Picket Fence Farm Newsletter Week 4

Picket Fence Farm Happenings
Season 2 Issue #4

What’s Happening on the Farm
One word...MUD! Well, maybe two...MUD and WEEDS. All of this rain is making it hard to get in the garden and weed. We’ve been able to get in there a couple times, but there is A LOT more work to be done. Between the weather and us learning how much we need to plant for our customers (our membership increased quite a bit this year) the bags are a little less full than we would like. Please bare with us! As we get further into the season your bags will get fuller! The green beans and zucchini are really close to being ready... I hope by next week we’ll have some. Some of you will have either Sugar Snaps or Kale but not both. This hot weather has been hard on the cool weather crops and these things are either sparse or done. We’ll be planting more for a Fall harvest, however.

What’s in the Box?
Lettuce- either Buttercrunch OR Tom Thumb variety
Radish- either French Breakfast OR Cherry Belle
Kohlrabi- Kolibri
Onion-Sweet Spanish
Sugar Snap Peas OR Kale-either red or green

Recipe Ideas
*Kohlrabi can be cooked, but many people like to eat it raw with a dip. It has a cabbage/turnip type flavor.

*Kale is a cooking green and is excellent in soups or casseroles.

*Sugar Snap Peas are great raw in a salad. I hope we have more of these in the Fall!

I found the following recipes on allrecipes.com:

Vegetarian Kale Soup
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 yellow onion, chopped
· 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
· 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
· 8 cups water
· 6 cubes vegetable bouillon
· 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
· 6 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
· 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans (drained if desired)
· 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
· 2 tablespoons dried parsley
· salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot; cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vegetable bouillon, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Simmer soup on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise
1 pound radishes
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook sugar snap peas in a pan of boiling salted water, about 30 seconds, or just until they turn bright green. Drain and plunge into cold water to stop cooking. Drain. Cut cucumber and radishes cross-wise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Toss peas, cucumber, radishes and sesame seeds with vinegar and oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.