LDF News: Market table filling up

We got the potatoes hilled! This picture was taken after the first pass with the "Big Tractor." I followed it up with hilling discs on the Farmall 140 (the one that Jim and Tyler patched up this winter). You can see here that there are strips next to the potatoes of weedier soil. When I took this picture I was feeling a bit disappointed in how weedy they were looking. But we persevered and the hilling discs about took care of those weedy strips! I would say, all in all, they are a bit weedier than I would like (as is almost always the case) but will be significantly less weedy than they were last year. We may get one more chance to hill them before they are too big. We'll see!

Every time we put a plant in the ground, I silently will it to thrive. We planted the wintersquash, watermelon, and cantaloupe yesterday and I reflexively wished again. And as we weeded the onions, the dill, and the beets, I sent out my quiet plea. 
It seems mother nature is cooperating with our plans so far. Despite the big winds, the cold, and the extensive rain. I am grateful with every green leaf and sign of new growth. 
 
In this email:

• Generally important notes
  • Farm Members, if you haven't read and responded to the email we sent out about changing membership rules
    • You can find your most up to date balance in that email. You can use the subject line to search for it in your inbox: "LDF News: Farm Membership Update PLEASE READ AND RESPOND!"
    • If you have questions or the arrangement proposed in that email doesn't work for you, please let us know that too. Let's work together!
    • If you can't find the email, let me know and I will forward a copy to you.
  • Stockbridge Members: Look for the email from a couple weeks ago. Please email me with any questions or thoughts.
  • Here is link to our Social Justice page on our website. It is a list of resources to keep active in effecting positive social change.  
• Fresh from the Field
• Recipe
• Market Details
• Tales from the Farm!

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Fresh From the Field- Not a lot yet but soon!
Greens:
Chard (limited)
Head lettuce
Kale
Pea shoots
Spinach

All Manner of Deliciousness
Baby Green Garlic (see the tales from the farm to see why we still have green garlic now)
Green Onions 
Snap Peas (New this week!), may be limited
Spring radishes (limited)
Sweet turnips
Summer Squash! Just coming in and may be limited this week.

Herbs (If we have time)
Mint
Oregano
Sage
Thyme

Coming soon:
Cucumbers
Dill
Kohlrabi
 
Recipe: Braised Sweet Turnips
If you don't just devour them immediately, braise your sweet turnips! They are so succulent and juicy even after they are cooked! I discovered braising this winter. It all started with some carrots for me (honey rosemary braised carrots, what??? so good!) With that dish I realized that braising sounds fancy but is simple. It  can make many a new flavor. 
 
From: New Morning Farm
Note from Helen: I am skeptical that the turnip greens would be cooked to my satisfaction this way. Try it how you like but if I was doing it, I would chop add them in when the broth et al. was added. Ingredients2 bunches Sweet White Turnips
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon honey
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Trim the greens off the turnips. Chop greens and set aside. Cut the turnips in half.
2. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turnips, cut side down. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable broth, honey, vinegar, garlic, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until turnips are tender and the liquid has reduced.
4. Uncover, increase heat to medium and add the turnip greens. Cook until greens are just wilted, 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Remove from heat. Drizzle with sesame oil. Enjoy!

Market Details: We are at market this week
 
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Saturday with Helen and Tyler and radish aficionado Wiley! 7 am to 3 pm (or till sold out)

Eastern Market, shed 2, Saturday with Special guest Nicole is back! 6 am to 2:30 pmRoyal Oak, Saturday with Jim and Lisa! 7 am to 1 pm

The Colorado Potato Beetle! The indefatigable Muncher and Cruncher of potatoes and eggplant! They overwinter in the field and can walk great distances to reach their meal of choice. They showed up here last week. There are lots of management techniques including healthy plants, trenches, mulching, planting later, biological controls, and chemicals. We try to produce healthy plants that will tolerate a bit of munching and crunching and also to support healthy habitat for CPB predators like ladybugs and ground beetles.

​Tales from the Farm:
You may wonder why oh why we are still bringing green garlic to market when this is the season it matures to garlic garlic. Well, you could say we are making lemonade. As you may know, last year was a bit of a bucking tornadocoaster for us. In the swirl of it, we didn't manage to get all of our garlic out of the field.When garlic is left in the ground, at first it becomes unharvestable. The skin that encases all the individual cloves breaks apart and the weather seeps into the head. This was disappointing but we accepted our fate.

But as time passes those individual cloves, cloves that are just like what we would have planted for the next years crop, make a crop of their own. They send up shoots intended to power the formation of new garlic heads. This is what we have been bringing to market so far. Because they haven't been split and spaced out, we have no expectation that the head of garlic being made by these hold out garlics will be a marketable size. However! As you may have noticed, green garlic is delicious. It is only continuing on its delicious trajectory. The green tops have become less tender, all the while, the bases are forming new heads. As of now, you can eat the whole bottom! Find where it snaps, scrub and chop (or whole) just like you would regular garlic but no need to peel. You can still use the tops but they may need to be peeled or cooked. 
Help us make garlic lemondae by enjoying our long harvest window of green garlic!

Helen for Jim, Tyler, Wiley (honorary worker and dirt eater extraordinaire!), Boomer (bark layer), and Exie (morale officer)

Boomer has a knack for finding nice places to curl up. The crate for holding some greenhouse supplies did the trick. He snoozed for two hours. Now if only I could get him to watch the baby (or weed the onions) while I took a two hour nap!

A milksnake in the weeds! We were so happy to see this snake on our farm. They are fairly friendly as far as snakes go. When threatened they coil up and shake their tails, mimicking a rattlesnake.

The land of milk (snakes) and honey... You can see in this picture, it was a big one! Although I didn't measure, I would eyeball it close to 2.5 feet! Adults range from 24"-36" long, so this one was on the upper end of the range.