From Wellspring Charitable Gardens this Week - January 5, 2023 Happy New Year!

From the Garden this Week… Broccoli, Kale, Purple Bok Choy or Cabbage or Cauliflower, Red Scallions, Romaine Lettuce, Parsley, Cilantro, Persimmons, Lemons, Tangelos & Grapefruit

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

I love spinach dip, but when the garden doesn’t give us spinach, we make do with what we have. Last week I used the purple Bok choy as a replacement for spinach and it seemed to work perfectly, except for one small feature. The dip had a purple tinge to it. I knew that when you cook most purple tinted vegetables that the pigment breaks down and the resulting color is green. I thought this would hold up, but after combining the Bok choy with the cream cheese and sitting for a day in the refrigerator, I believe the acid in the cream cheese caused a bit of purple pigment to remerge and the dip was a slight shade of lavender. If you don’t mind that, I would say that it worked perfectly. Below is my recipe.

Vegetable Dip (with Bok Choy or Kale)

1 head of Bok choy or kale leaves,

washed, leaves and stems

separated, chop the leaves and

finely dice the stems

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter or oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

8 ounces cream cheese softened

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Serve with bread, crackers, and vegetables

* In a large sauté pan over medium heat, cook the Bok choy stems with butter, garlic, salt and pepper, until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add the leaves, stir, and cook about 2-3 minutes, until wilted. Let cool, then place in a strainer, press to remove the excess water. When cool, stir in the cream cheese and parsley. Chill completely, serve with bread, crackers, and vegetables.

Happy New Year!

We at Wellspring pray you enjoy the happiest new year - May your joys be many, your loves grow deeper, and your blessings abound!

Though you look forward, do take time to reflect. Recall your joys, recount your blessings, and remember the faithfulness of the LORD:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

Grateful “shout out” to Nancy Haneline

for providing lemons, tangelos, grapefruit, and persimmons for this week’s Wellspring harvest! Thank you, Dear Lady, for your kindness and generosity in sharing your abundance!

God bless you!

Winter Salads…

Broccoli makes the perfect base to a winter salad. It also holds up well when made ahead. This recipe, also, takes advantage of the broccoli stalks. Feel free to substitute the peanuts and peanut butter with cashews or almonds.

Broccoli Salad

with Peanut Dressing

¼ cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 to 2 teaspoons Sriracha

hot sauce (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

4-6 cups chopped broccoli

florets and shredded stems

1-2 shredded carrots

1 green onion, sliced very thin

½ cup cilantro leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts

* Combine the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, hot sauce, salt, and sesame oil. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl combine the shredded broccoli, carrots, and green onions, toss the vegetables together. Mix with the peanut sauce. Taste and add salt if desired. Serve topped with the cilantro and roasted peanuts.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Nothing Wasted

by Ronda May Melendez

Walking through life is much like walking through the garden. There is always something to see, something to learn, something to remove, and something to add. Having grown up around gardens, I recall that my earliest and fondest childhood experiences of wonder occurred in gardens. Gardens are a poignant reminder of the mystery and interconnectedness of life, a sacred space of nourishment and growth.

Wandering the rows of the newest expanse of the garden early in the day, I note recently delivered mounds of deep brown compost piled beside colorful brassicas – purple broccoli, pink cauliflower, red cabbage, and green kale. What a story this picture portrays. The morning air is brisk, but the warm sun smiles down as if enjoying this incongruous image: Once useless and discarded garden waste brought back to benefit that which is being nurtured and thriving. The compost – comprised of spent, decomposed vegetation - appears inert to the human eye, but it is living and active. Once worked deeply into the soil, its organic matter, nutrients, and organisms will loosen and enrich the soil; it becomes the essential catalyst for strengthening the plants in the garden.

Later, as I harvest sweet watermelon radishes from other compost enriched rows, I ponder our longings to be nourished and strengthened. Like garden plants, we want to be well tended, desire to be enveloped by rich nutrients, and yearn to thrive and become sweet; yet, sometimes, waste and weakness threaten our growth and hinder our vitality. Still, somehow, God actively transforms that which is spent and useless into nourishment that helps us to thrive.

Today is the first time I have been able to appreciate that juxtaposition of active life and transformed waste. It is the first time I have seen them lying side by side, preparing to be integrated. God wastes nothing, dear ones, so fear not! He transforms our waste and weakness into that which will enrich and sustain life.

“Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:26-29