Week #1, 2025
Purple sprouting broccoli
Baby bok Choy or Arugula
Chard
Spinach
Onions or shallots
Cilantro, parsley or dill or chervil
Celery
Radishes
It is the season opening for 2025. We have been working for months for this day and it is finally upon us. We feel extremely lucky to have all of our adult kids with us here today to celebrate and help us bring in the harvest. We will get the harvest done in record time and then set up the farm to welcome our members to the potluck/pizza party.
We have had a classic spring with downpours and short breaks allowing us to prep a few beds. We have a huge backlog of broccoli, kale, collards to get out into the field. I just need the week to have 8 days and then to have no communication with the outside world. It feels like this every year (many of my family and friends remind me) so I will be calm and know in my heart that it will all get done. We have been battling the birds, gophers, our own goats and sheep trying to keep the veggies growing and the pests off of them.
The purple sprouting broccoli has held out for this week, but with warm weather coming it may go very fast. Fingers crossed for three weeks of this spring delight. We seeded it in June of 2024, transplanted it in July and kept it alive through this winter. The sheep pruned some of it. I always try to have critical crops in different locations in case one fails. This strategy has served us well.
These first weeks will be lots of greens. We will include recipes often curated by Sue Kass.She is one of our founding members, a close friend and a staunch advocate for our farm and justice. We worked at Virginia Garcia side by side for 24 years. I always love recipes being sent my way to add to the website. When we revamped our website earlier this year with the help of our son Jacob, I didn't realize how much of the 15 year recipe stores would be lost. I will repopulate the recipe tab over the course of this year in my spare time.
Pizza party/Potluck today starting at 2:00 until 6:00 p.m. Bring a dish to pass, a pizza topping and plates and silverware for you and your family to use.
Recipes for this week:
Zhingyalov Hats (Armenian Stuffed Flatbreads)
Chervil Vinaigrette — The Mom 100
22 Purple Sprouting Broccoli Recipes | olivemagazine
Sue’s Greens Primer 2.0
If this is your first year of a CSA, the volume of greens can be a bit daunting. Not only are there all those glorious salad greens, but sometimes you get “braising greens mix,” and then you get things like chard, kale, collard greens and mustard..and then there are all those vegetables that come with their own greens—beets greens, broccoli and cauliflower leaves, radish greens, turnip greens—all of which are delicious and nutritious. The
Sue’s Greens Primer has some basic tips on how to prepare/store/save those yummy greens. I have to tell you that my 20 year old daughter who hates vegetables, hates to cook, and lives in an “efficient” apartment with 2 burners cooks herself “Beans and Greens” on a regular basis!!
So—read the Greens Primer first, and then here are some additional tips and recipes:
Tip: Swiss Chard stems. Swiss chard comes with beautiful stems, either creamy white or glorious rainbow colored. Separate the stems from the leaves. You can either slice the stems very finely and saute until tender and THEN add the greens and saute, or you can cut the stems into 1-2” chunks, boil in water until tender, drain and then puree with a bit of garlic, lemon and some tahini as sort of a hummus/baba ghanouj dip.
Kale and collard stems: particularly in the early part of the season, when things are cooler, these stems are quite succulent and sweet, so you do not need to discard—just chop very finely and saute for a few minutes before you add the more tender leaves.
My 2 favorite recipes for any greens 2021:
Provencal Greens Soup
This is so wonderful and delicious, especially if you purchased farm fresh eggs!
Serves 4
6 cups (or so) coarsely chopped greens
2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt, pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
6 c. water or broth
2 eggs.
4 thick slices of good bread, toasted
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat, then saute the leeks until tender. Add the garlic and cook a minute or two more. Stir in the chopped greens until wilted. Add the water or broth and simmer for about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs well in a small bowl. Gradually beat in about 1/2 c of the hot soup broth, a tablespoon at a time, so that the eggs heat through but don’t curdle. Turn the soup down to low heat and stir in the egg mixture and heat through.
In the eating bowl place a chunk of toasted bread, cover with grated cheese, and then slowly pour the soup over.
Greens with Farro, Pine Nuts and Tahini Sauce
3 c. cooked farro (Trader Jopped coe’s has a par-cooked that cooks up faster; you can also get it bulk at Winco; or use brown rice)
8 oz finely chopped greens—kale, chard, arugula or mustard
1/2 c EVOO
freshly ground pepper
juice of one lemon (more to taste)
1/4 c tahini
1 tsp maple syrup in individual bowls,
1 clove minced or pressed garlic
1/2 c pine nuts, toasted
Mix the greens, 1/2 of the lemon juice, farro and 1/4 c EVOO together in a bowl. In a separate small bowl make the tahini sauce: stir together the tahini, remaining 1/4 c EVOO, remaining 1/2 lemon juice, maple syrup and garlic. Add 2 Tbs warm water, stir well and then add more warm water by the tablespoonful until sauce is thick but pourable.
When ready to serve, spoon the greens and grains into individual bowls, drizzle the tahini sauce over and sprinkle with pine nuts.