In the Box

• Salad Mix
• Baby Red Choy
• Cilantro
• French Breakfast Radishes
• Scallions
• Braising Mix

There are a few new items in this week’s box. Cilantro is a wonderful herb used in a lot of Mexican and Asian dishes. It has a distinct flavor. I do find that folks either really love or really dislike cilantro. I fall in the camp that really loves cilantro. I love the fresh, citrus-like flavor and will eat it by the handful. Cilantro does not handle heat well. So chop it and add it to a hot dish right before or after you turn off the heat.

The other new item in your boxes is the baby red choy. Choy (also called choi, bok choy or pac choi) has been cultivated in China since the fifth century. It arrived in Europe in the eighteenth century and from there choi came to this continent. Today it is cultivated on every continent except Antarctica.

Choi comes in many sizes and shades of red and green. The leaves are very tender and can be cooked like spinach. The stems are crisp and can be used like celery or asparagus. I usually cook them together.

The choi in your boxes has been a little stressed by the weather recently. (Who hasn’t?). It began to bolt. Bolting is the growth stage where the plant shoots upward and begins to form buds or seed stalks. I found, much to my surprise, that the buds are delicious. They have a broccoli-like flavor. Rather than leave them in the field, I decided to harvest the plants with the buds and let you try them.

On another note, those of you who have members last year may have noticed that not everything in last week’s box was bagged in plastic. I am attempting to cut down on the farm’s use of plastic bags. So, for items that are bunched, they will be packed in the box without being bagged. I’d like some feedback on this. If you think the quality of the produce is suffering, let me know and we will bag them.

Some Words on Recipes

I always welcome recipe submissions. If I can use them, I definitely will.

I try to choose recipes that are easy and use lots of the items in your box. I don’t promote any type of diet except for one that includes lots of veggies. If a recipe includes meat, I try to list meat substitutes for our vegetarian or vegan members. I personally eat a little meat, lots of vegetables, and whole grains and pasta. These days I’ve set aside my inner cheese head and eat very little dairy products. Of course, I do have my weaknesses - chocolate and coffee being the chief ones.

This Week’s Recipe

Stir-Fried Choi with Mushrooms and Cashews over Rice Noodles
(from Farmer John’s Cookbook)

Note: Rice noodles can be found in the Asian food section of a grocery store. Rice vinegar can be found there as well. You can substitute wheat noodles and apple cider vinegar.

• ¼ cup coarsely chopped, unsalted cashews
• 8 ounces dry rice noodles
• 6 tablespoons peanut oil or mild flavored vegetable oil, divided
• 3-4 baby choi, stems cut diagonally into ¼-inch pieces, leaves sliced into ½-inch strips
• 8 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced, OR 8 dried shitake mushrooms rehydrated in hot water for 20 minutes, strained and sliced, water reserved
• 3 scallions, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into 1-inch pieces
• ¼ cup water (if you are using dried shitakes, use ¼ cup of the soaking water instead)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the cashews in a heavy dry skillet over high heat until they begin to brown slightly. Transfer the nuts to a dish to cool. Cook the rice noodles according to the directions on the package. Meanwhile, heat a wok or large skillet over high heat for 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of the peanut oil and let heat for 30 seconds. Add the sliced choi stems and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, scallions, and choi leaves. Add the water (or shitake soaking liquid). Cook, stirring constantly, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 8 to 12 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil. Add a little sugar to taste, if desired. Pour this mixture over the vegetables in the wok and toss until well combined. Drain the noodles and add them to the wok along with the sauce. Toss to combine. Serve warm or chill for 1 to 2 hours. Garnish with the cashews and cilantro just before serving.

News from the Farm

We have had four rain free days. The mud is starting to dry up and the puddles in the low spots are receding. I’ve also stopped spending quality time with the sump pump I bought last week though my basement is still wet.

The farm has survived this flood for several reasons. One, the sandy soil drains better than a heavy soil. This is a great advantage in a flood and a great disadvantage in a drought. Two, the farm is not located on the banks of a river. And three, the land slopes gently down to 2 wetlands that help drain the farm. There are no bowls to form ponds on the farm.

After seeing all the devastation on area farms, I feel fortunate that the damage here is minimal. Some plants are unhappy about having wet feet for so long. But others are starting to recover and look good. The wet weather can lead to disease issues, so I will be monitoring those. Also, we have some plants - eggplant, peppers, basil, parsley, melons, pumpkins, gourds and lots of lettuce - that have been sitting around waiting their turn to be transplanted. I hope to get most of them in this week. But the harvest of some of these crops will be delayed.

We do have more crops coming on. The peas are flowering so we will have peas soon. Head lettuce is starting to mature and I’ve seen flowers on the zucchini and cucumbers. Soon the bounty will be overflowing.

