Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - July 25, 2024
From Today… Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Garlic, Onions, Summer Squash, Carrots, Chard, Eggplant, Cilantro, Basil, Dill, Plums & Grapes
Using Your Produce… by Julie Moreno
Summer is all about tomatoes and basil. I mix the two together with salt, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil and put it on crostini, on pizza, on grilled eggplant or squash, and as a salad by itself. The two plants even grow well together. In the pasta salad recipe today, I added artichoke hearts and kalamata olives with fresh mozzarella to the tomatoes and basil. You can use marinated artichokes and mozzarella, if you have them, but be careful with your salt. You might need to add less. Make sure to taste, you can always add more, but you can’t take it away.
Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Basil
½ pound penne pasta, cooked
until al dente
1 cup cherry tomatoes halved or
large tomatoes cut into a large dice
1 cup mini fresh mozzarella balls
½ cup basil leaves, gently chopped or torn
½ cup chopped artichoke hearts
¼ cup chopped kalamata olives
2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
* Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until done. Remove the pasta from the water and let cool slightly. Add the pasta to a large mixing bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients. Stir to mix and taste. Add salt and pepper as needed.
“Friend, Can You Spare a few Clamshell Container?”
Our once abundant supply of clamshell containers has dwindled. Two months ago, Wendy asked that I thank you for restocking our clamshell supply and end the drive. Now she’s asked that I restart the drive and make a new appeal for clamshells with non-detachable lids. So, got any clamshells crowding your pantry or kitchen cabinets? If you do and can spare a clamshell, send us your empties, and we will return them full of fresh summer fruit and veggies!
More Summer Salads…
This summer salad continues on with tomatoes and basil with a Middle Eastern influence, from the tahini in the dressing. If you want, try making extra dressing. It’s perfect with grilled eggplant or roasted veggies.
Tomato-Cucumber-Garbanzo Salad with Tahini Dressing
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1 garlic clove minced or crushed
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tomatoes, cherry tomatoes halved
or large tomatoes roughly chopped
1 medium cucumber, seeds removed, about 2 cups cubed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed, about 2 cups
* In a large bowl combine the oil, vinegar, tahini, garlic and salt. Stir well to combine the dressing ingredients. Gently stir in the tomatoes, cucumber, beans, onion and herbs. Serve right away.
Metaphors of Soil and Soul…
Preparing for the Next Season
by Cindi J Martin, LCSW
What surprised me most about growing vegetables is how far in advance farmers must prepare for the coming growing season. I often hear people say how discouraged they were with the produce from their winter gardens, so they gave up winter gardening. Their lament reminds me of my first failed attempts at planting broccoli and cauliflower – both cool weather crops. I had planted too late in the season, so as warm weather arrived, they were overrun by pests, failed to grow large, and flowered before I ever had a chance to enjoy them. Just recently, our resident Master Gardener, Anna Hazen, planted out the seed trays in our shade cloth area. Here we are in the stifling heat of summer enjoying refreshing cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, and she is already tending seedlings to fill the fields that will provide the autumn and winter harvests.
Forward thinking and disciplined preparation are the keystones to successful seasonal harvests. Are you thinking about the next season of life you are heading toward? What fruit would you like to reap in that season? If you are a senior in high school, are you thinking about and developing the skills and mindset you will need for a successful career or satisfying marriage? If you are a mom, have you thought about preparing for the empty nest and the extra time you will soon have? For those in the midst of your employment years, are you planning how to fulfill the dreams you’ve deferred until retirement? For those of us who are seasoned adults, have we considered and set in place care arrangements that will allow us to stay in our homes or take care of our loved ones at the sunset of their and our lives?
Yes, excessive or compulsive planning for tomorrow can drain us of energy needed for living today, but denial or avoidance of planning today will deprive us of resources needed for tomorrow. We are most productive and fruitful when we find that disciplined balance between living in the present and preparing for the future. Planning and planting ahead for the coming seasons make all the difference in what you will harvest.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful;
yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness. Romans 12:11 (NASB)
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