Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - April 16, 2026

Fresh Today… Spring Onions, Broccoli, Sugar Snap Peas, Beets, Kale, Lettuce Heads, Spinach, Salad Turnips, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Orange & Lemon

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

When we have large heads of broccoli, I try to make sure to use the stems and not just eat the florets. Similar to the bagged broccoli slaw at the store, you can make your own by grating it in the food processor. If you don’t have one, you can try a box grater with large holes or just cut up the stems and florets with a knife.

Quinoa Broccoli Slaw

with Honey-Mustard Dressing

2 cups cooked quinoa

½ cup slivered or sliced almonds

1 head broccoli about 4-5 cups chopped

2 carrots

Dressing:

¼ cup olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp apple cider or white wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

½ teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Red pepper flakes, optional

* Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and toast the almonds in the oven, stirring frequently, until they are fragrant and starting to turn golden on the edges, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl to cool. To prepare the broccoli, slice the florets off the stems into manageable pieces. Peel the outer fibrous layer from the broccoli stem, saving the inner part. Now you can feed the broccoli florets through your food processor using the slicing blade, then switch to the grating blade to shred the stalk and then follow with the carrots. Alternatively, you can chop or shred the broccoli by hand with a sharp knife or box grater.  Combine all the dressing ingredients in a covered jar and shake until blended. Add the shredded broccoli slaw, cooked quinoa and shredded carrots in a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over the mixture and toss until well mixed. Let the slaw rest for about 20 minutes before serving, if possible. Serve topped with the toasted almonds.

Garage Sale to Benefit Overlooked No Longer

Wendy Miller is hosting a garage sale May 1-2 to benefit Overlooked No Longer, a mission outreach to girls and boys in the Garhwal Himalaya Mountains of India who suffer abuse, trauma, and neglect. ONL supports families who built House of Grace to provide a loving foster home to support recovery from trauma and provide nurturing for personal growth. Please contact Wendy at (209) 707-6249 if you have goods to donate to show that “These precious children are overlooked no longer!”

“Then Hagar called the name of the LORD who spoke to her

El-Roi, You-Are-God-Who-Sees,

for she said, ‘Have I also here seen Him who sees me?’”

        Genesis 16:13

Fresh Herbs…

This time of year, our herbs are growing like weeds. This recipe takes advantage of their availability and makes the herbs the star of the show. In this recipe, you can use any fish, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time. You’re looking for the fish to just start to flake apart in the thickest part of the filet. The main trick is to choose a dish that fits the fish, so that the oil isn’t running off to the side.

Slow Roasted Salmon

with Fresh Herbs and Citrus 

(by Alison Roman)

¾ pound salmon filet              

salt and freshly ground          

   black pepper                           

2-3 tbsp coarsely  chopped         

    rosemary and oregano       

1 lemon, thinly sliced              

1 orange, thinly sliced

½ cup olive oil

¾ cup fresh herb leaves, such

as parsley, cilantro, and dill

1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice

salt

* Preheat the oven to 300°F. Season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides and place it in a baking dish that just fits the filets. Place the sliced lemon and orange on top and sprinkle with the rosemary and oregano. Pour the olive oil over until the salmon is just submerged. Cook the salmon until it is just turning opaque around the edges and is nearly cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the salmon from the oil and let drain. Save the oil and let cool. Toss the fresh herbs with the lemon juice and salt and serve with the salmon. Store the oil in the fridge and use over the next few days for salad dressing or roasting broccoli.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… 

Letting Go

Cindi J Martin

There are continuous seasons of "letting go" in the garden. Walking the empty rows, I can't help but feel sorrow as I consider the spent vegetation I have pulled out and cast onto the compost heap. Weeks ago, these remains were teeming with life and delicious heads of heirloom broccoli and cauliflower flaunting green and purple delights. Those beautiful heads were harvested; now only shriveled stalks and withered leaves remain.

Releasing a season ended is as essential to garden life as embracing a season soon to begin. Both releasing and embracing require faith, “the assurance of thing hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Casting those spent plants onto their burial mound heralds my belief in the unseen forces of time, decay, heat, and diverse organisms to transform death into life. In time, the heap of decayed organic matter will be recast as treasured compost, what gardeners call “black gold,” the most valuable amendment for restoring depleted soil and nourishing new life. 

In attempts to avoid the sorrow and grief of releasing, we often misspend time and untold energies vainly holding on to a season in decay. Denying decline, we prolong our pain and preclude our transformation. Mary Magdalene, at the tomb of Christ, embodies how humans struggle to let go and move forward:

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

There will always be sorrow-filled seasons of letting go, painful times when we must cast the lifeless remains of withered hopes, desires, and dreams onto the compost heap. There, God will help us through our grief and restore our broken hearts with new life and everlasting love. Leo Tolstoy is quoted as saying, “Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.” As we rejoice in the Light and Life emerged from the tomb, let us be emboldened to embrace His God and our God, His Father and our Father whole-heartedly and enjoy the promised intimacy realized through Christ ascending.