January 20th, 2021

The dry weather over the past week allowed us to continue transplanting vegetables into our beds in preparation for spring. This time of year is characterized by a predominance of leafy greens as they prefer the cooler weather. Several varieties of lettuce are currently in the ground along with radicchio, cabbage, kale, and Asian greens like Yu Choy Sum. Our most recent planting session consisted of iceberg lettuce, a nostalgic variety that has been frequently requested by local chefs.

This week will mark the first lettuce harvest of the season for the farm! Both our Salanova and Coastal Star lettuces have just started to reach the optimal harvesting size. Salanova (pictured above) is a green butter lettuce variety that grows in a dense rosette and has a delicate, buttery flavor. Coastal Star is a romaine variety that forms heavy, oblong heads with a crisp, sweet flavor. Both of these will be available at the farm stand located on the farm on Saturday from 10am-noon.

Have you had a chance to pick up any of our Badger Flame beets from the farm stand? This variety was bred for flavor, yielding a deliciously sweet and tender beet without the earthiness. As you can see below, the interior of these beets is striking with vibrant golden hues. We prefer to leave the greens attached to our beets when harvesting so that both the root and greens can be enjoyed. The greens have a similar flavor and texture to Swiss chard and can be prepared in the same way. As for the roots, this variety was bred to be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Farmer Josh likes to keep it simple when it comes to their preparation, opting to thinly slice the raw beets, season them with salt and pepper, and finish with fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

I’ve reached the point in the summer when the will to turn on either the oven or stove is lost. I’m sure you can relate, especially with the temperatures in the triple digits these past several days. The saving grace of summer is almost always the produce! Cucumbers for instance are incredibly hydrating and cooling. While they don’t have chemical constituents that physically cool tissues in the body, their high water content means that cucumbers can be up to 20 degrees cooler than their surrounding environment! So find yourself some cucumbers, make this salad, and kick back and enjoy it in the shade.

I’m all about soups once the weather cools down. It’s nice to be able to toss everything into one pot and end up with a comforting and nourishing bowl of goodness. In this version, greens are added at the very end and cooked until just wilted. Greens like chard and broccoli rabe not only taste delicious, but they help to neutralize acidic conditions in the body as well as filter out pollutants. For a bit of brightness, the soup is topped with a cilantro pistou.