Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - August 20, 2026

Fresh Today… Potatoes, Eggplant, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Bell & Lunchbox Peppers, Carrots, Onions, Italian Basil, Chives, Rosemary, Flowers, Figs & Apples

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

Ratatouille is a delightful way to celebrate summer’s bounty. Start by sautéing a mix of  eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomatoes in olive oil, adding garlic and basil for flavor. The key is to cook each vegetable until tender but still slightly firm, allowing their individual flavors to shine while melding together. This dish can be served warm or at room temperature, making it a versatile choice for summer gatherings. Enjoy it as a main course over pasta, a side dish, or even as a topping for crusty bread.

Ratatouille

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large eggplant, diced large

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-3 medium zucchini or summer

    squash, diced large

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

3-4 large tomatoes, large dice

1 large bell pepper, large dice

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil

    leaves, thinly sliced, plus more

    for serving

*  Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the eggplant, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the pot. Add the zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the eggplant. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and bell peppers. Add the reserved eggplant and zucchini and gently stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for at 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Just before serving, stir in the basil.

Garden Fresh Chive Oil

Chive oil is a simple finishing ingredient with vibrant fragrance and flavor that elevates ordinary dishes.

1 cup of extra virgin olive or avocado oil

1 bunch of Wellspring Charitable Garden chives,

or three from the store

In a blender, mix oil with rinsed, chopped chives and blend on medium till smooth. Transfer to a small heavy bottomed sauce pan on medium heat and bring to a light boil, 3 min. Do not allow the chives to brown, but the oil will change from a cloudy to a clear green after 3 min. or so. Strain into a bowl using a strainer and paper towel or coffee filter.  Save the sautéed chives to make chive-butter, add to sour cream, or spread it on toasted or plain sourdough bread.

Use the chive oil within days at room temperature or refrigerate for weeks.  You can also skip the sauté stage and just refrigerate and allow it to come to room temperature whenever needed.  The heating mellows the taste and refrigerating after blending leaves an intense flavor.  Use this fragrant oil with vinegar for salads, to dress up scrambled eggs, as a base for pasta salad, or drizzled over popcorn!  Enjoy!

Warm Potato Salad…

German potato salad has a vinaigrette dressing made with vinegar, oil, bacon, mustard and onion. This dressing is made right in the pan after cooking the bacon. Mix it together with the potatoes when everything is warm so the flavors soak in. Enjoy it right away or at room temperature.

German Potato Salad

2 pounds potatoes                   

4 slices bacon, finely diced         

½ cup finely chopped onion   

½ cup beef stock                     

4 Tbsp white vinegar              

2 Tbsp oil                                

1 tsp mustard, Dijon or

mild German mustard

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt, or more to taste

¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

2 Tbsp chopped parsley, or chives 

*  Boil the potatoes in a large pot covered with an inch of water over high heat until tender, about 20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Take out the bacon and set it aside, leave the rendered fat in the pan. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until translucent but not browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add beef broth and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add vinegar, mustard, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper to the onions. Let the potatoes cool slightly so you can handle them. Peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into ¼-inch slices or cubes and put them in a large bowl. Pour the onions and liquid over the potatoes. Mix the salad gently then fold in the bacon pieces and parsley. Let the salad sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving so that the potatoes can absorb the flavor of the dressing. (German Chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry was a creative food consultant for Disney on the movie Ratatouille.)

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Bad Mound Rising

Cindi J & Keith F Martin

The gopher infestation has now reached critical mass. Brown mounds appeared here and there in the fields, but we ignored them. We hoped the lush carrot tops and beet greens signaled a plentiful and sweet yield. Bitter was our shock at harvest to discover mound after mound of “gopher dredgings” hidden beneath the lush foliage. Digging deeper, we found gnawed beets and carrots, and in nearby rows, holes where pepper seedlings once thrived.

Life’s landscape, at times, resembles a gopher infested garden. We walk down well-tended rows admiring the greenery but overlooking the signs of trouble. Mounds rise in our marriages, our parenting, our friendships, our family or work relationships, but we avert our eyes and walk around the dredgings of trouble. The mounds seem few and small, at first glance, not enough of a problem to dig into to determine the damage. Why go looking for trouble, right? But trouble is there, and it’s piling up. Should you risk asking a friend about a feeling that you may have offended her? Is it worth the effort to explore your concern that the children are misusing social media or the internet? Should you ask your spouse about the distance you feel in your marriage if you might discover a growing sense of disillusionment. Is the feeling of distance a thing to dismiss or something too serious to ignore?

We may fear finding what lies beneath the manicured surface. Digging may uncover disappointment, discouragement, or disillusionment. It may expose or intensify pain or loss. In the end, though, damage will be far worse when we respond to the bad mound by averting our eyes and ignoring the trouble. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s song Bad Moon Rising conveys a similar warning - lyrics revised for our context and metaphor:

I see a bad mound a-risin’                        

I see gophers on the way                                     

I see veggies disappearin’                        

I fear bad crops today                             

Don’t walk around that fright

Well it’s bound to wreck your life

There’s a bad mound on the rise!

I hear gophers gone a-chewin’

I know the beets are goin’ soon

I fear carrots won’t be growin’

I hear them gnawin’ teeth of doom

Don’t walk around that fright

For it’s bound to ruin your life

There’s a bad mound on the rise! 

God give us strength to confront warning signs with courage, rather than overlook them in fear. Whistling past the gopher mound is no remedy; that merely entertains the rodents as they devour the sweet crop you hoped to harvest.

“We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed

but of those who believe and are saved.”   Hebrews 10:30