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View of Sandy Mush Bald over a field of wild mustard.
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News from the farm...
The weather has been just right and we have been taking advantage of it to get a lot of planting, seeding and bedding up done. Another round of lettuce and lettuce mix is in, as well as beets, carrots and rainbow chard. Our first round of summer squash and cucumbers got planted today. It is covered with floating row cover to protect it from the cold nights. The onions and potatoes for 2021 are all in the ground. So far no signs of the dreaded corn seed maggots. These pests seem to move in overnight and eat the little bulbs of our onions plants and burrow into the seed potatoes. The past two years we have soaked the soil around our onions and potatoes with a slurry of water and microscopic beneficial nematodes. The nematodes eat the maggots but they are killed by sunlight so we need to apply them on a cloudy day. It was cloudy when we started putting them out but the sun came out towards the end. Fingers crossed it works again this year.
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Pick ups this Saturday are at Cecilia's (9am to 11am), the North Asheville Tailgate Market (8am to 12pm) and at the farm (9am until dusk). The online store will open at 9am on Wednesday and close at midnight on Thursday to pre-order Saturday deliveries. CSA members can use their credit at both the online store and at our market stand. Just let the person at check out know you have a CSA share. If you know your coupon code, it's helpful to let them know that as well.
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What's available this week??
More kale is available this week. We will have bunches of red ursa, green curly and lacinato kale, as well as bags of loose mixed baby kale. So tender. We have beets for another week and red round radishes. We have a couple of kinds of head lettuce this week, green oak leaf and red leaf along with more lettuce mix. Some bags of spinach and a good number of carrots bunches. We have bunches and bunches of ranunculus, anemones and tulips. These flowers come and go so quickly in the spring. Don't miss your chance to enjoy them. We'll have plenty of mixed bouquets that will include our first snapdragons, forget me nots and some beautiful butterfly ranunculus that we are growing for the first time this year..
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Below: Early tomatoes have already started growing in the caterpillar tunnel.
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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 cooking observations and delicious recipe offerings appear here each week. |
“I watch cooking change the cook, just as it transforms the food.” Laura Esquivel
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BEETS - As a child I never saw beets on our family table. Mind you, the day my mother was married she had never cooked a meal in her life and was entering a long learning curve that really never ended. I had no idea how good they are.
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COOKING – Boil them unpeeled for about 35 minutes. Wrap them in foil, put in some balsamic vinegar and bake for an hour or hour fifteen minutes or until they are tender. Microwave until they are tender. Steam until tender. Then peel after they have cooled a bit. Always peel after cooking.
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When still warm splash some olive on and add salt and pepper.
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Hot Buttered – After cooking, peel when cool enough to handle and serve tossed in melted butter with salt and pepper to taste. Thanks to Edna Lewis for this Virginia recipe.
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With Sour cream or yogurt – after peeling and while still warm toss the beets in the sour cream or yogurt as you see fit. Before dressing, you might want to get them hotter in your microwave or oven or to warm up if you’ve cooked them early on. This dish was my introduction to beets during my misguided vegetarian days.
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Spice adds – a bit of cinnamon. Oregano or basil, garlic powder, onion powder and fancy finishing salt like Himalayan pink or Maldin.
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A SALAD - A pound or pound in a half of beets will make salad for 4 or 5 people.
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Slice the beets and on each plate, lay them on a bed of lettuce or other greens you like
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Dress with goat cheese or feta, toasted walnuts or pecans and vinaigrette that’s tart but that will not overpower the beets. I like a fair amount of pepper too.
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Springs brings visitors, like these ducks that have been resting
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at our place on their long journey North.
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Thanks for reading and best wishes.
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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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