This Week’s Share: Crussiferae Blend, Chard, Peas, Allium Mix, Lettuce Mix
Recipes, Information and Suggestions:
So a little botany language comes into the share this week…in your Crussiferae Blend. Crussiferae is another name for the plants in the edible Brassicaceae family, also known as Cruciferous Vegetables. The list of Cruciferous vegetables is broad and long, some of them are the greens you have already been enjoying and also Kohlrabi and Turnip roots are cruciferous vegetables as well. However, this week we are focusing more on the cruciferous vegetables eaten mainly for the flowering parts, for instance, rapini, sprouting broccoli, and cauliflower. We trialed various seed strains this year, many different heirloom and Italian varieties, so the sprouting stocks may be an open colorful mix or the tried and true tighter heads you are used to seeing. Enjoy the short stalks as well, which are flavorful and tender, not woody. The mix should be ideal for steaming, in a side dish or a welcome addition to a soup or baked casserole.
This week Chard is back as your main green for braising, or it can be enjoyed raw. We love chard almost as much as kale and often use it as a lettuce substitute raw. Peas still remain in the share this week, however this will indeed be the last of them. Four weeks of spring peas for our 180 member share’s this year speaks of a pretty good planting and growing season on the farm for peas. Kody, Kip and Joel, our prime pea-pickers won’t be too sad to see them go, and we surely hope you have enjoyed eating them!
A little more botany for you with the Allium Mix this week. Alliums are in the plant genus containing onions, garlic, shallots and leeks as well as thousands of other species making it one of the largest genera of plants in the world. The family name is Alliaceae and contains all the lilies and bulbs. Needless to say, the vegetables in this plant family are mainly enjoyed for their bulb, or edible part underground, however much of the greens and the flowering parts are edible, delicious and nutritious as well. Your share this week will include some of the following or feature one in particular of onions, shallots, green garlic, garlic scapes or leeks.
Lastly we are including a nice bagged Lettuce Mix for all our members this week. Salad lover’s hopefully will enjoy the mix of various flavors found in all the different types of lettuce greens we grow.
The Berry-share week will start out with strawberries….but there is talk of some early blackberries possibly ripening by the end of the week. I’ll keep you posted.
I plan to include more recipes, suggestions and farm news later…..thanks!
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