Fresh Today from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - February 6, 2025

Fresh Today… Butternut Squash, Carrots, Celery, Broccoli, Kale, Kohlrabi, Watermelon Radishes, Salad Turnips, Red & Green Salad Mix, Parsley, Cilantro, Lemons, Tangerines, Grapefruit, Blood & Navel Oranges

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

The unique watermelon radishes get their name from the red center and green outer layer. They have a mild and slightly sweet flavor compared to other radish varieties. The taste is often described as refreshing, crisp, and slightly peppery. We also have Kohlrabi this week. This cruciferous vegetable has been bred from the wild cabbage. The taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter. I put the two together in this salad with sweet orange segments and tangy lemon juice. Serve this salad with a sandwich or try it as an accompaniment to broiled fish or chicken.

Watermelon Radish

Kohlrabi Orange Salad

1 watermelon radishes

1 kohlrabi bulb

1 orange

1 tablespoon chopped chives, red

    onion or shallot

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and fresh ground pepper

* Wash and thinly slice the watermelon radishes, then cut into strips. Peel the outer layer from the kohlrabi with a knife, then slice thinly and cut the slices into strips.  Peel the rind from the with salt and pepper to taste.  Let sit for a half hour or overnight before orange and chop into half inch pieces.  Combine the radish, kohlrabi, orange, chives, lemon juice and olive oil, season eating.

How We Help the Hurting

Your subscription to WCG farm to table fresh produce benefits hurting people in our community. I spoke to a community leader who called Wellspring Counseling Ministries for help finding a therapist for a loved one.  He was frustrated by calls he had made to counselors who were not accepting new clients or ones that did not return his calls.  When he called us, we went to work. We hear that story again and again.  Our mission and deepest desires are to return calls within 24 hours.  We then contact our network therapists to find out who is available, whether they take the client’s insurance, and whether that therapist has specialized expertise fitting the client’s specific needs.  We do this so they do not experience the discouragement and futility of calling and calling and not receiving a call back from a real person with real compassion providing real assistance.  It takes courage for the hurting to reach out for help.  When we answer a call and provide resources and referrals in a timely manner, we are fulfilling our call to connect hurting people to expert healers. Thank you for partnering with us to make the services of Wellspring Counseling Ministries fruitful.

"Why won't you Answer?"

More Roasted Broccoli…

In this recipe the added Parmesan helps to brown and crisp the broccoli for added flavor, while the lemon adds freshness and lightens the final flavor.

Lemon Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoon olive oil

5-6 cups broccoli florets

1 teaspoon lemon zest

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons lemon juice

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place broccoli florets in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, Parmesan, salt, and pepper; toss thoroughly. Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and toss the roasted broccoli with the lemon juice. Serve right away.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Quince, “No Nonsense!”

Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

I searched the web this week for an answer to the question, “Why does the quince have thorns?” I got tickled when I came across David Beaulieu’s description of quince’s nature: “The flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) is a thorny, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a somewhat messy growth habit but beautiful red, orange, white, or pink flowers to go with shiny, dark green foliage.” “Beautiful,” “somewhat messy growth habit,'' “thorny” sound all too human to me. 

I had been reflecting on the thorns arrayed along branches also bearing beautiful blossoms. It seemed a contradiction to me. Amid bleak and barren winter days, alluring beauty blossoms, and yet brandishes, severe and painful weapons. Why? Those thorns protect its nascent fruit. Though I had been taught to look upon thorns as sin’s curse, it occurred to me that we might also consider them a blessing or a two-edged sword – a formidable weapon for defense and a sharp reminder to curb hostile behavior. Quince is a self-pollinating shrub, but it thrives and bears even more fruit when beneficial pollinators – bees, lady bugs, butterflies – are drawn to its enticing beauty and nourishing pollen, despite its “somewhat messy growth habit.” Its blossoms, though, also attract predators that would wantonly consume its budding fruit and imperil its growth. Thorns protect the quince’s delicate fruit from danger and signal a stern warning: “Predators and pests beware! Proceed at your own peril; you will not do damage and depart with impunity.”

Let us learn a lesson from the quince. We can consider the boundaries we set “thorns” that signal others to engage with care and respect. Sharp, clearly established boundaries provide double-edged safety for both others and you. There is no better way to say, “There is beauty here to enjoy but not abuse, and that beauty is worth protecting, despite my ‘somewhat messy growth habits.’”

“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”   John 2:23-25