Gorgeous Lettuces + Spinach; First Kale, Chard, Komatsuna + Mei Qing Choi!

Food & Farm Notes for May 23

Read all about Henry’s 2 kinds of spinach (pictured above and described below), and be sure to take advantage of his 2-bag special pricing to taste-test both kinds and decide which you like best!

Hello and welcome to another great market coming up this Saturday! You’ll see many more beautiful spring greens and roots at Henry’s stand, including a number of first-of-the-season things:

First Kale & Chard (from the field)
First Endive, Escarole, and Frisee to liven up your salads!
Also the first Lettuces from the field which are tastier and will last longer in your fridge than the lettuces you’ve been getting so far from the hoophouse.

And be sure to get some of the first Komatsuna & Mei Qing Choi (from the hoophouse)

Henry's also got a lot more Alliums coming to market this week, including:
—> Green Garlic (German Extra Hardy with big stems and swelling bulbs — really nice!)
—> Spring Onions of all varieties
—> Spring Shallots, which are like spring onions except milder, sweeter, and juicier. Henry says be sure to take some home this week!

This week may be your last chance for Wild Nettles, so be sure to get some!

Other not-to-miss vegetables this week

For your beautiful rainbow salads, sautees, and stir-fries:
- Purple Dragon Carrots
- Orange Carrots
- Rainbow Carrots
- Red Beets
- Golden Beets
- Mint
- Dill
- Cilantro
- Lamb's Quarters (aka Wild Spinach)
- Sorrel
- Chives
- Spring Onions (all varieties)
- Green Garlic (the nice big German Extra Hardy variety)
- Spring Shallots (like Green Onions but better!)

Food Notes: Henry’s Two Kinds of Spinach

It’s a BIG Week for SPINACH because all of Henry’s early spring plantings have come to maturity at the same time! So look for Henry’s SPECIAL 2-bag price for the Spinach — and take home many multiples of two!

Scroll down to the easy How-To Freeze Greens in the Food Notes below.

Amador Spinach (left) is an Asian type favored by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean people. The smooth green-black leaves are arrow-shaped and grows more upright than other spinach varieties. The nice long stem is very tender and sweet and the most-prized part of the plant. This variety has a deeper more robust taste than regular spinach.

The “regular” varieties of spinach that Henry grows (right) are a lighter, brighter green and have a milder, slightly “grassy” flavor. Their traditional savoyed leaves are broader and grow closer to the ground than the Amador leaves.

Both varieties are very tasty, quite sweet, and have a fairly short season, so now is the time to enjoy them AND to freeze some to enjoy later!

How to Freeze Spinach (or Lamb’s Quarters, or pretty much any green!)

Here's how to prep and freeze spinach. (Use the same process for Lambs Quarters, but strip the leaves from the lower part of the stems first.)

Wash the spinach. Do NOT remove the stems!
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Fill a large bowl with cold water (or ice water) and set near the stove.
Drop large handfuls of spinach into the boiling water, giving a good stir to fully submerge the leaves. Cook until all the spinach is bright green, about 2 minutes.
Scoop the spinach out and dunk into the cold water. When cool, remove the spinach and squeeze lightly. Transfer to a large bowl.
Repeat the steps above until all the spinach is cooked and cooled.
Then fill your containers or freezer bags with spinach, and you're set for many delicious, nutritious meals in the months ahead!

Farm Notes: Lookin’ Good!

With these longer days as we near the summer solstice, Henry gets 2 or 3 more hours of daylight to work in after the farm hands go home to eat and rest.

Tonight he was down in the bottom-land fields making and repairing the many electric fences — tall ones at the edge of the woods and shorter ones around individual fields — that attempt to keep the deer from eating your spinach and lettuce. It is a never ending task, as the deer routinely breaking through our lines, undeterred by an electric shock as they run through or try to jump over the fences for a gourmet meal.

In other news, we finally got many of the summer crops transplanted from the hoophouse into the field, including the tomatoes in the foreground. Henry planted them into a part of the field that has Canada thistle, so he covered the ground with tarps, which we hope will kill the thistles.

But all in all, things are looking good so far this season!

View original post