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.