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Farm Share Week 2, 2017

The heat is here! And that means the growth of many items is accelerated. We are harvesting the asparagus and cucumbers every second day now. Any longer and we would risk letting the asparagus get seedy and the cucumbers get too large. With this combo of heat and rain, the strawberries, redcurrants and peas should be ready soon!

New this week we have cucumbers and mint. They happen to be wonderful- together! See below for a couple super simple ways to enjoy this pair.

More farm share members have been joining up these last couple weeks and we have an abundance of veggies to accommodate them- so if you know anyone that would love our csa, feel free to send them our way! Having trouble identifying items in your box? Many items are listed with pictures in our online store. https://zephyrorganics.com/custom-orders/

Half Shares

Whole Shares (same as above with the addition of)

  • leeks
  • 2nd asparagus
  • collard greens (makes an easy low carb, gluten-free wrap!)
  • oregano (savory herb excellent in Italian and Greek foods)
  • turnip greens

Recipes

Cucumber-Mint Water

(makes one 2L pitcher)

Directions.

  1. Fill 2L jug with filtered water. Add 1/3 of a cucumber and 8-10 large leaves of mint to jug. Let sit for a few hours for flavours to mix. Enjoy the refreshing taste!

Refreshing Cucumber Salad

Serves 2-3 as side. Kid-friendly recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1lb cucumber (1 large or 2 smaller)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. chopped mint (I used kitchen scissors- so easy!)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. honey
  • 3 tbsp. white vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Peel and chop cucumber and wash and chop mint.
  2. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and mix. Let refrigerate for 1 or more hours. Enjoy!

Rhubarb-Blueberry Syrup

This recipe was born out of necessity when (gasp) we ran out of syrup on pancake day. I have a great gluten, dairy and egg free (and other allergen free) pancake recipe if anyone has been searching for such. This syrup was tasty with pancakes and great with yogurt the next day.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium stalks rhubarb
  • 1 cup blueberries (frozen)
  • 4 tbsp. water
  • 1/2 cup white or coconut sugar (or to taste- I am trying to remember the exact measure)
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice

Directions

  1. Wash and chop rhubarb. Add to small pot with lemon juice, water and sugar.
  2. Heat on med-high until it comes to a boil. Lower heat to med-low and simmer until thickened.
  3. Add blueberries and continue to cook and stir until blueberries are soft and cooked.
  4. Enjoy hot with pancakes or chilled on yogurt!

 

Remember to keep hydrated this week as the temperatures climb!