From the Garden this Week, March 11, 2021

From the Garden this Week…

Red and Green Lettuce Heads, Spinach, Broccoli, Green Onions, Red Radishes, Rutabaga*, Cauliflower or Cabbage, Beets, Carrots, Oranges and Lemons

Coming Soon…Fennel and Peas

*Rutabaga was added at the last minute, a little bonus goodness for you this week!

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week we have lettuce heads and radishes that were planted in December and January. The rutabagas and kohlrabi will be finished after this week’s harvest. If you haven’t eaten them raw, I recommend trying it. The kohlrabi is just like broccoli, once you peel off the outer layer. The rutabagas are similar to radishes, but milder. This week I included a recipe for vegetable cream cheese. It just uses a small amount of vegetables, but it also makes a good dip for fresh vegetable sticks or cauliflower and broccoli florets.

Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons finely chopped carrots

1 small green onion, finely chopped

1 large radish, finely chopped

2-inch piece of broccoli stem, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

1 dash hot pepper sauce

Combine everything in mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Serve on toasted on bagels, bread or as a dip with crackers or fresh vegetable sticks.

The Imperfect Egg

If you purchase eggs from us, you will find that we are not selling the perfect egg. Our eggs are not uniform but come in different colors, sizes, textures, and shell thickness. At first this may distress you. You may scrunch up your nose, narrow your eyes and take a closer look. Without realizing it, you may have been defining perfection as uniform. You are used to the eggs in your carton being the same. Instead, every now and then you may get a large egg with twin yokes, a Doppelgaenger (double in German) or a very small egg from a hen laying her first egg. You may even get an egg that cracks in your hand because she is not getting as much of the oyster shell as the other chickens. In a free-range flock, there is a pecking order and not all the chickens get to eat the same amount. This may seem terribly unjust, but it is a reality in farmyards where chickens roam free and are not divided up and fed equally in cages. Freedom has a cost. Something to think about.

Make Your Own Salad Dressing…

Our lettuce planted in December is ready now and making your own dressing is quick and easy. In this recipe I add lemon juice and olive oil to a large mixing bowl, to make the dressing first and then toss the salad in the same bowl. Salads are a great way to use up small quantities of ingredients.

Mixed Green Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced green onion

¼ teaspoon salt

4-6 cups lettuce greens, washed and chopped

3 radishes, sliced

1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled and thinly sliced

½ cup sliced fruit, oranges or apples

¼ cup crumbled bleu cheese or goat cheese

¼ cup chopped toasted nuts

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine lemon juice, minced onion, salt and olive oil, whisking together in a large bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and toss to coat everything with the dressing. Adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper if needed. Eat right away.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul

By Ronda May Melendez

I am here in Arkansas looking out across the land encompassing my parent’s home. The landscape still belies the winter that has not yet broken. Just a few weeks back, 20” of snow fell and there are areas in which it has still not melted. Today, the clouds are thick, threatening with rain. Yet as I sit on the porch, I find a brightness brought forth in the garden. Through the leaves left for mulch, the blooms of crocus are pushing their way through. In bright yellows and purples, these little blossoms brighten the landscape.

Crocus corms (bulbs) are amazing. They are hardy. They are strong. Fascinatingly, they are purposely planted 6-8 weeks before the first hard frost. That makes me reflect. The corms establish better when they are planted before the “hard times” of the coming winter. Some of the crocuses even begin to grow up through and bloom surrounded by snow. It is truly an amazing object lesson.

I have often pondered the timing and placement of circumstances that the Lord allows in my life. I confess that there are moments when I do not like being planted in the ground before the hard frosts of life come. I don’t want to be in cold, frigid ground. I like the warmth, the sun and the comfort of gentle breezes. But, if the Lord allows it, do I believe that it is for my best establishment and development? Do I believe that in due time, I too will grow in the midst of the surrounding snows? Do I believe that I will push through and blossom in life? Will I allow the Lord to do a work with the corms of my heart in the cold hard ground? What about you? Let us believe together that He is at work toward something beautiful in our lives despite the chill of winter.