Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has greens – lettuce, spinach, salad and braising greens, cilantro, parsnips, sun chokes, onions and potato onions, potatoes, and asparagus.
Field Notes. The big news this week is the first picking of asparagus! Now Ken will be out every other day picking. We will be watching the weather; asparagus does not take a frost. If it freezes it becomes inedible. If you get short spears they were harvested before a frost.
This week we are moving perennial flowers from the center of our loop on the drive. The long range plan is for a grab and go area for produce.
Ken has been busy – as usual. The hot weather crops are in the mobile high tunnel. He has also been transplanting and planting. And weeding.
The piglets have arrived. We get feeder piglets each spring with pig projects in mind. Pigs are like four legged rototillers; they live to dig. This year they have started renovating a section of the garden. Once the perennial flowers are out, they will renovate the area inside the loop on the drive.
From the Kitchen. Asparagus. This is a wonderful healthy medicinal food. Asparagus assists the kidneys in clearing uric and oxalic acid from the system. If you have eaten LOTS of spinach which is high in oxalic acid, now is the time to add asparagus to your diet! My first advice with asparagus is don’t overcook it. And consider grilling or brushing with olive oil and baking as this will seal in the flavor. I like to top with homemade mayonnaise or a dressing with sesame oil, a mild vinegar, honey, tamari, hot pepper if you like it, and toasted sesame seeds.
‘Til Next Week, Judith
