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In the share this week: 1 bunch beets 1 bunch salad turnips 1 butterhead lettuce 1 bag bekana greens 1 bag salad mix 1 bunch green onions 1 bag baby kale or spinach Thoughts from Farmer Anna: I took the picture above just as I was finishing seeding green beans and edamame on Sunday afternoon. The forecast hadn't called for too much rain, but I was starting to hear thunder so I wanted to make sure I got those beans in the ground before the soil got too wet. To everyone's surprise it absolutely poured after that and we got another almost 2 inches of rain, after getting 5.5 inches over last week. Yeesh. We found just a small window of time to actually get bed prep done from Friday into Saturday. Thank goodness for the tarps we use to smother weeds, because those also help to keep some rain off beds we are getting ready to prep. We aren't too far behind schedule yet, but let's all hope that we don't get much more rain this week! I am so excited to be giving you beets this early in the season! We are able to harvest them this early because we grew them in flats and transplanted them out to the hoophouse and some to the field in early April. Sometimes the transplanted beets come out a little pear-shaped, but overall I am really pleased with how well they have done. The hoophouse beets are especially gorgeous, with nearly perfect greens. The greens of beets are susceptible to fungal diseases which are worse when we get so much rain. Since the hoophouse beets are protected from rain, their greens are top-quality. Beet greens are pretty much just like swiss chard, so don't throw them on the compost pile. They would go together with kale or substitute for it in Maria's salad recipe below. I love beet greens sauteed with a little onion or garlic as a side dish with some kind of sausage. They are great in soups too! Tokyo bekana is probably a new item for many of you. Bekana is one of the mildest asian greens, with a flavor that is somewhere between lettuce and cabbage. It's nice chopped up and eaten raw in a salad (or mixed in with some of you other greens). I love the idea of using the bekana along with turnip greens from this week (and maybe last week if you still have some in your fridge) in the stir fry recipe below. Bekana has nice crunchy ribs that stand up well to cooking and add texture to your final dish. Ooh, you should sprinkle some of your chopped green onions on the stir-dry dish too - that would be delicious. Even though we had this planting cover with row cover to keep out the bugs, the leaves are a bit holey from flea beetles. I guess this means the bekana is extra good and tender, and as Steve always says - you can't taste the holes :) I hope you are enjoying the salad turnips. We've eaten through several bunches just raw because they are so good and I'm sometimes too tired to cook them up after a day on the farm. One day last week when I did have the energy I made a fried rice with turnips, carrots and green onion. That was extra tasty. Let us know what you are making with your veggies by tagging us on facebook or instagram (@rainsandsun), or posting in the recipe section of the forum ( https://www.rainsandsun.com/forum/recipes ). Hope you all have a great week! Recipes from Maria: Chinese Stir-Fried Spring Greens Ingredients 2 tsp oil ½ cup unsalted cashew nuts ½ a red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced 1 fat garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced 2.5 cm square of fresh ginger, peeled and diced 2 heads of spring greens, stalks removed, leaves finely shredded (about 150g prepared weight) 3 tbsp oyster sauce Instructions Heat half the oil in a wok, add the nuts and cook them until they turn golden brown. Tip out of the pan. Add the rest of the oil and when hot, add the chilli, garlic and ginger. Cook a few seconds, then add the greens and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, add a splash of water to the pan, cover and steam for 2 minutes. Push the greens to the side, add the oyster sauce and bring it to the boil, mixing in the cooking juices. Then stir the sauce into the greens. Sprinkle with the nuts. Kale and Quinoa Salad Ingredients ~3 cups cooked quinoa (equals 1 cup dry quinoa) ~10 cups chopped raw kale, stems removed 1 cup dried cranberries ¾ cup slivered almonds For the dressing: 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ¼ cup apple cider vinegar ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 heaping tablespoon of honey ½ teaspoon salt Instructions Mix quinoa, kale, cranberries and almonds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jar whisk together dressing ingredients until well combined (make sure honey doesn't stick to the bottom), then pour over quinoa mixture. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

