CSA Info for June 11th

Garden Update

This week we were excited to harvest some beautiful big (and little) turnips. We're keeping an eye on the beets. They look great, but they're still pretty tiny, so we'd like to give them a little more time to grow before harvesting. The peas are flowering and some are growing in the pods, which is a lot of fun to watch. All of the squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are in the ground.

The weather has certainly been interesting. It's great to feel like we're having a spring, although gardening around all the storms can be a challenge! So far we've (luckily) avoided any hail damage to the plants. If you'd like to see some progression shots of the gardens, you can click here to view the blog post.

Be sure to check out our Recipes section this week! I received so many wonderful ideas from our shareholders and working members. It's so great to see what people are doing with their veggies, and I really appreciate your generosity in sharing your recipes with our community. Please keep it up!

Veggies to Enjoy this Week

Spinach

Varieties harvested: Giant Noble, Bloomsdale Long Standing

Turnips & Turnip Greens

Purple Top White Globe

Arugula

Cress

Garden and Pepper

Lettuce

Varieties harvested: Big Boston, Dark Lollo Rossa

Radish Greens (with baby radishes)

Black Spanish, Chinese Red Meat

Herbs

Varieties harvested: Tarragon, Savory, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, Oregano, Cilantro, Sage, Dill, Thyme

Meet Your Farmers

"Meet Your Farmers" will be a weekly feature to introduce you to the people that grow your food!

Sasha is mom to Hazel (5) and Maia (7). She and her husband Nathaniel live in east Denver with their hive of bees, a dog, a cat, a ferret, and (unofficially) six "pathetically dependent squirrels."

Maia and Hazel participate in all of the gardening activities alongside their mom, with dad dropping in from time to time to give us a hand with our unruly rototiller. Maia specializes in worm-finding, and Hazel is truly in her element as our goat-herder. Although we usually try not to encourage these in our veggie gardens, Sasha's favorite thing to grow at home is dandelion greens - which she purees in smoothies for the girls to enjoy. Sasha moved here from London in 1995, and still loves to cook winter foods like soups, roasts, and pots of beans. She joined Heirloom Gardens because her family is "joyfully swept up by the force of the urban homesteading movement."

Recipe Ideas

Arugula

Linda passed along this recipe for Pizza with Mushrooms, Goat Cheese, Arugula and Walnuts. She used her fresh arugula and thyme in the recipe, and said it was great!

All Greens

Angela emailed this recipe for a Greens Soup that sounds really tasty. I love the way she was able to utilize so many different things from her CSA share!

2 tablespoons olive oil
4-8 small potatoes, coarsely chopped (I used 6 small-medium red potatoes skins and all)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4-6 cups chicken broth
3-4 bunches of greens (I used about 6 cups in total of mixed kale, spinach, cress, radish greens, and a variety of herbs)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and potatoe, cook for 5 minutes. Add greens and cook until greens are wilted. Add broth and cook until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Squeeze in lemon and add zest. Puree mixture in blender or food processor. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot or cold.

Herbs

Josi and I are big fans of the NY Times' No-Knead Bread recipe. If you're interested in some fantastic, I-can't-believe-how-easy-it-is bread, check it out!

This week Josi told me that she added a few handfuls of fresh chopped herbs to her bread dough, with wonderful results.

Also, this week I made a yummy pasta dish with the herbs. I sauteed chopped herbs (pretty much anything in your bag except the dill) in olive oil along with shrimp and some chopped bell pepper. I tossed the mixture with cooked pasta and fresh arugula, then seasoned with salt and pepper. It took about 10 minutes, and was delicious!

Turnips

Pat is friends with Dave (one of our shareholders), and last week Pat picked up Dave's share at the MiMa. Pat told me about a terrific Turnip-Potato Soup recipe he has, and luckily he sent it on to share with the group!