Hello Spring Greens customers!

We have one more, very cool item for sale … we’re calling it “Spring Tonic” salad. It’s a bag of young dandelion greens with one beet and one carrot. We just ate it for dinner, and it was AMAZING. Simply wash the dandelion greens and grate on the beet and carrot. Mix well and add a light vinaigrette. We used olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Orange juice or any other vinegar would also work well. If you add some tuna, other salad greens, a hard boiled egg, croutons, etc. it would be a meal.

These dandelion greens were harvested from the cover crop area surrounding Bill’s vegetable crops. These are deep-rooted perennial plants that harvest minerals from deep within the soil. Wild dandelion greens are much healthier and more flavorful than their cultivated counterparts.

Vegetables A to Z describes spring new dandelions as “vervy,” a bit mushroom-y, and a bit tannic. We can’t really come up with adjectives to describe the flavor, but it is very distinctive in a good way. The texture is sturdy but not tough – it fluffs into a really big salad when you get it out of the bag. The combination of these extremely healthy greens along with beet and carrot should protect you from just about any germ out there.

One order is $4.50 and would provide a nice, big salad for 3-4 people. It’s a rare treat, and we hope you take advantage of it! Please let me know if you’d like any.


Mercy

Early Spring Greens and Pepper's Last Stand

Hello!

Are you ready to order some early spring greens? Eggs? This is your first pre-season opportunity. Right now, Bill has the most amazing collard greens and mustard greens you could find. (OK, you actually couldn’t find these anyway!) Both types of greens are delicious this time of year. Many people don’t cook with greens around here. It’s a shame because you really can’t get much tastier or healthier than collards and mustard greens. What do we do with them? Here’s the deal …

Collards
Collards are a form of kale but with a much milder flavor and silkier texture. They are best prepared with minimal fuss. Bill typically ribbons the collards and then sautés them in olive oil with salt and pepper and a bit of garlic. Then we’ll eat them as is, or he’ll throw them into an omelet. Really … it’s that easy. Some cookbooks advise boiling them until tender in a broth, simmered for hours, or blanched before cooking. None of this is necessary with Bill’s early collards. They are already tender and cook into a perfect texture within 10 minutes. It’s always good to throw in some bacon if you have it, but it’s not imperative. Cookbooks also recommend discarding the stems, but again, these collards are tender and can be eaten in their entirety.

To add a little something special, try the following recipe from Vegetables A to Z:

Collards with Sweet Spices

2 – 2.5 lbs collard greens
2 qts water
1T kosher salt
2T butter
1 lg onion, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Cut the greens into ribbons. Bring water to a boil. Add salt, then collards, and bring back to a boil. Boil gently until tender (not too long!). 15 minutes will do it. Drain liquid and chop greens more finely if you’d like.

Melt butter in the same pot over low heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add spices. Stir a minute or two, then add collards and 1 cup reserved cooking liquid. Simmer gently for a few minutes.

Mustard Greens
Mustard greens have more attitude than collards. If you’re the kind of person who likes a dash of horseradish or a bite of arugula, mustard greens are for you. Elizabeth Schneider sums up the wide array of mustard greens so well in her book Vegetables A to Z that I will simply quote …

Stir ribbons of mustard greens into hot soup just before serving for depth and brilliance. Or stew mustard greens with starchy vegetables, mild greens, or apples and pears, then puree for a creamy soup or sauce. For assertive flavor and maximum aroma, fold slivered leaves into rice, stir fry, or braises at the end of cooking. For a more earthy, gentler effect, cook the chopped mustard greens along with potatoes, beans, or grains.

As you may suspect, Bill cooks mustard greens in much the same way as collard greens. The resulting mustard green dish has a bit more bite, though, which we really enjoy!

What’s going on at the farm?
In anticipation of the rain, Bill spent all day yesterday planting 15 beds – lettuces, radishes, spinach, beets, carrots, turnips, arugula, onions, leeks, and sugar snap peas. Some of the varieties will be ready in 40 days, so you’ll have the chance to get some pre-market season veggies. Bill used his new electric tractor yesterday and was blown away at how well it works. It’s so quiet compared to the big diesel tractor that he thought something was wrong with it when he heard this strange crackling sound – turned out that it was the sound of his tires crunching the dead grass! Whoa. We figure he’ll use about $10 worth of electricity per year recharging his batteries. We feel very good about this given our constant effort to conserve energy and anything else conservable!

The boys are getting so big. You won’t even recognize Ben any more – he’s turned into a kid. No more babies for us! It just kills me how Ben and Noah’s personalities are so different. When I have them help me sort the laundry for folding, Noah makes these neat little piles. Ben, on the other hand, insists upon hanging the underwear on hangers. (It’s how HE thinks it should be done. Very helpful.) Ben is also very conversational, which can be funny. He recently mis-heard the pronunciation of “parmesan” and now we all have to call it “farmer john” cheese. Say it fast, and you can see the confusion.

Pepper our beagle is not doing so well. I think she’s finally getting old (12 or 13 is our best guess) and thinking about letting go. She suddenly developed this common beagle problem with her neck/spine. She spent several days in so much pain, hardly walking, that I thought for sure it was the end. We finally got the medication figured out and she’s bouncing back a bit. The vet said we’re supposed to keep her CRATED for 4-6 weeks while she recovers. (Of course, this is an issue that she’ll never recover from. It could come back with a vengeance at any moment.) Crating a beagle who’s spent her entire life roaming around is like torture. And it involves a lot of peeing on the floor. I’m OK with the pee but it’s hard to keep her cooped up. We’re just going to give it a week or two and see how it goes. She’s been our farming Buddha -- there’s nothing like watching a truly happy beagle just LIVE. We’d like to see her through one more market season.

How to Order:
Email me by Sunday MORNING, March 30. Bill has to pick the greens on Sunday, so if you email later on Sunday, he won’t have time. At this time you can order …
1. Collard greens (1 bunch = $1.75)
2. Mustard greens (1 bunch = $1.75)
3. Eggs (1 doz = $3.50). We really have very few eggs, so only the first three or four people will get them. Limit of one dozen per family. Sorry! (We had a bit of a raccoon issue in February. Let’s just say that dead chickens don’t lay eggs.)

I’ll be at the Garlic Press on MONDAY, March 31 between 7:15 and 8:15 a.m. with the veggies and eggs for anyone who has ordered. (I only bring what has been ordered because I can’t take extras to work.) I really need to leave by 8:15 a.m., so if you’re late you will probably miss me.

Also, please bring back any egg cartons that you have from now on, as we are trying not to buy more. Feel free to bring us cartons from any other source as well. We really appreciate it!

Hope to hear from you!Mercy Davison
467-9228 for questions