Week 2, 2019
Another salad heavy week as we are still dealing with a lot of rain and seasonably cool temperatures. We are seeing a warm up coming in the next week so plan on more variety coming soon.This week's produce share includes
- salad mix
- 2 heads lettuce
- 2 bunches scapes
- beets
- mint
- scallions OR hakurei turnips
You can see a bunch of salad ideas in last week's blog post.
So what is that crazy noodle looking vegetable in your box? Those are garlic scapes! These are the flowers of the garlic plant. If you want to grow garlic, you're going to get garlic scapes- to get the biggest and healthiest garlic bulbs farmers have to remove the scapes to keep the plant from putting too much energy into the flower. They are also a delicious garlic preview in their own right. Use them in any recipe where you would usually use garlic. They are also good raw (they don't have that hotness of raw bulb garlic) in a salad or pesto. You can see some garlic scape specific recipes hereI (Alice of Fields of Plenty) am the primary beet grower for City Commons. I love growing beets because 1) they grow well in my farm, 2) they are delicious, and 3) they are really good for you. The roots also store well so they are forgiving when it comes to using them quickly.Like many of the root crops we give you- they will store for longer if you remove their greens. Don't throw them out though! Beet greens are yummy and can be cooked in a similar way to spinach or chard.Here are some past recipes from our blog to help you come up with ideas on how to use your beets (both roots and greens):Lentils with beets and mintBeet burgersBeet green recipesIf you don't want to use your mint (or other herbs) right away, you can always dry them. Place them in a well venilated, ideally dark, spot and hang them upside down. Then you can use them or place them in an air tight container until you are ready to use them.