Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - August 7, 2025

Fresh Today… Heirloom Slicing & Cherry Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Leaf Lettuce, Cucumbers, Carrots, Sweet Bell Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Beans, Green Onions, Garlic, Cilantro, Basil, Melons & Peaches

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

I love the Japanese chili-garlic edamame served as an appetizer at most sushi bars. Since we don’t grow edamame, I love to make this with green beans which have a similar texture and taste. Eating local is all about learning to use what we have. This recipe makes a bold and flavorful side dish that combines crisp-tender green beans with a spicy, creamy sauce. Sautéed with garlic and lightly steamed, the beans are then tossed in a zesty blend of Sriracha, mayonnaise, and toasted sesame oil, topped with nutty sesame seeds. 

Chili Garlic Green Beans

1 tablespoon olive oil

1-pound green beans, ends trimmed

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2-3 drops toasted sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

* Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, with a lid, over medium heat until shimmering, add the beans and garlic stirring 1-2 minutes until the garlic just starts to brown. Quickly add the water and salt then reduce the heat to medium and stir the beans. Place the lid on and steam for 2 minutes until crisp-tender. Remove from the heat and let cool with the lid off. In a small bowl, combine the sriracha, mayonnaise, toasted sesame oil. Remove the green beans from any remaining liquid saving the garlic with the beans. Toss the beans with the sriracha mayo and the sesame seeds. Refrigerate or enjoy right away.

Subscribers Wanted

We are seeking to subscribers to share in the abundance!  Please spread the word about our fresh produce subscriptions. Word of Mouth and Testimony of Tummy and Taste are the best advertisers! Some people encourage friends and neighbors to even share a subscription with a friend or relative if they think they can’t eat all their vegetables! Have you considered giving a family member or friend a gift of healthy vegetables for a birthday? 

Thank you all for eating your vegetables and for all your support over the 9 years we have been growing!  Your generosity continues to allow Wellspring Counseling Ministries to reach out to communities here and abroad to advance spiritual and mental health.

The Best Summer Squash…

I recently found this recipe at Simply Recipes online. I was impressed when I tried it out. The squash takes on a creamy texture like mashed potatoes. You can read more details at the link below.

Thomas Keller’s Seared Squash

(The French Laundry - Owner & Chef)

2-3 pieces summer squash

Salt

Oil

* Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Score the squash in a crosshatch pattern, season with salt, and let sit for 10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 450°F. After the squash has sat, dry with a paper towel and heat an oven-safe pan on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the hot pan and then press the squash cut side down in the pan. Without turning the squash, let it sear for 5 minutes, then place the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes until tender. Flip the squash over onto a serving dish and top with pesto, vinaigrette, or salsa. (simplyrecipes.com/thomas-keller-roasted-zucchini-recipe-review-7564431)

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Reaching Toward the Light

Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

I recall a science experiment my children and I did when they were young. We selected two beans, “planted” each in a damp paper towel, and then tucked them into separate jars to germinate. One jar we placed in an area filled with light; the other we placed in utter darkness. We left them undisturbed for the prescribed length of time but daily checked their progress. What did we find? The bean enveloped in light had unfurled into a vigorous, well-proportioned green seedling, while the bean beset by darkness produced a pallid, spindly, desperate seedling. Such a marked difference! But why?

The seedlings sprouted equally well, nourished by the reserve energy stored in their seed, but the seed growing in darkness was soon starving. Plants need light to convert carbon dioxide and water into energy (food, fuel), so it is natural for them to grow toward life-sustaining light. Without light, a plant’s deprived cells distort unnaturally as it desperately reaches to find nourishment. If it fails to find life sustaining light, it will never thrive, never mature to produce fruit, and will not long survive.

Do you find yourself over-extended, desperately in need of energy? I do, at times!  Like seedlings, we are distorted and drained by dark surroundings, so let’s reflect on our current situation. Is the present darkness that surrounds us within or beyond our control? Though we are born into darkness, do we prolong its distorting influence by resisting the truth about ourselves and others, or perhaps by placing ourselves in situations that intensify the darkness and its deprivation? Are we truly as hopeless and helpless as that seedling my children and I placed in the darkness?

When we turn from or resist the light, we plant ourselves in darkness. There we will desperately reach toward something else – and then anything - to nurture our being, but to no avail. We must choose our placement wisely, keeping its influence and our outcome forefront in mind - a terminally desperate life or a robust, fruitful life. Without light, we cannot mature and flourish. Without light, our being distorts and cannot bear fruit as the LORD designed.

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp (overcome) it.  John 1:4-5