It’s hot out there!  Keep hydrated and eat lots of fruit!  We are over loaded again this week. This week you will find apricots, 3 or 4 different varieties, pluots, golden plums, a few white peaches (some need a little time on the counter to fully ripen) and some type of berry for your fruit fair fancy.  Veggies will include a red onion, garlic, beets OR white turnips, dill head and carrots. Greens this week will be kale. While summer crops are just starting to come on we will have a mix of other veggies as well. We also have some extra Napa cabbage.  If you get a “green” tomato in your basket, rest assured we weren’t just over eager to pick, they are RIPE!  These are heirloom tomatoes and come in many shades as you’ll find out over the summer season.

Look for a few extras this week in our box. We had a few zucchini get away from us and got a bit large, but you can stuff them, make zucchini bread or dry them into veggie chips.  Also we have a small box (7 lbs) of very ripe apricots.  These are great for making cobbler, fruit leather or freezing for smoothies, but need to be used up quickly. Napa cabbage and scallions as well will be in the mix.  A few bug holes, so they are ugly, but still very good to stir fry or chop up in salads. Take one extra item only please so others can benefit as well.

It has begun!  Summer shares start today with plenty of sweetness.  Pluots, Apricots and berries!  The pluots are green on the outside and red on the inside.  They will keep on the counter for a few days and will keep up to two weeks in the frig. Rinse your berries, dry and store in the refrigerator as well, or better yet, eat them up quickly!  We are just in the beginning stages of apricots, so get out your recipe books and find some new ideas to use them up.  Of course you will find garlic in your basket.  It is garlic season and it’s so good for you.  Herbs this week are fennel and dill.  If herbs aren’t used during the week you can dry them in a food dehydrator or even in a very low temp oven to save for later in the season.  Our tomatoes are just starting to ripen, along with summer squash and a few of these will be in your share as well, along with greens and other veggies in season. We are adding a small amount of lettuce this week and then it will come to an end until later fall.  As the season goes, you will be finding heirloom tomatoes, squash and peppers of different colors.  If you are into adventurous cooking and want to increase your cookbook library, we suggest and love…love…love the book called “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi.  EVERYTHING we have tried in this book has been excellent.  I think it will open up a new way of cooking for you!

Look for the pretty!  The onion scape is not only pretty, but very flavorful in salads, pastas or as a finishing touch for roasted veggies.  Just cut the flower tops off and sprinkle away.

Toss Onion Scapes on top of Salads!

We will be adding some recipes this week to inspire your taste buds that you will be able to use throughout the summer season.

See you all later today between 4 pm and 7 pm!

It’s hard to believe 13 weeks have flown so quickly bye.  This is the last week of our spring shares and those that are signed up for Summer Shares, mark your calender for June 11th for the first pick up for twelve weeks.  Please don’t forget to return your extra baskets today!

Queen Ann Cherries

Cabbage

This is a very full and fabulous basket this week with lots of fragile produce.  A box may be a good idea this week to keep things from bumping and bruising.  Our baskets will be filled with sweet cherries, Queen Ann cherries (very tender and bruise easily), apricots, strawberries, cabbage, peas, green onions, greens (such as kale, chard or celery), turnips, oregano, artichokes and a mixed of odds and ends of veggies.  Also, we will have some extra pie cherries for those who want them…These are buggers to pick and they NEED to be sweetened. SO, if you aren’t interested in them, leave them for someone else.  Waste not, want not!

We want to thank everyone for being so wonderful this spring!  Picking up on time, being kind and courteous makes for a happy farmer!

Enjoy & Eat Seasonally~

Mod Podge Week!  The gardens are blooming abundantly with this spectacular May.  Peas are coming on strong and should be good for several more week to come.  Everyone’s baskets will be slightly different this week due to crops coming on at such different times, but what will find in your share this week for sure is apricots, cherries, strawberries, peas, a greens of some kind or another, herbs, plus a mix of different in season veggies, which may include ~ turnips, artichokes, tomatoes, garlic, squash, peppers, cauliflower, fava beans….It will be the pick of the draw, so if you have one of those in mind you may want to peek through your basket.

Next week (May 28th) is will be the end of our Spring Share with skipping one week and beginning Summer Shares June 11th lasting 12 weeks.  If you are part of the summer shares, the remainder of your balance will be due next week if you haven’t already done so.  Enjoy!

