Fresh Pre-Christmas Produce from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - December 18, 2025

Fresh Today… Butternut Squash, Watermelon Radishes, Carrots, Fennel, Peas, Lacinato Kale, Lettuce Heads, Purple-Top Turnips, Celery, Cilantro, Dill & Pomegranates

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week I included a salad recipe for our fennel and watermelon radishes. These are both strong flavored vegetables that come together for a refreshing and crisp salad. The simple lemon vinaigrette allows the flavors of the vegetables to come through. Enjoy it as a small side dish to a rich pasta, stew or risotto. If you are not fond of raw fennel, I strongly suggest cooking it thoroughly. It can be roasted in the oven or braised on the stovetop, by cooking it in butter or oil and then adding a little broth simmering it until very tender. Once cooked, add it to marinara sauce or add a splash of cream and serve it with mashed root vegetables.

Shaved Fennel and Watermelon Radish Salad

Dressing:

½ teaspoon finely grated

    lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin

    olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Salad:

1 fennel bulbs

2 watermelon radishes, ends

    trimmed and washed

3-4 cups lettuce mix, washed

2 tablespoons freshly grated

    Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

* In a jar combine all the dressing ingredients, cover securely with the lid and shake well.

* Using a mandoline or food processor, slice the fennel and radishes as thin as possible. Combine in a large bowl with chopped lettuce and cheese. Drizzle the salad with the dressing and toss.  Season with salt and pepper as needed, toss again and serve right away.

Joy to the World!

Today is our last WCG delivery day of 2025. We are taking a holiday break to celebrate Christmas with friends and family. Deliveries resume January 8 of the new year.

May your Christmas be merry, your hearts be filled with laughter and love, and your home blessed by dear family and close friends. May the Wonder and Miracle of Christmas – Immanuel, God with us – be your joy, your peace, and your everlasting delight!

 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… ...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1,14

Spicy Roasted Squash…

Butternut squash gets a savory and spicy (if you like) seasoning to complement its natural sweetness. You can use mild chili powder or add in a little cayenne if you like the heat. Or feel free to change it up, the squash has a mild flavor that takes on any of your favorite spices.

Chili Roasted Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash       ½ tsp chili powder

2 tbsp olive oil                1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp salt                         ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

* Preheat the oven to 425 °F. Cut the squash in half, separating the top, cylindrical portion from the bulbous bottom. Peel the squash with a sharp vegetable peeler or use a knife. Cut the bottom bulb in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash into one-inch cubes. In a large bowl, toss the diced squash with the oil, salt, chili powder, oregano, and black pepper.  Spread out on a parchment lined baking sheet and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes, until tender.  Remove from the oven and serve.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… 

The Beauty of Desolation

Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

Christmas is surely the season for giving and receiving, but it’s also a time for rejoicing and reflecting.  I rejoice in rain and sun, seed and soil, life and growth. I am also grateful for Light in the darkness.

Years ago, a dear friend taught me an ancient spiritual practice - reflecting upon a day’s consolations and desolations. It’s called Examen. At day’s end we make time to review and consider the day’s best and worst moments. After just a few days of practice, I marveled at the profound value of this simple practice. While reflecting on the joy in celebrating the birth of Christ, I considered how the consolation of Christ’s birth into our darkened world required His own momentary desolation.

Jesus’ initial presence in the world began as a seed housed in the darkness of his mother’s womb.  Unseen in that darkness came the miracle of the joining, the forming, and the knitting together of Life from above with life from below - Divine to human, Eternal to mortal, Whole to broken - into One.  It was not just humanity receiving life through the breath of the Spirit of God, as at creation, but Eternal Spirit assuming mortal flesh to dwell as a human among humans, to be known by us, and then by us to be denied, rejected, and laid waste on a cross for sins that are ours not His. He was forsaken for our sake, but our LORD’s desolation becomes our consolation.

Was His desolation the end? Yes, and most certainly, No! It is the end of our desolation – our bondage to sin and death - and the beginning of our freedom and abundant life. If you feel desolate this season, rest assured you are not alone, and you are most certainly not hopeless. The birth of Christ means there is both end and beginning for you. It can be the beautiful end to your darkness and bondage, which may feel strangely unsettling or even terribly frightening, but it is not the end of you. The Child formed in the darkness of Mary’s womb overcame human darkness so that you might receive and embrace His Light and Life eternal. Our desolation ends with Jesus’ consolation – He is Immanuel, God with Us. For Him I am grateful and rejoice. Have a merry, grateful Christmas! 

“And you, child, also will be called the prophet of the Most High;

For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;

To give His people knowledge of salvation

By the forgiveness of their sins,

Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

To shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”  Luke 1:76-79