Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - June 4, 2026

Fresh Today… Artichokes, Summer Squash, Green Beans, Cucumbers, Beets, Lettuce, Kale, Potatoes, Garlic, Onions, Basil, Cilantro & Santa Rosa Plums

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week the weather is making a 90-degree turn from spring to summer, and the produce is following right behind. My favorite potatoes, garlic and onions are joining squash, green beans and cucumbers. Just a reminder, the best way to store basil is on the counter in a jar of water, just like you would display our flowers. I trim any of the leaves off the bottom half or the stem and then trim off the tip of the stem before putting it into the water. Make sure to top off the water after a day or two as the plant will suck it up and continue to respirate. This week I have a recipe for a roasted vegetable salad. Each vegetable takes different amounts of time to cook, so you will add them to the sheet pan in intervals so that they are all done cooking at the same time.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

with Massaged Kale

3-4 beets, peeled and cut into wedges

4-5 small potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 summer squash, sliced into half-moons

2 large handfuls of green beans, trimmed

1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided, 2 for

    drizzling on the vegetables and 1 for

    the dressing

3 tablespoons tahini

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoons black pepper

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lemon, juiced

3 tablespoons warm water

* Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl toss beets with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread on the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. In the same bowl, toss potatoes with a drizzle of oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Add to the baking sheet with the beets and roast for 15 minutes. Add squash & green beans to the bowl, drizzle with olive oil and salt and toss lightly. Return to the oven and roast for a final 15 minutes. While the vegetables finish roasting, place the kale leaves in the bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt, then massage with your hands for about 1 minute, until softened and dark green. To make the dressing, whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil, tahini, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, and about 1 tablespoon lemon juice, add the water a splash at a time until smooth and creamy. Add half the dressing to the kale and combine. To serve, add the kale to a platter and top with the roasted vegetables. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the top.

WCM & WCG Thank Phi Gamma Chapter Omega Nu - 𝝮N

A few months ago, Wellspring Charitable Gardens (WCG) was invited to apply for a grant to help us serve the counseling needs of children and families in our community.  Over the years, many of our clinicians have been trained in Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) which provides parenting training and support to families and children who have foster care children or adopted children in their homes. WCG is collaborating with these families, clinicians, community  volunteers, and agencies to bring a TBRI camp to our small local farm. We need a space to engage the families in educational and therapeutic  outdoor activities. An authentic, life-sized Tipi offered a fun and educational classroom setting, but the cost was significant.  We are so thrilled to announce that Omega Nu has chosen to fund $4,000 of the $5,000 a traditional high quality, weather resistant, 26’ Pole TiPi that seats 25 people.  We would welcome your donation to help us complete the amount needed for purchase. We are now getting estimates for an appropriate footing and a qualified construction crew to build it.  Omega Nu, thank you for all that you do to make the dreams of organizations like ours come true.   Gratefully, WCM & WCG Team!

WCG Goes Native

to offer a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)

Day Camp for foster care and adoptive families.

Training is based upon Attachment Theory and

therapeutic activities that build trust and

parenting competence.

Herb Pesto…

With the weekly harvest of fresh basil, it is time to make pesto. The basil plants need to be picked each week to keep the plant from producing flowers. This means that you will see it all summer. I like to use pesto as a sauce on roasted meat, vegetables and even as a spread on sourdough toast. Stir it up with cooked white beans or chick peas to add a burst of flavor.

Pesto

2 cups basil leaves         

1-2 cloves garlic            

1-2 tsp. lemon juice      

½ tsp. salt                        

½ tsp. black pepper 

¼ cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup olive oil

* Blend all together in a blender.  Enjoy with pasta, white beans, steamed rice, as a sauce for seafood or chicken.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

From Both Sides Now

Cindi J Martin

My love of 44 years (We celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary June 23!) and I went for a “sta-roll” (a walk with someone standing and a roll with someone sitting in a wheelchair) in the squash and zucchini rows of  the gardens. Since my husband Keith has a different perspective (stable and lower) than I (mobile and higher, but wobbly when I squat), he typically sees squash that I overlook. As a harvesting team, we Walk & Roll!

Today, we were harvesting the same side of the squash plants. When we had filled our basket and were ready to go in, I suddenly thought it might be good, though inconvenient, to walk to the other side of the gigantic plants to see what I might have missed. I didn’t expect to find anything because we had carefully looked high and low through the plants from our individual perspectives. As I quickly scanned the plants from their other side, I was stunned to discover ‘a large yellow squash that we had overlooked. How in the world had that surprisingly huge patty pan escaped our notice?

I am immediately reminded of how our harvesting sta-roll through the garden illustrates the importance of looking not only from different perspectives but also at seeing both sides of an issue. Learning often comes when we least expect it. Whether politics, theology, science, culture, or culinary preferences, there are meaningful and perhaps even life-giving aspects of a matter that we may have overlooked. Yes, we can have strong beliefs and firm opinions and yet remain open to another side of a story or position. Just taking the time to glance at that other side can provide insights or reveal common ground that we were not expecting to see. Curiosity is a wonderful human trait but seeing a matter from both sides can drive discussion or debate in the direction of discovery and growth. Refusing to consider a matter from both sides means we are probably overlooking something big and squashing something wonderful – Understanding. 

Then Job replied to the LORD:

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” Job 42:2-6