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In the Box

• Salad Mix
• Braising Greens
• Arugula
• Scallions
• French Breakfast Radishes

When you open this box, green will be the color you see. Green lettuce, arugula, scallions are the main components of our harvest during this early part of the season. Radishes add a bright red splash of color to your boxes.

Greens and radishes are the first things that can be planted directly into the ground in the spring. By the time greens can be planted, I have already spent several months tending little plants - first in my kitchen and then in the greenhouse. But the first time I put seeds into the ground is a magical time. I push an Earthway seeder down the rows. It whirs and clicks as the seeds drop into the soil. The rows are 200 feet long. I get to the end, turn around and push the seeder back to the other end. Change the seed and do it again. For many plantings, I walk almost 2 miles pushing the seeder.

This is the time of year to eat greens. After a long winter, greens are very refreshing and cleansing. Your body and soul will enjoy the light energy of greens. This week’s box has several different types of greens. The salad mix is a blend of different lettuces. This is best eaten raw.

The braising greens are a blend of greens. There is Red Russian kale (pale green leaves with purple stems), Tat Soi (pronounced ‘tot soy’ that looks like spinach), red mustard (a red and green leaf), mizuna (a skinny, serrated leaf in either purple or green), and a few other greens. The braising greens can be eaten raw or cooked, but most folks will prefer them cooked. Look at the recipe in the recipe section.

Arugula is a green that has a little spicy and nutty flavor. I like to mix it in with lettuce for a great tasting salad. You can also try it in a sandwich in place of lettuce. It can also be cooked along with the braising greens.

We wash all of our greens at least twice before we pack them into your boxes. But you should always wash them again when you get them home. It helps to rehydrate the greens. And it is just good food safety practices to wash all your produce when you bring it home.

The radishes are very mild. I know that radishes do not top everyone’s favorite food list. But these are very different from the red ones that have been in the grocery store for months. Try them. I guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised.

This Week’s Recipe

Simple Cooked Greens
(A Luna Circle Farm original)

3 tablespoons sesame oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
3-4 cups greens, chopped
salt to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, onion and sesame seeds. Sauté for a minute or so. Rinse the greens and add them still wet to the pan. Cover the pan so the greens can sauté and steam at the same time. Stir occasionally. Sauté just long enough to wilt the greens - 3 to 5 minutes. Add some salt or a little balsamic vinegar to taste.

Leaps of Faith

Farming is an act of faith. Planting a seed is an act of faith. You put a tiny black speck into soil and trust that this will become an oregano plant. Or that the white oblong seed will become a head of lettuce. Or the black triangular seed will become an onion. It takes an extra leap of faith to plant a round tomato seed while a blizzard is raging outside. To be able to imagine that the little seed will grow into a 4 foot tall plant growing amazing fruit is an act of faith especially when one can’t even see the greenhouse because of the heavy snowfall.

And through all of it one needs faith that the sun will shine, the rains will fall, the workers will come, the members will sign up and the bugs will not.

This spring has been one of those seasons that challenge my faith. Of course, the winter tested all of us. I wasn’t sure the snow would ever melt. But it did and I began to feel the thaw inside. But the challenges continued. The spring has been cold. Our last frost on the 27th of May was the latest I have known in my 19 years of farming. And it was dry. We were irrigating and covering plants to protect them from frost. I also made the decision to hold off on transplanting some sensitive crops until the soil warmed up. It was a good strategy until it began to rain.

And it has rained and rained. We got 9 inches of rain over the weekend alone. And that fell on already saturated soil as it rained a lot last week. Luna Circle has sandy soil and is relatively flat. To have standing water on sandy soil is amazing. We don’t have a lake in the fields like some folks do. Mostly we have some big puddles in low spots. But this is also the time of year when the soil is freshly tilled. So we have lots and lots of mud. Some of the mud has shifted and buried some crops, but most everything will be ok if we can dry out a little.

My harvest crew was just amazing today. First it was a struggle to just get to the farm as roads are under water from 3 directions. Then we had to harvest in very muddy conditions. I didn’t hear a single complaint all day. The scallions in your box came from a patch that was far out in the field and all the ground around them was freshly tilled last week. We were all slipping down 12 inches into the mud. It grabs your feet and shoes and is almost impossible to walk through. I almost lost my boots several times. I am grateful for the crew’s willingness to wade through all the mess.

And I will continue to have faith. Faith, that the peppers, melons, herbs and so much more will finally make their way into the fields. Faith, that some balance will be achieved between the rain and the dry. Faith that the sun will shine again. Faith in the plants to survive the onslaught of water. And I am grateful that despite the high winds this weekend, the greenhouses are still standing and the critters and I are safe and sound.

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