Week 7 Produce Box

This week has flown like crazy. We are working in the garden most evenings until dark. We are also busy in the fields planting summer grazing for the cows, sheep, chickens and hogs. The grass is growing like crazy and with all the harvesting the kids haven't been able to keep up. The grass and weeds has gotten ahead of them. So, I got a couple of people to come and help them chop the garden rows so that they could better manage it. The kids and our farm manager, Raymond, have sweet corn. It should start being ready in a couple of weeks.

Here is what is included in your box this week: Carrots, New Potatoes, String Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Yellow Squash, Zucchini or Striped Zucchini, Patty Pan Squash, Cucumbers, Blueberries, Rainbow Chard, Collards, Bok Choy, Daikon Radish and Spring Onions. You really have a box full of veggies.

You may have some large zucchini this week. They are perfect for stuffing. We like to make a wild rice blend, brown some hot Italian sausage and mix together, stuff the core of the zucchini, bake and then the last 5 minutes, top with Italian cheese blend. Or the large zucchini are perfect for making zucchini bread.

I didn't like collards fixed "Southern Style" when I was growing up. I knew that they were good for me, but I couldn't stand the smell of them boiling in the pot or the way they tasted. I have found two ways that I now like them and can enjoy all the vitamins and minerals that they have to give. I will share one of these with you.

Haak with Collard Greens (Kashmiri style)

Ingredients:

2 bunches collard greens (1/2 pound chopped)

2 spring onions (white and green parts chopped)

(optional)2 green chillies, chopped fine

1 red dried chilli, broken

2 tbsps. oil (preferably mustard)

a pinch of dried ginger (sonth)

1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Kashmiri Garam Masala

salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean the collards, remove the tough stems, and chop them.
2. Heat the mustard oil, add the mustard seeds, stir and add the green and red chillies, and the dried ginger.
3. After a few seconds, add the spring onions and stir. Then add the collard greens and salt, cook for 3 mintues or so until wilted, add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook for about 15 minutes on medium-low (or pressure cook for one whistle).
4. Sprinkle garam masala.
Serve with Basmati rice.

I also like to add a dollop of Mango Chutney on top at the end.

For a somewhat healthy dessert, you can try cubing your Patty Pan Squash, saute them in butter, and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Great if you saute pecans with it. Also, another great dessert is a blueberries and yogurt with ground flax seed and a little honey added. My kids love the blueberries and yogurt for breakfast.

The gardens look a mess right now as we are transitioning to summer veggies. Ripping out the garden pea rows and planting a second round of stringbeans there. As we are digging potatoes, we are re-planting the rows in squash or field peas, sweet corn or onions. The kids were excited to discover that they have watermelons on the vine. The watermelons are about 1/2 the size of a basketball. We hope that there will be watermelons ready just in time for Independence Day.

Hope you have a great week.

The Rainbow Meadow Farms Family