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What's happening on the farm right now:
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I took the back way home from town on Monday, along the French Broad and through Alexander. Every hayfield I passed was either being mown or had already been mown down. A mini movie dropped in of all the farmers around Western NC anxiously watching their hay grow taller and taller through the past few week of May and obsessively checking the forecast for a sold dry spell of four or five days. Getting up Sunday morning, finishing with church or chores or whatever they do on Sunday mornings and then getting out there on their tractors to mow. Hundreds of people acting in "unison," guided by the growth of plants and the weather. I bet there was some cursing as mower parts broke and tractor wheels were flat. I bet also there was some joy at being out in the cool of the morning, watching that good hay lay down just so, breathing in that just cut grass smell and knowing, if the weather would hold, that their cows would have some good feed come winter.
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
Beets are back! We have bunches with great looking greens and tender baby beets. We also have some summer squash that we are excited about (see below). The strawberries are still coming in. I think we will have them for at least another week, maybe two. The head lettuce is gorgeous and the lettuce mix is so convenient if you hare having crowd over Memorial Day. We have two kinds of kale, green curly and lacinato as well as Swiss chard. Cilantro bunches. Garlic scapes. We'll have carrots next week.
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The ranunuclus are finshed but the snapdragons are doing their very best to take their place and I feel like they are succeeding. Plenty of mixed bouquets and some peony bunches as well.
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We are done with starts for the year except for basil plants.
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North Asheville Tailgate Market hours are
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Saturdays 8am-12pm on the campus of UNC Asheville.
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River Arts District Farmers Market hours are
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Wednesdays 3-6pm at the Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Drive.
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John's Recipe of the Week
| John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful observations on gardening and cooking appear here each week. |
“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.” Federico Fellini
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SUMMER SQUASH – A food from here which crossed the Atlantic to England and elsewhere and was greatly disliked by both English and French folks. The English said it was only good to feed to cows. However, the Turks consumed summer squash with relish, legend says, after finding it floating in the Constantinople harbor from a ship that sank there. More from the Turks after this recipe.
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OUR FAVORITE – Steam or sauté the squash after cutting it into ¼ inch disks.Cook the squash until as tender as you like. We put butter, lemon juice, and grated Parmesan cheese on top and serve. You may choose any other herb you like as well.
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TURKISH SQUASH CAKES – Delicate squash and cheese fritters. This is from “Greene on Greens” by Bert Greene, written back in the 1980’s. Serves 8 to 10
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½ Pound squash, trimmed and grated
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2 tbsp. fresh dill finely chopped or 2 tsp. dried
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2 tbsp. finely chopped mint
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1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
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¼ tsp. salt, plus extra to taste
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Combine squash, cheeses, dill, mint, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add egg and flour and mix thoroughly.
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Heat the oil in a heavy skillet till hot but not smoking. Drop rounded tablespoons of the mixture, a few at a time, into the oil. Fry until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Sprinkle with salt to taste before serving.
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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