#5... and I'm back in the saddle, baby!

 (Just brought back a Florida tan, thats all... courtesy of what I've been told is called the 'Redneck Riviera')

Many of your usual suspects, here... but new additions include nappa cabbage and a nice little herb satchel. Chard, beets, beet greens, zucchini, kohlrabi... yeah yeah, you know all these things :)

Still waiting on someone to 'comment with a good recipe ;) ...

Doro-only share today! C'e numero quattro =)

 

Maybe I can save some space, and just tell you what you got that is new? A pattipan squash, basil, a garlic plant, a couple radishes, a small (tiny?) onion that Doro managed to salvage for each of you, the first of the tomatoes and peppers, and a kohlrabi. Now, some more detailed notes on some things:

Garlic --  there is such nice bite to them when they are green like this. Or, leave in your pantry a couple of months, and it will mute down a bit and taste like garlic from the store :)

Beets -- don't forget, you can enjoy their greens, too!

Radishes -- ...same story (although some don't like the spiciness of the leaves)

Kohlrabi -- greens taste like a cross between broccoli and cabbage and can be eaten (although some don't like the slight bitterness)... the bulbous part of the stalk can be sliced thin and eaten like chips, or grated and made into a slaw. You might be able to get away with cooking it... although we've never done that with them

Pattipan -- Lovely flavor, look up a recipe!

Lettuces -- As we say hello to some kinds of goodness (tomatoes, for example), we have to say goodbye to others. These are the last that we can take out of the garden, that we feel OK with putting in your baskets. Enjoy them, and thank them for their collective service this late spring

As always, if you find a particularly yum way in your preparations / noshings, do comment and share it!

Matt and the gang

Basket #3 -- From nature to you, with love

 Folks,

Nature is good... Nature is tough... but nature, if you play by her rules, is good. That existential bit aside, here's what we got for you:

Zucchini, swiss chard, cucumbers (couple different varieties in the mix), green beans, milkweed florets, zucchini (may be you get two colors?), garlic scales, butter lettuce, and wild lily flowers (you can dice these up and add to a salad for some fun color and a subtle sweet-floral flavor.

As I've invited before, please PLEASE puleeeze comment with a recipe if it works for you. You can send me a picture, and I'll add onto the post with the pic later on!

Until next week, friends!

Basket #2... here's whatcha got

 

Sorry for the blurriness, Doro literally wore the focusing element on her phone camera out. We're in the process of getting her a new one!

New items this week are zucchini, kale, beans, and beets. Don't be a knucklehead, make sure you eat the beet greens as well :-) I meant to add this as a comment to the last post, but one of the simplest ways to prepare the lambs quarters is in hot olive oil (like a stir fry, keeping it hot and moving) and then slightly salted.

And here's a delicious milkweed florets recipe that one of our members shared, from last week:

Here's the recipe they typed out: "I don't think the blog lets you comment with photos, but I'd pan fried the milkweed in olive oil - s+p, garlic powder, panko - finished with a little lemon juice and zest. I wasn't sure what to expect, but 10/10!"

Keep posting your recipes, even if it has to be sans photos, as comments... such is a prefectly dovetailing addition to our communication about the basic goings on at the garden. We used to have a wiki page for recipes back when we first started doing this in Chicago -- and people really enjoyed sharing and benefiting with it :-)

First basket of 2022... woohoo!

 

OK people, here's what you got... I've been told by some to ramble on, and by others to finish in 1-2 sentences, so I'll aim for something between the two... basket contents:

spring onion, swiss chard, spinach (bagged), small bit of garlic scapes, young dandelion greens, milkweed florets (bagged), evening primrose leaves, and lamb's quarters (at discretion)

Couple hints: easy way to pick the leaves off LQ is to strip down starting at the top... there will be a few trailing fibers here and there, but they will soften easily with cooking to spinach-like consistency. Evening primrose, pick the leaves off and put on a sandwich... no bitterness, just yum. Milkweed florets, I think there's several things you COULD do but what I recommend is pan-frying in butter for a few minutes. Amazing broccoli, asparagus and popcorn flavor :)

Enjoy my CCC peeps, and post any recipe you end up using and liking in the comments ;)

Matt & the gang