Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - November 6, 2025

Fresh Today… Broccoli, Green Beans, Delicata Squash, Late Summer Squash & Eggplant, Head Lettuce, Bell Pepper, Watermelon Radish, Salad Turnips, Dill, Parsley, Cilantro, Chives, Persimmons & Pomegranates

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week we have more broccoli coming your way. This week’s soup recipe is similar to Panera’s, I can’t say it’s anywhere close to a knock off because I’ve never actually had the original. This recipe is written to be chunky, but if you wanted to you can blend some or all the soup to make it smoother. Blending will give you a creamier texture without adding cream. I like to make blended vegetable soups for their ease of preparation. When you blend all the ingredients up after cooking, you won’t need to worry about cutting them up into perfect dice.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

2-3 cups chicken or vegetable

    stock or water

3-4 cups coarsely chopped

    broccoli florets, stems and leaves

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

* Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and salt cooking for about 6-7 minutes. Turn the heat to low, sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 1-2 minutes. Gradually pour milk into flour mixture while stirring. Stir chicken stock and broccoli into milk mixture. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the broccoli is completely tender, about 20 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender if desired and stir in the cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

 A Sweet Match:  Delicata Meets Fuyu

Here is a tasty suggestion for using your Delicata squash and Fuyu persimmons together. Line a small toaster oven pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Peel your Delicata squash and slice it from stem to tip lengthwise. Scoop out the stringy innards, saving seeds for roasting if desired.  Turn the two squash sides flesh down. With a long knife, slice both at the same time (or one at a time) into thin half inch slices.  Place them flesh down on the prepared pan.  Now cut your persimmons into half inch slices and then again into half circles. Toss all in cooking spray or olive oil and set flesh side down next to the squash.  Bake in a 400°- 420°F oven for 30-40 minutes, turning once and checking for doneness so they are tender and brown, but not burned. Add butter, cinnamon, and freshly ground nutmeg to marry the sweet pair before serving. Enjoy warm as a side or cool as snack!

Upgraded Green Bean Casserole…

Skip the canned soup this year and treat yourself to green beans that taste like green beans. You can make your own buttery mushrooms and silky sauce, while the homemade crispy shallots add a golden crunch without the preservatives. Give this recipe a try and you might not go back!

Green Beans with Creamy Mushrooms and Crispy Shallots

3 tsp salt, divided               ¼ cup oil

1-pound green beans,        2 Tbsp butter

     ends trimmed                 2 cups button mushrooms, sliced

4-5 shallots, divided           ¼ cup dry white wine dry sherry

2 Tbsp all-purpose              ½ cup half and half  

     flour, divided                  ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

* Fill a large pot with water, add 2 teaspoons of salt, heat to a boil, and then add the green beans. Cook the beans for 2-3 minutes until bright green. Remove beans from the water and let cool slightly on a large platter. Finely dice 2 shallots, to make ½ cup, set aside. Slice the remaining shallots into thin rounds, like mini onion rings. Toss the shallot rings with 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside. Heat a medium sized sauté pan with ¼ cup oil. When oil is 350 °F, cook the floured shallot rings in the oil until lightly brown. Remove the fried shallots and set on a paper towel. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add 2 Tbsps. butter, diced shallots, sliced mushrooms, and sauté till browned, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the flour, then add the wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half. Then add the half and half and black pepper, stirring until smooth. Add the green beans and stir together until hot. Serve right away topped with the fried shallots.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…  

Refreshing, Welcome Rains

Ronda May Melendez

Glorious, long-awaited rain arrived today, and the garden plants are drinking in the gift of life. During my weekly date with the weeds - I take my weeds out often – I marveled at the beauty of droplets beading on glossy green leaves spreading skyward. The water’s weight, though, seemed to imperil the plants’ ability to stand upright. After pulling weeds around the plants, I was encouraged by the strength and health of their stalks, their support in the storm. I thought, “Wow, they have just had the dickens beaten out of them and they are not shouting against the heavens for the pummeling! They are not beaten down from the relentless pressure. They are not quivering in fear of what may come.” They had received the gift delivered in a way that seems, on the face of it, an unbearable source of trouble.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know a deluge can damage our precious plants. They struggle in the storm and become stressed, just as humans do. However, given that they live in a dry and thirsty land, they are receiving, not resisting, the precious gift. Rainwater is more nutrient rich than the well water our plants receive. Air is 78% nitrogen, according to The Smarter Gardener Joshua Siskin. As droplets fall to earth, they gather and then deliver nitrogen, a plants most important growth nutrient. Soil absorbs these fortified droplets and plant roots wick them into their system to support the growth of those healthy green leaves we admire. Do they just look healthier? No, they are healthier! They have absorbed more than water; they have imbibed vital nutrients needed to develop and sustain the foliage that captures the light and warmth of the sun. Their glorious green glow shows they are thriving and maturing to bear fruit.

Why do we find ourselves so distressed by storms that come our way? I don’t know about you, but I too often find myself shaken by the mere thought of an approaching storm. I fear dark, wind-driven clouds might be gathering on my horizon; I shudder at relentless rains that may require me to absorb more than I can mentally, physically, or emotionally endure. Perhaps I focus too much on the storm. I wonder if I, like our plants, can endure the anticipated “pummeling” with a confident, responsive spirit that, despite the storm, welcomes the rain - the God-given refreshment that promotes life-sustaining strength and resilience. Rain restores the arid, the weary, the nutrient-deprived in soil and soul.                                                                                      

“I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.”   (Psalm 143:6)