2014 Spring share #3
Large
Large share, clockwise from top: Purple Top turnips, Red Fire lettuce, Green Summer Crisp lettuce, mixed mustard greens, Easter egg radishes, Winterbor kale, pac choi, and arugula.
Small
Small share, clockwise from top: Purple Top turnips, pac choi, Winterbor kale, Red Fire lettuce, mixed mustard greens, Easter egg radishes, and arugula.
Share notes:
- Lettuce—Green summer crisp and/or Red Fire varieties. We will have a few weeks break from lettuce while our next planting is growing.
- Radish—Most received Easter Egg and a few received the French Breakfast variety. Our next planting of radishes will likely be ready in 2 more weeks.
- Arugula—Unless it cools off for a few weeks, this is the last week for arugula! Arugula pairs well with a little sweet and a little savory. Mmmm! –how about a chopped date and goat cheese arugula salad.
- Kale—A beautiful variety called Winterbor. This slate blue curly kale is perfect for kale chips because all the crinkles hold more seasoning.
- Turnips—Purple Top. These are your standard southern turnip with big leafy greens great for braised greens.
- Pac Choi—a delicious Asian cabbage that’s a great addition to stir fries or served raw in this awesome recipe.
- Mustard Mix—Our beautiful mix includes a wide variety of Asian greens like tatsoi, mizuna, and frilly leaved varieties of mustard and turnip green. This 3rd week the leaves may be too tough for a salad, so try cooking them along with the tops from your turnips and radishes (they’re all related!) for a big bowl of nutrition. Save a few pretty sprigs to garnish the edge of a plate.
As this spring has warmed up very quickly, the bugs came out in full force this week! You may see ladybugs in your box this week, but more likely, you might find harlequin beetles, flea beetles or little green caterpillars. Don’t release any of them in your garden- they are not beneficial insects! We began our plant/bacterium based insect control this week, hopefully it slows the buggers down.
Also with the heat, many of our tender spring plants are sending up their stems, flowers, and putting on seeds to try and complete their life cycle. This is why you may find woody stems or a few flowers in your mustard and arugula bags. You’ll want to sort through your bag for all the tender leaves, discarding any stemmy stuff.
Look forward to the larger cruciferous vegetables soon! The cabbage and broccoli are coming along really nicely. We’d love to know what fun ways you’re using your produce, drop us a note to let us know what culinary adventures you’re taking! And don’t forget to head on over to the Kitchen blog to see what we’re cookin’ up!
Jessica & Justin