Here's what's in this week's basket... (#3)

Hey-yo... long day, gotta get this info out to you all though, so you know what you're working with + have a tip or two... so here goes:

Don't forget, you can click on it to enlarge it... if that helps! =)

Lettuce greens -- one thing we've actually gotten good at growing the past couple of years... the amount of slug pressure about two months ago was just WHOA, though... glad we managed to hand-evict all thousand-or-so of those troublemakers!

Radichetta -- basically a low-bitterness commercial cultivar related to dandelion. We did not forage these, but rather grew them from seed packets we ordered. Try mixing it in with other soft greens in a salad, or lightly wilt and season like you would cooked greens

Kohlrabi -- grate it into a small portion and season with vinegar or mayonnaise like slaw, or slice thin and raw and season lightly (or, dip in luxurious real-cream ranch dressing, like I do to this and broccoli =P)

Cucumbers -- hooray for new stuff!

Sunburst pattipan squash -- sorry not enough yet on the plants to include multiples, good flavor... the key, as with all squash, is to get some caramelization going (see https://www.thekitchn.com/pattypan-squash-recipe-23058706, for example, for more info)

Kale -- just a splash of it, honestly. Many uses for this stuff

'Green' garlic -- you can either use the cloves over the next week or two and enjoy the uniquely sharp taste of truly fresh-from-the-ground garlic, OR... leave off the ground in a cool, dry place (basement?) for the next two weeks, and then enjoy chipping away at it long-term. NB: It will NOT have a long shelf-life, if you don't take this important drying-out / skin-hardening step!

Basil -- Some purple, some the more common deep green. An old friend for most

Milkweed florets -- Doro and I have been cultivating for the past few years a special perennial patch of milkweed taken from the prairies surrounding Chicago that framed our earliest days living together here in the states... and it is doing well enough now, that we can share a little of this special foraging treat with you. Just stir-fry briefly (a few minutes) with butter and a bit of salt... tastes like a mix of broccoli, asparagus, and a faint hint of caper.

Daylily flowers (not pictured) -- also foraged; eat fresh, either diced up and adding fun color to a salad or arguably more-boldy whole, as a salad topper or sandwich topping.

And last and definitely also a bit LEAST: French breakfast radish. I have to apologize, as normally I get to sample a crop before deciding it goes in the share basket. These appeared and felt not at all overly ripe, but are also (very atypically) our first root crop after the bad-for-root-crops hot and dry spring we've had this year. Doro and I noticed that one we tried to cut up this evening was a little tough on the outside. CAVEAT EATOR... but hopefully only very few are like this!

Also, one share member let me know that he had a hard time using the stalk of the walking onion from a week or two ago, that it was fibrous. Now, I did pick and cut up and eat raw as well as test-fry one of these at the time, and it was not fibrous at all... and I also went for a consistent snapping-off when harvesting the stems and aerial bulbils. In any case, I'm sorry if you got unlucky there/then, as well. I will aim to make it up to you, with something extra in the next basket.

In the meantime, email me any fun recipes you find... and, may the rains and sunshine be appropriate in the coming weeks -- and the pests discovered (and remedied) early!