In the share this week:
1 head cabbage
1 bunch beets
1 bunch sweet onions
1 bunch green onions
2 fennel bulbs
1 bunch curly parsley
1 head lettuce

Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
The cabbages in your shares this week won't be quite as large as the one pictured above with our girls :) Greta, the blondie, grew this one as part of the third grade cabbage program that Bonnie plants sponsors. The variety they give the kids is a giant cabbage type, so they can get really large (their record is 75 lbs). This one topped out at just over 11 lbs, which is still crazy big compared to our regular ol' 2-3 lb cabbages. We are thinking of having a cabbage party with a soup featuring cabbage and some coleslaw pasta salad type thing since Greta just recently discovered that she likes pasta salad. Cabbage is such a versatile, tasty and long-storing veggie, which has historically made it a staple food in many Northern European countries. Mallory, one of our amazing farm employees, has some Hungarian ancestry and her family really enjoys a simple egg noddle and cabbage dish. Cabbage and onions cooked together have a soft melting texture and wonderful flavor. Here's a recipe to try if you're interested:
I love it when beets and fennel are timed up in a share together. The earthy sweetness and smooth texture of roasted beets pairs really well with the anise flavors of the fennel. If you haven't cooked with fennel before, this recipe link also includes a video that shows how to chop and prepare the fennel bulbs. You can also use the leaves as an herbal component in the salad and chop the fronds to cook as well (or just chew on them as a breath freshener as the kids do sometimes). There are lots of beet and fennel salad recipes out there, but this one looks awesome and also uses parsley:
If you need other ideas for how to use the fronds of the fennel, there are lots here: https://www.wholefoodbellies.com/what-to-do-with-fennel-fronds/
This is the first year we've grown a curly parsley variety and it seems to be thriving is not bolting so fast like our flat leaf parsley. Some of the stuff I've been reading says that curly parsley is actually tastier than flat leaf, just not so trendy right now. You can certainly use it in any recipe that calls for parsley and is especially good for fish and in stock making, as per this article in the guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/oct/19/whats-the-point-of-curly-parsley
The onions are continuing to size up and we'll have fresh sweet or red long onions for the next few weeks. We eat so many of these in our house - I just absolutely love them! It looks like the summer squash plantings are finally coming on, so we should have those in shares starting next week, along with the first carrots of the season too!
Hope you have a great week!