From the Garden this Week…

From the Garden this Week…

Broccoli, Cabbage or Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Carrots, Green Onions, Rutabagas, Arugula, Beets, Oranges and Grapefruit

Coming Soon…Lettuce Heads and Spinach

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

The broccoli is prolific and there will be lots more for the next few weeks. The recipe that I included today adds the freshness of lemon juice and the richness of parmesan cheese to balance the broccoli. This week we will have one large kohlrabi coming for each member. I provided an option to use it in the roasted root vegetable recipe, but kohlrabi is in the brassica family and I find it helpful to use it like broccoli. If you opt not to roast it with the roots peel the bulb and then cut it into cubes and add it to this broccoli recipe. It has nearly the same flavor of broccoli and will go perfectly in this recipe too.

Lemon Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets, about 5-6 cups

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

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

Cauliflower

This year we have had a difficult time with our cauliflower. We have had a few heads to harvest each week but they haven’t come ready all at the same time. Each week we send them out, but there isn’t enough to send to everyone at the same time. By sending them out this way we are able to prevent waste. We do have many more plants in the ground and will continue to harvest them when they are ready.

Roasting Vegetables…

Root vegetable are perfect for roasting. Roots are the natural location for plants to store energy in the form of sugar. This allows them to survive even when the weather freezes. Even though kohlrabi isn’t a root, it goes perfectly with the other bulbs coming this week.

Roasted Root Vegetables

1-2 beets

1 rutabaga

2-4 carrots

1 kohlrabi bulb

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil

fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 °F. Remove the greens from the vegetables and reserve for another use. Peel the kohlrabi and the other vegetables if desired. Cut the vegetables into 1-inch cubes. Place the 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 25-30 minutes until tender.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul … by Ronda May Melendez

Garlic has been my instructor this last week. A few weeks back, we took the small broken, dried up bodies of her kind and gave them a proper burial in their appointed spaces and rows. One might think that the darkened, shriveled bodies of the garlic are of no further use because they have lost their usefulness in the kitchen. With their once vibrant forms gone, it is best just to toss them…right?

While the evidence before our eyes might appear to point to this conclusion, faith in the unseen work of a seed’s death and burial often results in the new fullness of life. Winter is the icy grave of a Spring resurrection. Indeed, we must remember that faith is the foundation and embodiment of what we do not yet see. When we planted the garlic, we had faith, without anxiety and strife, that there would be a harvest of…garlic! The singular body no longer good for the kitchen thrives in the field, reproducing after its own kind…in abundance. The rows of life springing from death that we planted are beautiful and strong!

What does the embodiment of your life appear to be, at the moment? Is it spent? If so, do not fret. What is no longer useful in one area is, now, of extraordinary value in another!! God knows how to take what is spent in our view and give it life abundant. You are of value. Our weaknesses are just the beginning of vibrant life, when entrusted to the hands of the Master Gardener.