C.S.A. Week 1

/

6/23/22

Kyle has been picking up rocks this week. Hours spent out in the field bending over, filling buckets and wheelbarrows bringing them to giant piles reminiscent of hiking cairns at the edge of the garden to be later picked up with the tractor. This is the second rock sweep this year, as he and I did a thorough rock clean up at the end of March when the lack of snow had us energized for anything resembling garden work. I remember one morning in March, I headed out to the field ready to go and realized the cold night had left the surface of the field completely frozen, rocks included. It was a weird and good reminder of how early the snow was gone, and to take a minute to enjoy the last of our leisure season. Each round of rock cleanup has the cycling feelings of productivity, meditation, endlessness, and back again. Right now, mid-season, there are garden beds and aisles giving visual context to the chore and Kyle is working his way down the garden one aisle at a time. Once this spring, when the garden was just open, brown and bare, I thought I was being spatially organized but got confused after emptying my bucket and couldn’t tell where I had or hadn’t done even though I had been at it for hours. I momentarily had the absurd image of the field refilling itself with rocks every time I went to empty a bucket like some farmer version of Dante’s concentric circles of Hell. The thought made me smile, and I bent down and got back to work. The work is paying off though, and we are seeing it in how much easier it is to get our field prep equipment through each season, in straighter carrots, and gentler hand weeding.

Garden Notes:

Things are growing well, despite the cold nights and seemingly ceaseless wind. We are starting off with a green heavy week, but the squash is flowering, beans plants are coming in at proper successions, tomatoes have green fruit, and tiny peppers have appeared on our plants, so all good things of summer soon…

We are growing again at “Lower Hosac”, we have onions, leeks, and potatoes down there. Sharon who owns the property has generously given us almost free rein on her beautiful fields for the second summer, which has allowed us to expand our storage crop production.

We are also doing our cooperative winter squash growing at the Albany town forest thanks to Jake Davis lending myself, and two other farmer friends, Joanne and Jennie, some of his river bottom land row space and tractor use, and irrigation.

In the share:

  • Garlic Scape -from Old Wells Farm

  • Bok Choi

  • Chioggia baby beets and greens

  • Romaine Lettuce

  • Yellow Scallions

  • Red and Purple Radishes

  • Kohlrabi

BEET GREEN SCALLION PESTO

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 5.5 ounces beet leaves (from approximately 2 medium beets)

  • 2.5 ounces scallions (3 pieces)

  • 3.5 ounces walnuts, toasted

  • 5 small cloves garlic, peeled

  • 3 ounces ricotta

  • 1.5 ounces parmesan, grated

  • Lemon juice of 1/2 small lemon

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • A good grind of black pepper

Instructions

Tear the leaves off the stalks and chop them up roughly (reserve the stalks to use later in a soup or stew). Chop the scallions too.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the beet leaves and scallions and fry them, stirring occasionally, until soft, but not browned, for about 4 minutes.


Add the beet leaves and scallions, walnuts, garlic, and 130 ml (4.5 ounces) of olive oil into a blender and blend until you get a smooth uniform paste. Transfer to a bowl. Add ricotta, parmesan, lemon juice, salt and black pepper and mix well.

Roasted Kohlrabi with Garlic

  • 2 pounds kohlrabi

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced (about 3 Tbsp.)- can sub scapes here

  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

  • 2 tablespoons water

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Remove kohlrabi leaves from bulb, and thinly slice leaves to equal 1 packed cup; set aside. (Reserve remaining greens for another use.) Peel kohlrabi bulbs and cut into small wedges. Toss together kohlrabi wedges and 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large bowl. Place wedges in hot skillet, and cook, undisturbed, until brown around edges, about 6 minutes.

Step 2

Transfer skillet to preheated oven, and roast wedges, stirring occasionally, until tender when pierced with tip of a knife, 12 to 15 minutes. Place kohlrabi wedges in a large bowl.

Step 3

While kohlrabi cooks, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a small skillet over low. Add , garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until sizzling and garlic is tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a mini food processor. Add lemon juice and white wine vinegar to anchovy mixture, and process until blended, about 10 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl, and stir in parsley.

Step 4

Add sliced kohlrabi greens and water to skillet over medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until greens are wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer greens to bowl with wedges, and toss