This week's box:  broccoli, beets, carrots, lacinato kale, some snap peas- not many, scallions,

a shallot, garlic, the last of the garlic scapes, zucchini or summer squash.  There will be cabbage,

more new potatoes, but not flowers.  The herb will be basil.  A bunch of garlic was in your bin today.

A few people did not get a bunch, but in individual heads. Since the garlic is still fresh, it is good to

hang it so it will cure if you are not going to use it right away. You will receive three more bunches

throughout the season. 

Don't forget your flowers!   

The Garden 7/3/08  

Arugula

 An aromatic salad green with a peppery and slightly bitter flavor, arugula (also known as rocket) is terrific to throw into an otherwise boring salad.  It can be gently braised, too.  Some supermarkets sell it in small bunches or clamshells, but you're more likely to find it combined with other greens in a spring salad mix. 

 

Savory 

This herb has a strong, peppery flavor, and it's often used in Mediterranean countries to flavor beans, mushrooms, vegetables, and meats.  There are two varieties:  winter savory and the milder summer savory.  Winter savory is best suited to slowly cooked dishes like stews.  

Savory is great on fresh corn.  First parboil the corn, whole on the cob, then cut off lengthwise and sauté with a little butter, salt and pepper.

Swiss chard

Chard is really two vegetables in one – the dark green, ruffled leaves and the white or colored stems.  The greens can be cooked pretty much any way that spinach is.  They are a tad more fibrous (so they cook down less and are chewier) They have a slightly stronger, earthier flavor, but otherwise chard and spinach are similar.  Chard leaves can be steamed, made into a quiche, or large leaves used for wrappers, dolma-style, for ground meats and grains. 

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes are actually a shoot the garlic plant gives when it’s making a effort to produce a seed pod at this early stage.  We snap them off so the garlic plant puts more of it’s energy into producing a larger bulb of garlic, rather than putting it’s energy into making a seeds for next year.  Use like chives or like regular garlic in any of your favorite dishes that call for garlic.  Milder than garlic cloves. Great grilled and served over lamb or beef.  Great article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18appe.html?ref=dining

Snap Peas and /or Snow Peas

Peas are one of the world's oldest crop. Both the flat snow peas you mostly see in Chinese stir-fries and sweet sugar snap peas - which are actually a cross between green peas and snow peas - come into season in the spring.  Snap peas are a group of edible-podded peas. The peas are nutritious and filling, but are not as high in total carbohydrates and fats as green shelled English peas. The crunchy pods contribute mostly water and vitamins to the diet.

Our Past boxes included:  mixed lettuce greens including white and red romaine, herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon, savory), fresh garlic and scallions, beets, spinach, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage baby squash, spinach, scallions and flower bouquets. 

Our First Box began with a few of the early spring crops – it was small, but as things start coming out we don’t want them to go to waste.  We’ll have a few herbs, too – cilantro, chives, thyme, and perhaps some others. 

Mixed Lettuce Greens

Mesclun Mix

Arugula

Garlic Scapes

Radishes

Baby White Russian Kale

Tatsoi Cabbage

Strawberries

Rhubarb