First Fruits

We had some beautiful 50 degree weather today. I took Reed to do his driving test after work, he passed. Good job Reed!

I got home a little early so I planted our first greens of the 2014 growing season.  I planted...

The Baby Vegetable Farm

A young lady stood in front of our farmers market stand with a quizzical look on her face. Her face turned from puzzlement to a knowing look as she said, "You guys are the baby vegetable farm." She was looking at all the signs that read baby spinach, baby arugula, baby patty pan, baby zucchini, baby beet greens, baby onions, baby carrots, baby cilantro, baby potatoes, baby okra, baby squash blossoms, baby kale, etc.

So why do we harvest everything at the baby size? Because that is the way we like to eat them and we think you will too. We get asked a lot if we plant special designer varieties that are just baby. They say they have never seen vegetables so small that taste so good.

Generally the varieties are regular varieties that are just harvested small. So yes you have seen baby zucchini, you just didn't take the time to pick them small. When you harvest small you need more plants than normal. Like we plant 4 rows of zucchini 300 feet long to get 50 -75 pounds of baby patty pan or zucchini a week. (If you let them get larger, generally one week later, this amount of zucchini would fill my whole pickup.)

I love to harvest greens at the baby stage; they are just perfect for salads without additional prep, catering to the consumer who doesn't have a lot of extra time. The flavor, tenderness and presentation at this stage is truly amazing.

We also like the baby size potatoes, so much so that we crowd our potatoes to keep them small. You don't get the yield you could that way but the percentage of small potatoes is way more and the flavor is still great.

So our very astute and observant customer was on to something. We do have a lot of baby vegetables both by design and through serendipity (the serendipity stories are for another time).

Kale Salad With Almond Sweet Curry Dressing

Creamy Almond Sweet Curry Kale Salad (wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free, oil-free, low fat, low salt)

This time of the year we have lots of fresh cut baby kale, so I was looking for a delicious dressing to go with this extremely healthy green. Kale by itself is pretty plain and is best if complemented by a good dressing. I tried several non-oil type dressings and picked the things I liked the best from each. So here goes, Almond Sweet Curry dressing.

Salad Ingredients

1 pound baby kale chopped (Petersen's)
3 carrots grated (Petersen's, new this week)
1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Creamy Almond Sweet Curry Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup raw almonds (any almonds will do)
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp maple syrup (can also use equivalent stevia)
1/2 cups water (or more to thin if needed)
1 small clove garlic or can also use a shallot
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp sweet curry powder (I like Pensy's blend)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions for Dressing

Using a high powered blender mix all ingredients until very smooth and creamy. Thin with water to the consistency you wish. Sample and add more curry if you wish. This makes a good full cup, you can easily double the recipe by doubling all the ingredients. This baby is really good and works well as a dip. Just cut back the water and chill before serving.

Instructions for Salad

Just toss carrots and kale with dressing. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and cherries.

Kick it Up

- Add an apple julienned or thin sliced fennel
- Red bell pepper julienned
- Grated Beet will give the salad a pink color
- Use other dried fruit (raisins, apricots, goji berries)
- Use fresh fruit like blueberries or strawberries

The June Solstice is This Week

The June Solstice occurs on Friday, June 21 at 12:04 AM. Did you know this is the longest day of the year and the days begin to shorten after this?

This is a very important event in the plant world as many of the garden and wild plants are day length sensitive. Many of the mile markers of the season in terms of plant development are driven by light.

Many of the greens such as lettuce, spinach and mustard greens want to bolt at this point no matter what size the plants are. Bolting is the process of the plants sending up a see head and is usually accompanied by a bitterness in the plant. We avoid this by planting a second or third crop long about now.

The enlargement of the bulb on long day northern onions is triggered by the long days at the end of June (see post on counting onion leaves). The effect is quite striking as the onions go from the size of my index finger to the size of a baseball or softball in a matter of weeks. The cellular replication rate must be off the charts.

The shear length of the days make plants like corn do double time in growth. That is why plants near the Arctic circle, while they have a short growing season often can grow rapidly, and make a crop in the land of the mid night sun. We often notice that the late full season corn for green chopping for the silo would reach phenomenal heights of 10-12 feet because it was planted late and leveraged those long days.

Tell someone you love, that you enjoyed sharing the longest day with them.

Cress

We grow some spicy cress in the beds with our spring mix greens. We will start harvesting this week. This is one of the fastest greens to grow at 15 days.

Cress has a peppery flavor and is used in salads and for soups and sandwiches.

We sell it separately so you can use it mixed with greens or separate.

It can also be used as a medicinal herb to prevent postnatal complications, indigestion and constipation.

Feel free to comment anywhere if you would like us to do a certain topic (ex. How To's, Information, FAQ's, etc.) or if there are certain aspects of our blog that you particularly enjoy and want more of.

Heavenly Tasting Greens

It is show time in the garden for those heavenly tasting greens. Lettuce, spinach, kale, mizuna, tatsoi, cress and arugula are our favorite greens. They are especially flavorful compared to store purchased greens. We have been told this by our customers many many times and they often ask why this is. Some customers have even gone so far as to do a taste test.

There are several reasons for this amazing flavor.

First we work very hard at remineralizing our soils. We add kelp meal, low magnesium lime, and highly mineralized salts. These minerals replace those removed from the soils over the years of farming activity.

Second we use several inches of compost in each bed. The substrate for this compost is vegetable matter such as leaves and alfalfa hay that brings up minerals from deep in the soil. These minerals are maintained by the compost. Compost is not a fertilizer perse, but it does contain a nice amount of slow release nitrogen that is just right for light feeding greens. It is more of a soil amendment that feeds the microorganisms in the coil. A primary purpose for the compost is to provide a weed free shield for the greens to get ahead of any weeds that may be present. This makes for a low maintenance growing site.

Third we harvest the greens Friday night right before market. They are extremely fresh for the market and that gives them incredible shelf life. We have had many customers tell us that they have been able to enjoy their salads for two weeks after purchase.

The best way to get the maximum shelf life is to wash the greens you purchase and then spin or pat the greens free of moisture. Then put them in a zip lock bag with a paper towel to collect any residual moisture. It is the anaerobic conditions where drops of moisture collect that cause spoilage.