Time is flying!  Already in week Eleven with only two weeks remaining.  So what’s in this weeks shares?  Cabbage, greens (swiss chard or kale), lettuce, peas (snap & snow or shelling), green onions, garlic, strawberries, cherries and herbs (fennel, sage & rosemary).

Holy Strawberries!  We picked a huge amount of Strawberries this morning.  If you have any extra containers for them, please bring them!!!!  Also this week we have spinach, peas, artichoke, hukurie turnip (we thought it was going to bolt, but thank goodness for great weather), mixed greens and herbs of oregano, chervil and mint (in with bag of greens to save bags) plus fresh garlic.

Next week, we will have Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, Sweet Cherries, lettuce, shelling peas……

Ahhh….Finally finished harvesting today!  What a crazy morning!  Thanks to Chelsea for kicking in and helping today!

We are so excited about our garlic coming on already!  So, of course you will find our Extra Early Chinese Pink Garlic and some garlic scapes in your shares this week.  If you haven’t used garlic scapes, you NEED to give the recipe at the end of this blog a try!  The fresh garlic can be used now, or you can wait a couple weeks for it to “cure”.  Either way, it won’t matter!

Green onions, peas, lettuce, baby fennel bulb, cilantro, dill, strawberries and cherries (these come off my parents OLD tree) will all be in your baskets this week as well of a mix of other veggies.

Shrimp with Garlic Scapes

In a large skillet heat 1 T olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add 5-10 thinly sliced garlic scapes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.  Add 1/2 to 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp, 1/2 pound snow or snap peas (or both), 1/2 t salt, zest from 1 lemon and cook for 5 more minutes or until cooked through, but not overcooked.  You do want peas to be bright green and still somewhat crisp.  Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 T fresh lemon juice, 2 T chopped parsley and 2 T unsalted butter.  Swirl until creamy and butter is melted.  Enjoy!

I think I could eat this everyday!  

Pea Season!  We are just starting to pick peas this week so we will be adding a taster to your shares this week.  As the weeks progress we will be adding snap, snow and shelling peas.  This week is snap peas.  Add into your salads or stir fry.  Of course greens this week of different mixes, lettuce/spinach mix, garlic scapes, strawberries, turnips or broccoli, green onions, fresh garlic bulb, radishes, and herbs.  Extra Eggs this week too!

Spring in Southern Utah!  Hot one day and a freeze the next and lots of wind!  One thing is for sure and never seems to change is the winds here!  This past few days we have kept on eye out for extreme winds and I feel blessed that we don’t live on Foremaster Ridge, St. George! 70 mile wind gust!  If you like to watch the weather, you might want to add the ” Davis Instruments WeatherLink” mobile app to your phone.  We will soon be launched on this app with our own station as well.

Produce this week will have many mixes of greens including kale, radicchio, beet greens with baby beets and celery. S  Spinach, green onions, broccoli, lettuce and herbs (cilantro, dill, oregano, sage, rosemary & fennel).  We have some other onesie, twosie items that will be a mix in your share as well.  As usual, I will list a recipe for some of our produce later today…. I also did a post on our other blog, Out Standing in the Garden, on kale that includes a recipe for a blueberry smoothie if your interested HERE is the link for that.

This week I recruited a new gardener and farmer.  I think he is coming along nicely!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small skillet dry roast 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds until fragrant, then grind with a mortar and pestal.

Halve 1 pound carrots lengthwise.  Place in baking dish add 3 peeled and quartered beets, 1 unpeeled orange cut into 8 wedges, 2 T olive oil, 1 T cider vinegar, 1/4 t sea salt and 2 T fresh thyme.  Add 1 teaspoon cumin and toss until all ingredients are coated.  Roast uncovered for 45 minutes or until beets are tender throughout.

Dressing

Pick orange wedges out of roasted vegetables and squeeze juice into separate bowl and discard peel.  Add any juices from baking dish.  Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T red wine vinegar, 1 t maple syrup, 1/8 t sea salt and a dash of pepper.

In a large bowl, combine 4 cups chopped kale, 1 peeled and sliced avocado, and 2 T fresh chopped chives. Add dressing and toss to combine.  Transfer roasted vegetables to a serving dish and top with dressed greens.  Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and chive flowers if available and serve.