Mer Folk CSA May 22, 2013

What's in the box?

Basil wanting to be at your house

Lettuce, braising greens Pak Choi and Komasu, Beets, Amaranth, Turnips, Carrots, New Potatoes (I couldn't resist) artichokes, peas, fresh garlic and parsley. This week's herb is cilantro.  If you got a box, you also received Mare des Bois Strawberries and flowers.

There were a few eggs.  John, if you're reading this, don't eat yours, stick them under a chicken. 




And this week's special gift:  Strawberry jam

Critical shortage of cloth bags and vases
Okay, I could not pack the lettuce in cloth bags, because we were out of them.  I was not able to pack basil as there were only 5 vases.  I've made 46 bags.  That's a lot of bags.  Please don't pack your

Apple of the earth

marbles or lunch in them or start your own quilt project...If you really want some, you can buy them from me at $5 a bag.  As the weather gets hotter, it will be impossible to keep these veges from wilting without the bags.

The garlic harvest has begun

New Potatoes
Leo can't believe I stole a whole row of potatoes, just because I wanted to eat them.  These are as fresh as potatoes get.  These are Yukon Golds.  There really won't be any more potatoes until June.  I think the corn will becoming in then too.   Keep your potatoes out of the light, the fridge and away from onions.   Mine only made it from the field to a pot.  We had them boiled and buttered and there weren't any leftover...phooey.   I'm sick of rice.   Yes, it's true.  I'm a potato snob.  I hate buying store bought potatoes and we eat rice or pasta rather than buying potatoes.  And we have been out of potatoes since February.  I dream of potatoes, mashed, fried, salad, scalloped...

Garlic

Fresh from the field

This year's garlic comes to us from Joseph in Paradise.  Utah that is.  Joseph is a GGG.  Great Garlic Grower.  His area is free of rust and he generously supplied us with bulbs to plant last fall.  Yes, when I say generous, I mean overwhelmingly generous.  Since the dinos roamed the earth, Leo and I have saved and replanted at least 75% of our own garlic.  Sadly, Garlic Rust has overtaken the farm and we can no longer save our own garlic bulbs.  We are experimenting with bulbils and are hoping for TGS (True Garlic Seed) from one of the many folks working on this project.

Today's garlic is  Joe's Diversity Garlic, which means, this could be from any country or any kind.  Joseph has everything in his fields.   I have sent out the small garlic this week and we'll be cleaning the larger garlic for future weeks.

Lettuce
Today's lettuce is brought to you by Lieven.  Lieven is a very good breeder in Belgium.  We always grow Lieven's Leeks, and we'll see those later in the season.  Lieven sent me some of his lettuce seed to check out.  I'm sure it's very tasty as the gophers are eating it all.  I managed to get these few heads out of the field before they ate those as well.   The are an incredible diversity of form and color.  They look like big flowers to me.  We had a great salad from this last night.  And I made dressing from the leftover jam.  Yes, there's always one jar that isn't full enough to process.

Lieven's Lettuce

Strawberry Jam Dressing
2 T of strawberry jam
1 t. of mustard
2 T of olive oil
2 T of Balsamic Vinegar
1 T honey

Mix it up add salt and pepper to taste.  The balsamic and strawberries go great together.  If I get enough berries from the field, I'll make a straw-balsa jam.  Black pepper and strawberries also go great together.  Who would have figured?

Have a great Memorial Day, be safe.  Can you believe May is over?   My how time flies when you are weeding.