Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - November 13, 2025

Fresh Today… Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Fennel, Celery, Arugula, Green Beans, Delicata Squash, Lettuce, White Salad Turnips, Parsley, Cilantro, Chives & Pomegranates

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

I’ve taken to spending a bit of free time scrolling Instagram video recipes. I find that I learn something new each time. The only trick is to make sure you don’t scroll for too long. Recently, I found this fennel slaw, and it looked delicious. I adapted it slightly to use what we have. It was originally written with the cabbage, so I left that in. If you don’t have cabbage, I would substitute our lettuce, but use less dressing, as the delicate lettuce won’t hold up the same.

Fennel Salad

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup honey

¼ cup water

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon fresh ground

      black pepper

2-3 minced garlic cloves

1 fennel bulb, sliced into

      thin strips

½ green cabbage head,

     sliced thin (5-6 cups)

½ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped cilantro

3-4 celery ribs, thinly sliced

        across the grain

1 green apple, thinly sliced

* In a mixing bowl combine the dressing ingredients, olive oil, honey, water, tahini, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic, mix well. In a large bowl toss together the vegetables and herbs, fennel, cabbage, parsley, cilantro, celery, and apple.  Add the dressing to the vegetables and toss well. Serve right away.

Thanksgiving

We are grateful and give thanks for ALL - all volunteers, subscribers, partner schools, and friends of Wellspring Charitable Gardens, a community supported agriculture project. Your concern for your community - especially your neighbors who reach out in need - is shown by your work, your words of encouragement, and your faithful support of Wellspring Counseling Ministries. Thank you, ALL!

Thursday, November 27, is Thanksgiving Day – a holy-day to gather with family and friends to give Thanks to God for His goodness, His grace, and His unfailing love. So that we may celebrate as well, we will not be harvesting produce Thanksgiving Day. Your purple WCG produce bags return filled with fresh vegetables, fruit, and herbs on December 4! Happy Thanksgiving!

Favorite Beet Salad…

This is one of my fast and easy beet recipes. I cut the beets first so that they cook quickly and then simply toss them with balsamic vinegar, toasted walnuts, and crumbled goat cheese. You can also add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. When I eat this, I try to make every bite have a bit of cheese, nut, and beet. I think it is a perfect combination.

Roasted Beets with Walnuts and Goat Cheese

3 beets

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil

fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¼ cup toasted walnuts

¼ cup crumbled goat cheese

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Remove the greens from the beets and reserve for another use. (You can combine the greens with your kale or spinach or eat raw in a salad combined with our lettuce.)  Peel if desired or just scrub well, peeling is not required.  Slice the beets in half and then place the flat side on a cutting board and slice into half-moon shapes. Toss them in a large bowl with the salt, pepper and oil.  Put them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until tender. Remove the beets from the oven and let cool slightly. Place the beets in a serving bowl and toss gently with the balsamic vinegar. Top with the toasted walnuts and the goat cheese.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Amending

Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

Nuts are harvested and now piles of gypsum are appearing throughout the San Joaquin Valley almond and walnut orchards. They signal the soil needs to be loosened. Soil compaction happens on land that is heavily irrigated or where heavy machinery is used. Compaction constricts soil pore size (the space between soil particles) and prevents water, oxygen, and essential nutrients from freely and fully supplying the tree’s root system. Compacted soil restricts growth and interferes with fruit production. The result is unhealthy vegetation and harvest yields far smaller than expected. 

The solution to compaction is not to uproot the trees and replant but change their environment. Amending the soil surrounding the trees with gypsum restores healthy space between soil particles. Gypsum, a soft mineral, relaxes the soil’s structure, enhances its water absorption, and increases aeration, enabling tree roots to penetrate deeply and nourish sufficiently. Gypsum is also a fertilizer that supplies trees with calcium and sulfur that boost proteins for strength, chlorophyl for photosynthesis, and the immune system for fighting pests and disease.  Healthy soil promotes heartier roots, healthier trees, and greater fruit production. 

Similar to trees, we need our hearts amended when we’ve been pressed by the weight of emotional, mental, or spiritual demands. A season of disappointment, discouragement, grief, or despair can compact our heart’s soil so that we no longer have space to move or breathe or absorb nutrients. We become arid and malnourished. Our fruit is dwarfed, if produced at all. Root-bound, we wilt, wither, and become vulnerable to pest, disease, and rot. We may feel ‘lucky’ simply to survive.

When I am pressed by the demands and heat of such seasons, I sometimes feel shame and withdraw. Recently, however, the Lord has been urging me to engage, despite my condition, and view my need as an invitation to amend with Him, loosen my heart and life, and make healthy space to grow. There I can sink my roots deeply and establish myself firmly and prepare for a new season of growth.

,

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

Whose trust is the Lord. 

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes…”

Jeremiah 17:7-8