From the Garden this Week, June 17, 2021

From the Garden this Week…

Summer Squash, White/Yellow/Red Onions, Asian Greens, Spinach, Arugula, Beet Greens, Radishes, Cucumbers, Carrots, Beets, Bell Pepper, Basil, Mint, Strawberries and Plums*

Coming Soon…Tomatoes and Peppers

*Plums replaced Wheat Berries last minute today - no home milling this week!

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

We are nearing the end of our spring greens, radishes, carrots and beets. You can cut off the tops of the root vegetables and they will store in your fridge for a few weeks if needed. The cucumbers are getting started and I love to enjoy them sliced with a splash of white wine vinegar and a sprinkle of salt, sugar and red pepper flakes. This week we have more onions and summer squash so I have included two recipes to use them, French onion soup and summer squash fritters. This is a traditional version of the soup with beef broth, but the caramelized onions will bring a deep flavor to vegetable stock or even water if that is all you have. The tomatoes and peppers are starting to ripen so get ready for summer is almost here.

French Onion Soup

3-4 Onions (red, white or yellow doesn't matter)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil or butter

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup wine or dry sherry

1 quart beef stock/broth or vegetable stock

1 teaspoon salt (if using store bought broth, taste first and use less salt)

fresh ground pepper to taste

2 cups toasted croutons

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Slice the onions lengthwise, into thin strips, from the root to the tip. In a large pot, cook the onions with the oil over medium low heat, until the onions are brown, this will take about 50-60 minutes. (Occasionally add a little water if necessary, to keep from burning.) Add the thyme and wine and reduce the wine until it is nearly all evaporated. Add the beef stock and let it simmer for one hour. Add the salt and taste. When ready to serve, add fresh ground pepper. Top with croutons and Gruyere cheese and melt the cheese under the broiler.

NO HARVEST ON JULY 1

We will be taking Thursday, July 1st off to celebrate our volunteers!

Weekly subscribers! Your subscription will continue normally after that week.

Biweekly subscribers! Your subscription will be shifted forward by one week: If you are receiving a basket today, June 17th, your next basket will be July 8th

Thank you for your understanding, we look forward to harvesting for you soon!

More Summer Squash…

This time of year is the best time to grow and harvest summer squash: zucchini, yellow squash and the flying saucer shaped patty pan squash. Summer squash has the best flavor when cooked and eaten as soon as possible after harvest. This is not to say that it can’t live in your fridge for a week or more, but the squash flavor will change over time. If you need to save squash, try grating it and then freezing it. When you go to use it let it thaw and drain off any water. This fritter recipe is one of my favorites.

Squash Fritters

2-3 pieces summer squash grated, about 1 pound or 3 cups

¾ teaspoon salt

1 egg

¼ cup flour (a gluten free flour substitute will work here)

2 Tablespoons shredded cheese

1 Tablespoon of oil

Combine the grated squash and salt and leave it in a colander for 20-30 minutes, to allow some of the water to drain. Squeeze the squash to remove any excess water. Place the drained squash in a mixing bowl and combine well with the egg, flour and cheese. Heat a nonstick pan, over medium heat, add the oil and drop 1/4 cup portions of the squash mixture into the pan. Help it to spread out a little then repeat 2-3 more times, so you have 3-4 small pancakes. Allow them to cook for 4 minutes then turn the fritters over and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove them and cook another batch to use the remaining batter. Enjoy hot, but they are also great the next day.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… By Ronda May Melendez

Separating the wheat from the chaff just got real this last week. The arrival of golden wheat in my veggie basket has challenged my will. I want to enjoy it as a beautiful display, but I also want to find out the joys of fresh wheat that has been threshed and milled. And then, of course, made into something tasty.

Herein lies the heart of the matter, I have to give up one in order to have the other. I find myself conflicted over it. Giving up the beautiful display is a permanent gig, at least for this particular golden bundle. I, also, find that in order to have something tasty and nourishing, I must subject the bundle to great agitation in order to get to its life-giving grains; followed up with a great sifting.

These truths come painfully close to truths that I really wish were not so up close and personal in my own life. Do I always want to remain simply a display of sorts? You know, the kind that stay on a stand...people observe from time to time...or do I want to be nourishing and life-giving?

If the latter, I, like this glorious little marvel of wheat from the garden, must subject my will to the separation of the wheat from the chaff in my own life. It is a process that comes at a great cost. It means that “display” must be agitated, so that that which is not profitable, not life-giving and nourishing is removed from that which is. The display must be broken and go away forever, so that what is left can produce new life and give life to those who consume it.

I have decided with bravery, to subject my wheat to the process to partake of its goodness and honor its intended purpose, while praying to the Father for the strength and bravery to do the same with my life.