In the share this week:
1 medium napa cabbage
1 bunch swiss chard
1 bunch radishes
1 bag arugula
1 bag mesclun mix
1 mini butternut squash
1 small garlic
1 bag sugar snap peas
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
The sunset is getting earlier and earlier these days so that we hardly have time after dinner to get back outside to do a few chores or just to take a nice walk around the farm. I love that I don't have so much to take care of veggie-wise right now so that Steve and I are able to walk around and visit some of the corners of the farm that I rarely see. The goldenrod is just past peak here now and I thought it was looking so lovely as Steve was walking ahead of me last week. We have a good bit of maintenance to catch up on around the outside of our fenced vegetable growing area, since we spent every extra minute of time in the last year and a half on our straw bale house build. The off season work follows a different rhythm and we actually look forward to it, since it typically doesn't follow an urgent timeline :)
We are solidily back into the volumous shares with lots of greens! There are so many tender greens in your share this week: arugula, mesclun mix, swiss chard, and napa cabbage. All of these, but especially the first two, are great raw in salads. They can all also be cooked if you prefer and in fact you could combine all of these greens together to make a big pot of Indian saag. I recently learned that saag is usually made with a mix of greens (not just the spinach we often think of). While we don't have any spinach just yet (should be a couple of weeks), the swiss chard is a good substitute and the mustard greens and napa cabbage would round it out. Here's a good article and recipe to give you an idea:
I thinking with your fresh radishes and peas this week, you should just make a delicious dip (ranch or hummus would be good) and eat those crunchy, sweet veggies raw. We are down to mini sized butternuts ( the variety we're growing puts off more, but smaller squash) and I think they are the perfect size to cut in half and roast without peeling, then serve right on the plate with some butter and honey or savory spicing, as a side dish. It looks like a cold front is coming in this weekend, so it will be nice to turn on the oven!
Have a good week everyone!