In the share this week: 1 bunch salad turnips 1 bunch french breakfast radishes 1 bag spinach 2 heads mini romaine lettuce 1 bunch green onions 1 bag mizuna, baby kale, or arugula Thoughts from Farmer Anna: Late last week, when it finally turned warm and sunny, I was wishing for rain. Although we've had some fairly regular precipitation the last few weeks, we haven't had a good recharging soaking rain in awhile. Well, be careful what you wish for - there are over 4 inches of rain in our rain gauge! Times like these make me very thankful for our hilltop location. The rain this week means that we can put off getting together some new sprinkler lines and it saves the time of physically moving hoses and drip tapes and sprinklers around. The rain this week also means that we will most likely not be able to prep the new bed areas we had planned to get into this week, and it means that we may not be able to do much weeding (and the weeds are loving the rain of course!). This is certainly the nature of farming. I like to think we are getting a nice little respite from work this week, so that we can charge up and get lots of stuff done next week. Happily, we can also focus our energies on the hoophouse crops while the rain is falling. Everything looks like it has grown a foot in a week since the temps warmed up. We are getting our trellising established on the cherry tomatoes, replacing some of the slicer tomatoes we lost, learning how to trellis cucumbers, and planting ginger and basil. I was so happy with the ginger crop we grew last year. It takes a long time for this normally tropical plant to mature, but the flavor and freshness really seem worth it. Luckily for us, the rain held off Monday morning for our harvest. My favorite item we are harvesting this week is the salad turnips. If you've never eaten a turnip before, or if you've only had the big storage turnips, you are really in for a treat! These salad turnips are amazingly sweet and tender (not as crunchy as a radish) and have a flavor that is sometimes reminiscent of melon (or at least that is what Steve says). They are awesome raw or cooked. Two out of three of my kids will eat raw sliced turnips sprinkled with a bit of salt. The turnips greens are also very nice to use as a cooking green. If you want to try the turnips cooked, check out the soup recipe Maria has below. I also really like the turnips roasted in the oven. The french breakfast radishes we are harvesting this week are a little funny since most of them haven't gotten as long as I'm used to seeing for this type of radish. They are crisp and delicious and really cute though! This type of radish is a bit prone to developing some dark spots on the root end when it's really wet, so you may see this on a few of yours. Just trim that part off, it shouldn't extend deep into the root. We try to avoid these when harvesting, but it's often really hard to see when everything is so muddy! I'm very pleased with the spinach we are getting to you this week. This crop loves cool weather, so it has been growing and thriving in the cooler than usual spring. I'm hoping we'll be able to get at least a few harvests from this planting! The mini romaine lettuces are almost too pretty to eat, but of course they are delicious too. If you take any pictures of meals you are cooking with our produce and want to share, you can tag us on Instagram or Facebook (@rainsandsun) or you can post in the 'Recipes' section of the Forum on our website ( https://www.rainsandsun.com/forum/recipes ). We'd love to see what you are making! Recipes from Maria: French Breakfast Radishes on Toast with Cream Cheese, Dill, and Fresh Lemon Juice Ingredients 1 slice: bagel thin, toast or several of baguette, halved and toasted 2 tablespoons cream cheese 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill 2 French Breakfast Radishes thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice approx. 1 lemon wedge Chopped chives for garnish optional Instructions Spread the cream cheese evenly on your toasted bagel thin. Sprinkle both halves with half of the chopped dill. Top with slices of French Breakfast Radishes. Sprinkle with the rest of the dill. Spritz lemon juice over the toasts. Garnish with Chives Turnip Soup with Turnip Greens Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds small turnips (about 1 to 2 inches across), weighed without their greens Salt 5 tablespoons butter, in all 2 to 3 leeks, white parts only (about 8 ounces), sliced 6 branches thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 4 cups milk White or black pepper About 2 to 3 cups turnip greens Fresh chopped thyme for garnish (optional) Instructions Peel the turnips (thickly, if they are large and mature) and slice them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil; then add 2 teaspoons salt and the turnips. Cover the pot and cook for 1 minute; then drain. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a soup pot with 1/2 cup water. Add the leeks, the blanched turnips, the thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stew them, covered, over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, and then add the milk. Slowly heat it without bringing it to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnips are completely tender. Cool the soup briefly; then purée it in a blender. If necessary, thin it with additional milk or water. Season to taste with salt, if needed, and freshly ground pepper. Sort through the turnip greens and remove any that are bruised or especially tough looking, and wash them. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, add the turnip greens, and cook them over medium heat until they are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the cooked greens to a cutting board and chop them, roughly or fine, as you prefer; then add them to the soup and serve. Or garnish with fresh chopped thyme.

