CSA 2011 - Week 1

Welcome, welcome!

With all the rain coming in and cool temperatures, the early season plants are in heaven. Your share this week is a spring-like bounty...

sugar snap peas
snow peas
pea shoots/tendrils -- see below
radish bunch
bunch swiss chard
5 garlic scapes
2 green garlic
scallions/green onion tops

herbs: dill, parsely, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, lavender, chamomile
flowers: yarrow, zinnia, mint, asters, shallot and scallion flowers
Notes on the share: Sugar snap and snow peas are great for fresh eating, but are welcome additions to stir-fries, pastas, and cold salads. I was rocking some wheatberry-sugar snap salad earlier this week-- a good jaw workout indeed! Pea shoots are tasty, artsy little additions to salads or garnishes. The twining tendrils can be added to tiny bouquets, too-- they'll hold for a week or so in a vase.

I am personally not a big fan of eating swiss chard, so I prefer it in a vase, too. Sacrilege, I know. With some light heat, sauteed with garlic scapes, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper, it's a gorgeous and healthy side. Anyone have any good recipe suggestions to add to the mix?
The best sleepytime tea around is made by steeping lavender and chamomile in hot water. And, Zzzzzz....

Garlic scapes are the seeding, flower stalks that grow from the top of the garlic plant (the heads of cloves are underground bulbs, just like the lillies, daffodils, and amarayllis that also comprise the family Amaryllidaceae family.) Scapes have a nice, mild garlic flavor and a crunchy flavor. Try marinating in olive oil/balsamic with S&P, then grilling!! They're also good additions to eggs and stir-fries, and they make a killer pesto. Just replace the basil with chopped garlic scapes... And don't forget your toothbrush. It's pungent stuff! Scapes are impressive in bouquets, too!

Green garlic is just young garlic that hasn't had time yet to bulb up. Some of it is being thinned. All of the allia genus is very photosensitive-- responsive to the amount of darkness per 24 hour period-- and as we slide down from the summer solstice, more of the plant's energy gets dedicated to bulbing (used for storage for next year... needs that energy to make seeds!)
Since we're in the vein, I might as well explain some of the flowers. Most all of the allia (onion/leek/shallot/chive, etc. genus) are biennials, which means they will set seed only in their second year of growth, or after a period of vernalization (4-6 weeks of cold/freezing temps.) This week, there are some lovely globe-like flowers from scallions and shallots-- the shallot flowers have thicker stalks. These are all plants that overwintered from last year, and thus are producing seed stalks/flower heads. These are some of my favorites for their sculptural, sleek lines, as well as their stellar vase life. They will easily last 2-3 weeks in a vase-- just be sure to give them fresh, cold water every few days if the water looks scummy.

As a general rule, warm water will always rush flower buds/heads to open, so if you're looking for longevity, fill your vase with cool water. If you want a bursting bouquet on the table for tonight's dinner, make the water lukewarm!

(sidebar: I know a lot of this information is somewhat pedantic and pedagogical... I apologize!! I do love this stuff, though, and the good news is you can always just keep scrolling down or close out your browser!)
I adore radishes. Besides being ready for harvest in 21 days from germination, they've got some serious kick. Marilyn is still convinced they must have some good antiseptic/detox powers among the likes of ginger, wasabi and garlic for the punch packed into their bite. One of their biggest shortcomings on salad bars and in grocery stores nation-wide is that they don't taste like anything. Not so much the case here. Enjoy!

Here's a tidbit from Suzanne Ashworth in Seed to Seed, "Radishes were considered so important in ancient Egypt that their pictures were inscribed on many pyramid walls. Greeks presented offerings to Apollo which included turnips made of lead, beets of silver, and radishes of gold. Often thought to be native to Asia, radishes appear in artwork and legends in the eastern Mediterranean that date back to 2000 B.C." Fit for kings and gods!

Up next, a little herb tutorial via special request... If you ever, ever have questions about what's in your share, how to store it or use it, please don't hesitate to call or email!

Thanks for your help with CSA, Green Peak Farm members!