All of a sudden it truly feels like summer. The heat is here, we are baling hay, and it seems that everything needs to be weeded at once. We brought in 2 wagon loads of hay and the barn already smells delicious. Oliver was so excited to have hay to climb on again, even though it was only stacked 2 bales high. We struggled to convince him to come in for dinner. The flower garden is almost fully planted and slowly they are starting to bloom. Many of the flowers from last year have reseeded themselves in different places, along with the cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, chard and more. It is always interesting to see which plants survive and where they travel. The baby turkeys have arrived, adding more diversity, beauty, adventure, and work.
Baby Standard Bronze turkeys
This week's pick list:
- Carrots
- Beets
- Snap peas
- Turnips
- Radishes
- Scallions
- Garlic scapes
- Kohlrabi
- Kale
- Collards
- Chard
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Lettuce
- Escarole and frisee
- Pac Choy
- Basil, parsley, dill, and cilantro
- Strawberries
The dry corn field with both chicken coops, cows, and more
Chopped Salad with Feta, Lime, and Mint, adapted from smittenkitchen.com
- 3 cups chopped, crunchy vegetables, such as radish, turnips, snap peas, carrots
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta, queso fresco or ricotta salata
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup well-toasted sunflower seeds, salted or unsalted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon chile powder or 1/8 teaspoon each your choice combination of chile powder, cumin, cayenne or sumac
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
- Mix the vegetables, feta, scallions, seeds and mint in a medium bowl.
Whisk lime juice, olive oil, salt, spice and black pepper in a small dish and pour over vegetables, tossing to evenly coat.
Adjust with more salt or pepper as needed. Garnish with mint and crunch-crunch-crunch away!
Valerian
Spinach Pilaf with Carrots, adapted from Laxmi's Vegetarian Kitchen
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 cup chopped spinach
- 4 carrots, diced
- 1 garlic scape, sliced thin
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons ghee or butter
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 scallions, sliced
- A handful of chopped herbs, such as basil, cilantro, parsley
Salute the spinach in a little ghee or butter over medium heat until wilted. Puree in a food processor or blender with 1/2 cup water until smooth.
Heat the ghee or butter over medium heat. Add the cloves and cinnamon and salute briefly, about 30 seconds. Add carrots, rice, and garlic scapes and saute for about 4 minutes. Add the spinach puree, salt and the rest of the water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let rice stand 5 minutes. Fluff gently and garnish with scallions and herbs.