From Wellspring Charitable Gardens this Week - June 22, 2023
From the Garden this Week… Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Standard (English) and/or Dragon’s Tongue Green Beans, Japanese Eggplant, Green & Red Onion, Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Salanova Lettuce, Garlic, Basil, Parsley, Bing & Rainier Cherries, Nectarine & Apricot
Using Your Produce… by Julie Moreno
The changing season has brought the excitement of new produce. In the first few minutes of opening last week’s basket, the fruit was gone, and I was cooking potatoes on the stovetop. By the time of writing this feature, we have cooked the green beans, eaten the cucumbers, and made and eaten a batch of pesto scooped out of the jar with fresh bread. I know that in four months, I won’t be as excited, but each June, I am reminded of this time where my appreciation of eating locally is most evident. This is the time for simple recipes that highlight the vegetable; they don’t need to have any special sauce or gimmick. Try this one-pan sautéed green beans recipe. It is simple to prepare and a joy to eat.
Sautéed Green Beans
1 pound of green beans, ends
removed, cut in half if desired
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter or oil
2 tablespoons white wine
¼ cup water
salt and fresh ground
pepper, to taste
* In a large sauté pan with a lid, cook the beans, garlic, salt, and butter / oil over medium heat, for about 2-3 minutes, or until the garlic starts to brown. Add the white wine and continue cooking uncovered until the wine has evaporated. Add water and cover the pan, cooking about 3-4 minutes more until the beans are cooked through. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Eat right away.
'Tis the Time for Thanksgiving!
We are so grateful to our neighbors who have contributed their delicious fresh fruit to your WCG harvest these past few weeks! Our fruit trees are either too young, too old, or too few to provide much for all our subscribers. Joyous appreciation goes to the Webb-Kummers (red cherries), the Coles (Rainier & Bing cherries), and Heidi Aufdermaur (lemons). We are grateful for your sharing of the delicious fresh fruit you've grown at home. Blessings to our neighbors Chris & Sheila Hubbard who generously allow us to use their capable Kubota tractor to lift, level, and transport soil and compost throughout the three fields we cultivate. A special shout out goes to Dick & Jennifer Hodges who set up a frame for our new 10' x 20' shade cloth enclosure that will allow us to germinate more seeds and grow even more varieties of delightful fall and winter vegetables. THANK YOU ALL! Sorry, Sgt. Pepper, no Lonely Hearts Club affiliate here at WCG. We get by with a lotta help from our friends!
Summer Salad…
Cucumber Salad
1-2 cucumbers, peeled and seeds removed if desired
½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup sliced red onion
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons rice vinegar or white wine or red wine vinegar
Cut the cucumber in half from top to bottom and the slice each piece, with the flat side down on your cutting board, into thin half-moons. In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, salt, sugar, red onion, red pepper flakes and vinegar. Let stand for 10 minutes and then enjoy.
Metaphors of Soil and Soul . . .
Parable of Soils?
by Cindi J & Keith F Martin
Jesus’ Parable of the Sower could rightly be called the Parable of Soils. He tells of different soils onto which seed can be sown - hard soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil. Seed sown onto a beaten path does not penetrate the hardened surface, so birds snatch it away; seed sown on rocky soil grows but is short-lived since its root system can’t develop enough to anchor and sustain it; seed sown among aggressive thorns and weeds grows but gets choked or crowded out. Seed sown into good soil – hospitable, sustaining, nurturing soil - receives all it needs to grow and bring forth an abundance of fruit. Soil condition means everything. From our gifted gardeners, I have learned that hard soil, rocky soil, and thorny soil can become good soil through careful conditioning. That is a comfort because Jesus compares soils to conditions of the human heart and seed to His Word and Life.
A few years ago, we planted Dahlias to beautify our garden baskets. Dahlias are lovely bulb flowers that are quite particular about their soil, so we had to amend our hard, heavy clay soil with gypsum, bone meal, and steer manure to satisfy their preferences. Gypsum, a naturally occurring mineral found in layers of sedimentary rock, loosens and aerates compacted soil. Bone meal provides vital nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium to strengthen plant roots. Steer manure restructures soil to make it resist compaction, drain properly, and retain sufficient moisture for plants to grow well. Manure also conditions by introducing vital nutrients and microorganisms that keep the soil fertile and viable for years to come.
People, like plants, also prefer different environments in which to grow. Have you identified the one that most invigorates your spiritual, emotional, and physical growth? What amendments to your “heart soil” might encourage healthier and lasting growth? Is there anything in your heart that remains impenetrable to the Living Word, that rocks or diminishes your roots, or that chokes or crowds out the growth of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control – the fruits of the Spirit? May we all have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand how to amend any deficiencies of heart so that they become more hospitable to God’s Seed and His indwelling Presence.
