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What's happening on the farm right now:
We cover the winter squash beds with biodegradable plastic to help warm the soil and keep the weeds down. Last week, small holes were poked in the plastic and hundreds of seeds were dropped two by two into those holes. It feels like an act of faith to put those seeds way down in the dark with just a small opening above for them to find once they sprout. It just seems unlikely that it will work. It does, though. Almost every hole now has one or two squash plants just about poking up over the edge of the hole.
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These little things will grow into tremendous vines that will cover all that plastic and all that hay. That also just seems unlikely but they will grow that huge with pretty much no help from us. All we do is add some water, wait and watch.
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Picking our first cucumbers. Our first sunflowers are ready too.
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
It feels like we have a good variety of offerings this week. Carrots and beets, summer squash and cucumbers, red and yellow onions, the first new potatoes (We've never had such early potatoes!), lettuce mix and fours kind of head lettuce, green kale, black kale, Swiss chard, cilantro, basil. Mixed bouquets, snapdragons, campanulas and sunflower bunches. We had just few more strawberries but we might have more at market if you come early as well as some pints of sour cherries. Looks like another week or so until the blueberries start.
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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. |
“The people who give you your food give you their heart.” Cesar Chavez
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To say goodbye to this year’s strawberries, we made jam. Freezing some for the future might be good since store bought are usually subpar.
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MAKE THE MOST OF CILANTRO – Cilantro is great in more than Mexican dishes. Middle Eastern and Asian food are good places to add cilantro. Soups, stews and chutney are good adds and salads are transformed. Lime juice and chopped cilantro perks up vegetables and grilled meats too. Remember you can chop up the stems when using cilantro.
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STEAM OR BOIL – Now appearing are lots of vegetables that can be cooked. In most cases, potatoes sometimes excepted, we steam. Boiling removes most of the nutritional value. The longer you boil the more you lose.
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Peggy often makes up recipes using what we get from the farm and our garden. Here is one using chard. Spinach will work as well and some of you might like kale if the texture fits your taste.
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1 Frozen pie crust or homemade – deep dish is best
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Parmesan cheese grated, about ½ to ¾ cup
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½ to ¾ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
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1 tbsp. dried or fresh thyme
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Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Beat eggs and yogurt, add cheese and stir. Add chard, onion, thyme and salt and pepper. Pour into empty pie shell and bake until just firm in the center, about 45 minutes to one hour.
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Imagine the size of the worm that made that tunnel!
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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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