Today is our last pick up of spring shares.  Finally a nice week with mild weather!  Artichokes, beets, garlic, head lettuce, spinach, snow peas, strawberries, cherries and either broccoli, purple or white cauliflower, Or romanesco will be in your shares this week!  Thank you for all your support this spring!  We will see you all in a couple of weeks when Summer Shares begin, June 2nd!

Meanwhile we will take the two week rest to kick our feet up, watch TV, listen to the radio while chillin drinking a cup of tea….For about 5 minutes and then we will be back to pulling garlic to make room for beans, squash, and other wonderful summer and fall crops.  Thinning peaches, catching up on the weeding, just plan ole’ catching up!

What you will need

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 red beets ( about 1 3/4 lb total weight)
• 2 tablespoons canola or grape seed oil
• fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

preheat oven to 350•F

in a small bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and. Stir to mix well.

If the beet greens are still attached, cut them off, leaving 1/2 inch of the stems attached. (save the greens for another use like sautéing) arrange the beets in a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with the oil and turn to coat, then rub with the spice mixture, coating the beets evenly. Roast, turning occasionally, until the beets the easily pierced with a sharp knife and the skins are slightly wrinkled, about 1 1/4 hours. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, cut off the stems and remove to skins with your fingers.

cut each beet lengthwise into wedges, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve warm or at room temperature.

serves 4

A quick sauté brings out the natural sweetness and crunch of peas. Fresh basil, tart lemon zest, and tangy pecorino cheese are sprinkled on top for a delicious and fast dish.

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb sugar snap peas, strings removed
• 1 lb English peas, shelled
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 lemon
• leaves from 4 fresh basil sprigs, torn
• about 1 oz chunk pecorino Romano cheese

in a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add both kinds of peas and 1/4 cup water. Add a pinch of salt. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated, about 2 minutes. The peas should be tender-crisp and still bright green.

grate 2 teaspoons zest from the lemon, then halve the lemon. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze the juice from 1 lemon half over the peas. Add the lemon zest, basil, and a pinch each of salt and pepper to the pan. Grate the cheese over the top to taste, and stir to mix well. Transfer the peas to a warmed serving dish and serve right away.

serves 4

Strawberries!  It’s strawberry season and we love it!  Shares this week are full of goodies like, strawberries, carrots or peas (not both), baby beets with greens, scarlet salad turnips with greens,, fresh garlic (use fresh or let sit a week or two), baby head lettuce, loose leaf lettuce greens, cabbage head and our herb is dill.

One more week to go with spring shares.  We will have more strawberries more delicious garlic  well as artichokes in our last basket!  Summer shares will be beginning June 2nd.  Summer share consist of more hardy vegetable like tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplants and such.  We are all looking forward to a great summer growing season!