Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - May 14, 2026

Fresh Today… Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Green Onions, Broccoli, Arugula, Salad Turnips, Peas, Carrots, Lettuce, Basil, Dill & Parsley

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

The summer squash is producing a strong crop. For peak flavor and texture, summer squash is best used soon after harvesting, within a few days of receiving your basket. Store them in the fridge for up to a week. The skin is tender and full of nutrients, so there’s no need to peel, just give them a rinse and slice as needed. They are perfect grilled or sautéed with olive oil, garlic, and herbs. You can even eat them raw. Use them thinly sliced or spiralized in salads, or as a low-carb pasta alternative, like this zucchini noodle recipe. If you don’t have a spiralizer, shred the squash with a box grater or food processor, or just slice in thin strips with a knife or shave with a vegetable peeler.

Zucchini Noodles

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

½ cup shredded carrots

2-3 summer squash, shredded, spiralized,

sliced in thin strips or shaved

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ cup torn fresh basil leaves

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* Heat the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and carrots to the pan, stir and cook quickly until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the shredded zucchini and salt, sauté for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, basil and fresh ground pepper.

Foretaste of Summer:

Easy Refrigerator Pickles

(from Sara of dinneratthezoo.com)

3 ½ cups cucumbers sliced, or cut into spears.

1 ½ cups water

3 tablespoons white vinegar

1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt

4 garlic cloves lightly crushed

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

½ cup fresh dill sprigs

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

* In a large bowl, mix the water, vinegar, salt, garlic, peppercorns and crushed red pepper flakes (if using). Fill two pint-sized jars with the cucumbers and dill sprigs Pour the brine over the cucumbers in each jar. Seal the jars and store in refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Store up to two weeks. 

Nothing Says

“Come, Summer!”

Like a Chill & Crispy Dill!

Crisp Turnips and Cucumbers…

Our sweet salad turnips are perfect raw and sliced into salads. This recipe features our spring cucumbers and green onions, tossed shaved turnips, herbs, feta cheese and avocado in a vinaigrette dressing.

Cucumber Turnip Salad

2-3 salad turnips, thinly sliced             

1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced      

1 avocado diced Juice of                         

¼ cup crumbled feta                                

2 green onions, thinly sliced                 

1 tbsp chopped dill                                 

1 garlic clove minced

1 tsp Dijon mustard

½ lemon, about 1-2 tbsp

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp black pepper

* In a large mixing bowl, whisk the garlic, mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the turnips, cucumbers, avocados, feta, scallions and dill to the dressing and toss gently to coat. Serve right away.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

To Bolt, Or Not to Bolt…

Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin 

A beautiful, albeit painful, tension we see in the garden has a parallel in human behavior. Last week our garden crew noticed the onions beginning to bolt. In other words, they are flowering! Yes, onions have flowers and they are quite beautiful. The emerging blooms are a certain sign they are preparing to reproduce, but those beautiful flowers are also an ominous sign that they are preparing to die. 

The onions are stressed. Frequent changes in temperature this spring have caused them to panic and push prematurely to seed. Though the gardeners have carefully tended their growth, the onions cannot restrain their defensive response to adverse and variable conditions that threaten their survival. Bolting onions direct energy away from the bulb’s growth and into the stalk to form a flower. As the onion flower develops, the bulb that we desire and happily eat cannot be long stored after harvest. The same energy that produces the onion’s flower and seed protects the bulb after harvest from decaying in storage. Therein lies the tension: Do we harvest smaller shelf-stable bulbs now, or do we harvest fertile seed and bigger but perishable bulbs later? We can’t store an onion and plant its seeds too. 

Paradoxically, the flower both diminishes and empowers the fruit. What beautiful tension choice creates! We prefer onions like a Swiss Army knife - versatile. They should sweeten a spring salad or a summer burger and should store for a late fall stew and supply seeds for winter’s planting of next year’s crop. The tension between now or later forces us to clarify our purpose and direct our efforts. Do we want a durable bulb or a fertile seed?  

Like onions – No, Shrek, it’s not about “layers” or “tears” – humans also feel like bolting when stressed or threatened, but unlike onions, we can assess a risk and determine the benefit of enduring adverse conditions. Should we direct our energy toward fleeing and preserving life now or should we reserve our energy for developing something beautiful, satisfying, and meaningful later? For humans facing a serious threat, bolting may be necessary for ensuring survival or escaping harm, but when personal safety is not at risk, the immediate relief realized by bolting may come at the expense of lasting growth of insight, intimacy, or character. May God grant us wisdom to discern which situations truly threaten survival and which provide opportunity for serious growth. Discernment helps us answer that critical question - To bolt, or not to bolt?