Fresh Today from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - October 24, 2024

Fresh Today… Broccoli, Beets, Purple Top Turnips, Radishes, Head Lettuce, Green Onions, Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Fuyu Persimmons & Pomegranates

Using Your Produce… by Julie Moreno

The cool weather is here and so are the fall vegetables. We have the first broccoli, turnips, and beets of the season. You can steam or braise these vegetables, but I love to roast them. High heat caramelizes the sugars and brings out the natural sweetness, which complements the bitterness. My basic method is to use high heat, 425° to 450° F, and to keep the vegetables in a single layer with a little bit of space between the pieces. Most vegetables will cook in 20-30 minutes. This beet dish is my favorite combination. The earthy beets go with the tangy goat cheese. Make sure to toast the walnuts for about 5-7 minutes. You can do this on a separate pan for the first few minutes while you cook the beets.

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. (Combine the greens with lettuce and eat them raw in a salad.)  Peel the beets 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 crumbled goat cheese and toasted walnuts.

Pickled Watermelon Radishes

From Cindi J Martin - The Art of Simple Pickling

Combine the following Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup well or distilled water

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp. sugar

Directions:

* Dissolve salt and sugar in liquid and pour over thinly sliced watermelon or other radishes in a pint or quart jar.  Refrigerate for 2-3 days.  Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables…

Roasting is the perfect way to bring out the natural sweetness in turnips. The high heat softens the inside and crisps the outside of each piece. Keep these simple with just salt and pepper or add a little dried chili pepper or curry powder for a savory twist.

Roasted Turnips

3 purple top turnips

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil

fresh ground black pepper

* Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Remove the greens from the vegetables and reserve for another use. Peel the larger roots and cut into 1-inch dice, or French fry shaped strips. Put the cut vegetables in a large bowl and toss with the salt, pepper and oil.  Place the vegetables on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until tender and golden brown.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… 

Barren Spaces

by Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there

are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” 

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Despite the extended August heat, the garden has been abundantly fruitful this summer season; for that we are abundantly grateful. This week, though, my thoughts are drawn toward now empty fields. Carrot beds and spent bean vines were cleared this week, leaving barren spaces in once productive rows. As I walked through the garden feeling grateful for its abundance, these rows continued to draw my attention. Normally, I am saddened and concerned about the future of empty and forlorn fields that await replanting. This time, though, my heart settled into a different attitude toward the barren spaces… I sensed a tangible HOPE embedded in a palpable PROMISE.

At first glance, barren garden spaces seem desperately empty. Really, they aren’t. They teem with life below the visible surface soil.  A host of active organisms, organic matter, nutrients, and space for air and water interact and prepare to stimulate germination and fuel the growth of fertile seed.  These are places in waiting, spaces cleared for new growth. Here fertile seed and soil will soon meet, join, and multiply for each other’s benefit. Seed and soil need one another for life, but they have not yet met, so they wait.

Unplanted garden spaces seem lifeless at first glance, but they are not devoid of life, though that life for a time remains unseen. So it is with unplanted seed, and the LORD: “…He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being…” Life returns when we invite Him to join us in our barren spaces. Despite the wait, His purposes are never thwarted, His promises never void. Let us wait with hope for a new season of life and an abundant harvest. Let us, like the prophet Habakkuk, rejoice and be joyful in God our Savior Whose word and works never return empty.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

 And do not return there without watering the earth,

 Making it produce and sprout,

 And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 

 So will My word be which goes out of My mouth.

 It will not return to Me empty,

 Without accomplishing what I desire, 

 without succeeding in that for which I sent it.”  

Isaiah 55:10-11