In the share this week: 1 bag salad mix 1 bunch radishes 1 bunch green garlic 1 bag pea shoots 1 bunch spring onions 1 bag/bunch mizuna or 2 baby pac choi Thoughts from Farmer Anna: The start of a new season is always an exciting and hectic time here on the farm. We plant so many crops in April and there is so much promise in those baby plants. I've been farming now long enough to know that some of the crops will fulfill that promise, while others won't live up to their potential. This is the nature of farming and it's one of the reasons that we plant so many different crops. There is resilience in variety, a resilience that means we will always have something to harvest for our family and your family. The super cold temperatures we experienced this past weekend have been a bit of a test for us. The 29 degree temp on Friday night was most definitely the coldest temp we've had this late into the spring season. Luckily, most of our crops experienced only minor damage. Unfortunately, we lost 1/3 of our tomato crop that had been planted in one of the hoophouses. It's always something in farming, and this is our first big crop challenge of the 2020 season. The best course of action is not to dwell too long on the loss, and to quickly pivot to solutions or contingency plans. This year is certainly turning out to be unique thus far. Again, we are so lucky that our farm has not been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that has altered the normal patterns of all of our lives. I know that many, many people and businesses have not been so fortunate. We are incredibly grateful for your support and we are working hard to make sure you will have the best quality, safe, local veg all season. Our CSA members are the highest priority for our farm. We have a small number of people helping out on the farm this year and all of us are keeping our bubbles of influence as small as possible to protect ourselves and you. We hope that each and every one of you stays healthy during this crisis. However, if you happen to fall ill and need to put your share on hold or make any other change, we are happy to accommodate. We really hope that we don't have to deal with any of us getting sick, but in the worst case scenario it's possible that we would have to suspend shares for a short time to protect you. Hopefully, that is not a bridge we have to cross. Whew, ok enough downer stuff. Let's talk a bit about the crops this week. In early spring you should always expect a good amount of greens. These greens are such a tonic in the spring - just what the body needs after the rich foods of winter. We have a nice mix of fresh salad greens and cooking greens along with some alliums (onion/garlic crops) and radishes. One of the more unusual items in your share this week are pea shoots. These are the young tender sprouts of the pea plant and they have such a fresh, green, sweet flavor. They can be eaten raw, but I prefer them lightly cooked or wilted. The risotto recipe Maria has provided below sounds like a perfect way to experience the texture and flavor of this early spring crop. Another item that you may not have used previously is green garlic. This is similar to a green onion - just a young, small garlic planted harvested early. You can chop and use the entire plant, bulb + greens, and substitute for garlic in any recipe. The greens are a little tougher than green onion, so it's better to cook them a bit, but their flavor is fantastic. The different share days are receiving different types of mustard greens this week. Tuesday shares are getting sprouted baby pac choi - these plants were starting to flower, but the stalks are still tender and would be excellent in a stir fry with your fresh onions. Thursday and Saturday shares are receiving green or red mizuna. Mizuna is a milder mustard green that is great eaten fresh in salad or lightly cooked. Hope you all have a wonderful week! Recipes from Maria: Pea Shoot Risotto Ingredients 3 Tablespoons butter 1 onion, finely chopped 1 cup frozen or cooked fresh peas About 6 cups hot vegetable stock 1 cup risotto rice 1 cup white wine ¼ cup parmesan, or vegetarian alternative, grated 2 good handfuls pea shoots Lemon and extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle (optional) Instructions Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and gently sweat for about 10 mins until really soft. Meanwhile, put a third of the peas into a food processor with a ladleful of stock and whizz until completely puréed. Stir the rice into the onion, increase heat to medium and sizzle the rice for 1 min. Pour in the wine, then bubble and stir until completely absorbed. Continue cooking like this, adding a ladleful of stock at a time, and stirring continuously until the rice is tender and has a good creamy consistency – this will take 20-30 mins. Stir in the puréed peas, remaining peas, Parmesan and some seasoning, then turn off the heat and leave to stand for a few mins. Give the risotto a final stir, spoon into shallow bowls and top with some pea shoots, a squirt of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. This can be served with numerous other sauteed vegetables, asparagus, mustard greens, mushrooms, etc. Paprika Creamed Greens Ingredients 4½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided 2 pounds fresh greens, stemmed and chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 small red onion, sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper 4 cups half-and-half (or other dairy alternative) Instructions In a large Dutch oven, bring 4 inches water and 3 teaspoons salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Add greens; cook until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove using a slotted spoon, and place in an ice bath. Drain well, and squeeze dry. In a 12-inch enamel-coated cast-iron braiser, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour, paprika, and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Whisk in half-and-half until smooth; bring to a boil. Stir in greens and remaining 1½ teaspoons salt; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.