What a difference 20 degrees and some clouds can make! We are grateful today to have some relief from the hot, dry weather that has been the norm this past month. Our plants are thankful, too, as it’s been rough out there. Still, they are trying to do their best for us and we are starting to see more and more flowers and baby vegetables. There is always a bit of a lull at the end of June as most of the cool-weather spring crops are no longer tasty, but the mid-summer veggies that everyone looks forward to – tomatoes, peppers, summer squash – aren’t yet ready. They will be soon though, I promise!
What’s In My Box this Week?
Arugula – Arugula doesn’t last much longer than a couple of days, so try and use it right away. Store it in the fridge in a plastic bag. (Please note that some of your leaves will likely have little holes in them from the flea beetle damage I mentioned earlier in the season. This is entirely cosmetic and won’t impact the flavor of your arugula at all. I debated whether to include it, but then I remembered that our goal is not necessarily to grow perfect produce, but rather to raise delicious, healthy, chemical-free veggies that we feel good about sharing with our members.)
Bok Choy – Store unwashed in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Use within a couple days for best texture. Greens will wilt relatively quickly. Stems will retain firmness a while longer.
Komatsuna Asian Greens – Wrap unwashed in a plastic bag and store in the crisper section of your fridge. These should keep for at least five to seven days, with the stems lasting longer than the leaves.
Parsley – Store in the fridge in a small glass with about an inch of water, stem side down (like flowers in a vase) for best storage.
Scallions – Store in the veggie drawer of your refrigerator and try to use within a week. If you use these after a week, you can peel off any dry and/or “slimy” outer layers of the onion.
Sugar Snap Peas – Peas are very perishable, and snap peas are best eaten fresh. Keep them in the fridge and eat within two to three days.
Valentine’s Day Blend Radishes – Store for up to two weeks in a plastic bag in the fridge. To keep roots fresh and crisp longer, remove their greens from them and store separately, ideally gently wrapped in a damp paper towel. Use the greens as quickly as possible.
Featured Veggie: Komatsuna
Komatsuna is a delicious, slightly spicy, green that is commonly referred to as Japanese mustard spinach even though it’s not at all related to spinach. It is grown primarily in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.
Komatsuna got its name during the Edo period (1603-1868) when a shogun named Tokugawa Yoshimune visited the Katori region of Japan and enjoyed a lunch at the local shrine that consisted of soup with a rice cake and a local leaf vegetable. He liked that leafy veggie so much that he named it after the nearby Komatsu River. Even today, the Shin-Koiwa Katori Shrine offers komatsuna to the gods on New Year’s Eve and people who come to the shrine to pray on New Year’s Day are given komatsuna for good luck.
The leaves of komatsuna can be eaten at any stage of their growth as they are fresh, sweet, and crunchy. Thus, they go well fresh in salads or pickled, stir-fried, boiled, and added to soups. Use it in pretty much any recipe that calls for greens.
Notes from the Field
The theme of the month for my newsletters seems to be: will it ever rain? I have to confess to feeling a little discouraged right now. The last three weekends we all watched with bated breath as the weather report assured us that there was 100% chance of rain coming within the next hour or two, only to watch (and hear) the storms get right up next to us and then dissipate without so much as a dropful of water. We are now classified as “Abnormally Dry” by the U.S. Drought Monitor. The last time we had rain was May 31st and it was only half of an inch then. At least Simon and I are building our bicep muscles hauling around hoses and sprinklers every day, but we would prefer to get our exercise in other ways for sure.
One way I’m trying to get over the it-looks-like-we-might-have-another-drought-this-summer blues is to walk around the field and take in the beauty and abundance that is still there. While it is true that unless the weather changes, we will likely have lower yields this year, things are still really lovely out there.
There are lots of colors (so many different shades of green!) and shapes and textures, not to mention the sounds of bees buzzing and birds singing; our bluebird mama has laid a second clutch of eggs and we have some baby barn swallows making a racket in another one.
Here are some photos of flowers (or flower buds) from different crops. Can you guess which flower belongs to which fruit or veggie?
The answers are: arugula, ground cherry, broccoli, tomatillo, potato, carrot, pepper, tomato, and eggplant. Just think: most of those will be on your table in no time! (Did you get ’em all right?)
Recipes
Komatsuna and Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry // Substitute Garlic Scapes for Garlic Cloves if you still have some, Komatsuna // Vegetarian
Komatsuna Slaw // Uses Komatsuna // Vegetarian
Radish Top Pesto with Garlic Scapes and Goat Cheese // Uses Garlic Scapes, Mint, Radish Greens // Vegetarian
10-Minute Garlic Bok Choy Recipe // Uses Bok Choy (recipe calls for Baby Bok Choy, but you can use regular), Garlic Scapes (substitute for Garlic Cloves) // Vegetarian
Sugar Snap Pea and Kohlrabi Salad with Garlic-Scape Yogurt Dressing // Uses Garlic Scapes, Kohlrabi, Snap Peas // Vegetarian
Summer Squash Stir Fry with Sugar Snap Peas and Parmesan // Uses Scallions, Snap Peas, Summer Squash // Vegetarian
Middle Fork Farm 