Happy Birthday America!!

In this week’s Box:

Broccoli            Lettuce                  Peas                       Strawberries                           Kale

Kohlrabi           Garlic Scapes        Fresh onion            Savory                                    Cilantro

We hope you are enjoying your day and maybe even a long weekend.  I am writing this to the background of fireworks. We live in a magical place around the 4th of July. The skies light up on all sides of us for the week of the 4th. It’s fun to see the sunsets give way to the splashes of color.

July is an important month for us. It’s the month of the St. Croix County Fair. We are counting down the days! Claudia is a flurry of activity as she puts the final touches on her numerous fair projects and works daily with her show calves. Jonas is eyeing up the vegetables to see what he will choose to bring and is dusting off the Lego projects he built some time ago for the fair. Malcolm on the other hand, is thinking about what he might want to take to the fair. Procrastination and working under last minute pressure seem to be his theme.

Saturdays on the Farm! starts in July. July – October we open the farm up on Saturday mornings to the public. It’s a chance for people to stop out, spend some time on the farm and purchase extra produce, farmer’s market style. If you are in need of extra produce or know friends who would like to get some, send them our way. Saturdays, 8am – 1pm.

July is also the center of the farming season. We’ve been farming (hands in the dirt) for 4 months. We have about 4 more months before the season ends. So much is ripening and flavors are abounding! It’s a really exciting time on the farm! It’s also exhausting. Weeding, watering, planting, harvesting. Sun up until sun-down. With headlights and head lamps, we can even do it after dark!   Much of the weeding and planting goes away in August, so we know we just have to push through this.

This week is the last of the strawberries. We’re thrilled that we were able to get you 3 weeks after we thought we’d have none. The picking was harder this week, smaller and fewer berries to pick from. However, they are super sweet. The pea picking went better this week than last. We were able to get a little more this week. There are more out in the field, maturing each day. If you would like to come out and pick peas for yourself, for free- come on over! Bring the kids! It’s a great time and everyone leaves with full stomachs and maybe even a few make it into the bag to take home.  Picking is easy! Ask our dog Tess. She loves to stop by the peas every chance she gets to just eat right off the vines. We were mighty entertained by her as we picked.  When she’s not picking peas, she’s sniffing out birds, chasing after butterflies, moths and her mom, June.  Next week we will move into green bean picking. I wonder if she’ll like those as much as peas.

 

Storage

Broccoli – plastic bag in fridge

Lettuce- plastic bag or covered container in fridge

Peas- plastic bag in fridge

Strawberries- Crisper drawer

Kale- Plastic bag in fridge

Kohlrabi- Crisper drawer.  (I love to eat this raw! Just peel and cut into chunks, like an apple.)

Garlic Scapes- Crisper drawer.  Do you have too many from the past weeks? Chop and freeze for winter cooking. You’ll be glad you did!

Fresh Onion- Crisper drawer

Savory- Covered jar in refrigerator or hang to dry. Savory is great on all types of meat and veggies

Cilantro: Covered jar in refrigerator.

 

 

Sautéed Kale and Kohlrabi

 

1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled

1/2 tsp. grated lime zest

2 T. fresh lime juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch kale, stems and center ribs discarded

1 scape, chopped

1/3 cup salted roasted pistachios, chopped

 

Very thinly slice kohlrabi. Whisk together lime zest, juice, 2 tbsps.. oil and 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Toss kohlrabi with dressing.

Finely chop kale. Heat remaining 2 Tbsps.. oil over med. high heat. Sauté garlic until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add kale by the handful, turning an stirring. When all kale is wilted, saute with salt until tender. (about 3 minutes.) Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temp. Toss kale with kohlrabi and pistachios.

 

Cilantro Lime Rice

3 cups of hot cooked rice ( long grain recommended, since it does not come out mushy)
2 small limes ( or 1 large lime)
1 lime, zest of ( all of one lime)
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt ( to taste)

Once your rice is cooked fluff with fork.
Add lime juice, zest, cilantro and salt.
Stir well.
Serve warm.
Enjoy.

 

Happy 4th of July!

Your farmers,

Jody, Mike, Claudia, Malcolm and Jonas Lenz