Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - January 29, 2026

Fresh Today…  Romanesco Cauliflower, Beets, Carrots, Celery, Delicata or Butternut Squash, Swiss Chard, Mini Head Lettuce, Green Onions, Parsley, Oranges & Lemons

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

Romanesco is one of the more exquisite vegetables and one that you might never see at the grocery store. It is closely related to cauliflower (use it interchangeably). The fractal pattern on the surface, botanists believe, was the result of selective breeding by Italian farmers in the 16th century. You can eat it raw, steamed, sauteed or roasted. For an impressive dinner, bake it whole. Massage the outside with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cut the bottom so it sits flat in a baking dish or oven safe skillet, then cook at 400°F for 35-50 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the size. This recipe turns Romanesco into a delicious salad with a seasoned dressing using our flat-leaf parsley.

Romanesco-Bean Salad

with Lemon Caper Sauce

(Adapted from Rancho Gordo)

1 Romanesco, cauliflower or

    Broccoli head, broken up into

    bite-sized florets, 3-4 cups

1 anchovy filet, chopped and

     smashed (optional)

½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley,

      roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon capers, chopped

1-2 teaspoons lemon zest

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Pepper and salt to taste

1 can white beans or chick peas,

    drained and rinsed or 2 cups home

    cooked beans, drained

* Bring a pot of salted water to a simmer. Add the florets and simmer gently for about 3-6 minutes or until just done, watching carefully not to overcook. Add the mashed anchovy to a large mixing bowl along with the parsley, garlic, chopped capers, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper, blend well. Taste and add salt if desired. Remove the florets from the water and drain well. Add the florets and the drained beans to the lemon-caper sauce and mix well. Enjoy right away or refrigerate until ready to eat.

How Wellspring Counseling Helps the Hurting

Your subscription for WCG farm to family fresh produce helps the hurting in our community. I spoke to a community leader who turned to Wellspring Counseling Ministries for help finding a therapist for a loved one.  He was discouraged by calls he had made to therapists who were not accepting new clients or who did not return his calls.  We hear that story too often. When he called us, we went to work.  Our mission and deepest desires are to return calls and provide real support within 24 hours.  We contact our network therapists to learn who is available, who takes the client’s insurance, and who has the specialized expertise to address the client’s specific needs.  We do this work on their behalf, so they do not experience the disappointment and futility of calling and not hearing from a real person with real compassion providing real support. It takes courage for the hurting to reach out for help.  When we answer a call and provide timely resources and appropriate referrals, we fulfill our call to connect hurting people to expert healers. Thank you for joining with Wellspring Counseling Ministries to make support services available and fruitful.

“Why won’t you answer?”

Cream Based Soups…

This is my basic recipe for all cream-based soups. Coarsely chop all the vegetables, you don’t have to worry about the size, then coat with flour, add water and blend with and immersion blender. At first, I was a bit afraid of cream of celery, but it’s just because the canned version has given the soup a bad name. Try making it yourself and you’ll understand.

Cream of Celery Soup

1 small onion, chopped    

4 cups chopped celery      

1 large potato, peeled       

    and chopped                    

2 tablespoons butter         

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

2-3 cups water

½ cup half and half

* In a large saucepan cook the onions, celery, potato, butter, thyme and salt over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, if needed add a few tablespoons water to keep the vegetables from drying out and browning. Add the flour and stir well to coat the vegetables.  Add water, to  barely cover the vegetables, about 2 cups and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the celery and potato are soft and soup has thickened. Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender. Stir in the half and half, taste for salt, pepper and adjust the consistency with water if needed.  Garnish with lemon or hot sauce and croutons or crackers if you have them.  Enjoy now or reheated the next day.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… 

Beauty Unfolds in Failure

Keith F Martin

Romanesco, a hybrid of cauliflower and broccoli, is an edible “flower” from the Brassica family and a relative of cabbage, kale, chard, and Brussels sprouts. Also called Roman cauliflower or Broccolo Romanesco, it has a slightly sweeter, nuttier taste than cauliflower and can be enjoyed raw, roasted, steamed, or seared.

Even more appealing than Romanesco’s delightfully nuanced taste is its striking beauty. Its fractal structure - the spiral bud pattern that reaches upward and outward - depicts the Fibonacci Sequence, a recursive series of numbers where each is the sum of the two preceding numbers (e.g.: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89…). As the sequence progresses, the numbers become larger, the distance between them greater, and the ratio of adjacent numbers persistently approaches, but never quite reaches, the constant of 1.618. That ratio - depicted by the Greek letter phi (Φ) – was called the Golden Mean by Aristotle, the Golden Ratio by Euclid, and the Divine Proportion by Leonardo da Vinci. That value is considered the ideal aesthetic for proportion since it creates the most visually pleasing relationship between parts to a whole and to each other. Thus, a proportion found throughout all creation (from the minuscule double helix of DNA to an immense spiral galaxy) reveals the Divine Design of beauty and portrays the ideal form for aesthetics found in Classic Greek and Renaissance art.

Romanesco derives its striking beauty from its persevering buds. It forms a bud that tries, but fails, to unfold and fully flower. These failed flowers then sprout new buds to make new flowers, which also fail to fully form. Upward and outward perseveres Romanesco through the process of failure that creates its spiral floret pattern and displays the Divine Design in Beauty and Proportion described as the Fibonacci Sequence. So, Romanesco’s unparalleled beauty develops in its striving, not in its succeeding.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:2