LDF News: We'll be there despite the snow!

Caption contest? Reply with your best!

The ginger is cut and forming calluses in the greenhouse. In about a week, we will tuck them into moist soil in a warm place and wait for them to wake up.

Tyler executing the first direct seeding of the season! Carrots! Hopefully they'll be ready to eat by the end of May!

Tiny, tiny celery seeds! Our celery starts small but ends up full of flavor! Coming this summer to a table near you.

The Greenhouse in March is packed with plants. Onions, shallots, scallions, celery, kale,beets, chard, and lettuce fill the benches and the tomatoes are popping up in the germination chamber. The microgreens and shoots cause the population to fluctuate each week but even so, we're gonna need more space. Hopefully over the next couple weeks we will complete construction of an additional 1100 sq. ft. of space. Fingers crossed!

One hundred tomato seeds here. I always marvel at how small they are. I often doubt their numbers. But after we seed them, the number rings true. Pink boar is luscious pink and olive green striped, flavorful saladette tomato that we are trying for the first time this year. I am so looking forward to the first juicy bite.

One hundred fuzzy tomato seeds. Cute! □

Greetings!
​
​A week in pictures! I'll go light on the chatter. We're planting in the field and hoping for a reasonable amount of cold times followed by a reasonable amount of warm times. By the time you read this, spinach, kale, beets, lettuce, and carrots will all be in the soil. Just in time for the edges of the tunnels to get tucked in with snow. 
Please venture out, ever so carefully, to visit us at market tomorrow. 
Cheers,
Helen

I will leave these lean times support suggestions here...
Ways to support us through these lean times? 

• Become a farm member through our CSA!
  • Here is a link to information about it.
  • Here is a link to the sign up sheet
  • You balance will stay on the books until the end of the 2023 season.
• Come buy our vegetables at market! Make going to the farmers' market part of your weekly routine. We love to see you and we love our vegetables being part of your meals.
• Invite your friends to come to market with you or introduce them to our vegetables!
• Share our hiring ad! If you know someone that is a farmer or is considering farming, send them our way! 
  • Here is a link to our hiring page.

 
In this email:

• Winter market schedule:
  • As of now we are planning on attending Eastern and Royal Oak every week. If anything changes, we will note it here. 
• Generally important notes
  • We are inside at Eastern Market, in Shed 3, stalls 367 and 369. You can find us on the left if you enter Shed 3 from Russell st.
  • Farm Members! Accepting sign-ups for the 2023 Season. Please ask for a sign-up sheet at market or print one (here) and bring it!
  • 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: CHINESE CABBAGE AND APPLE SALAD
• Market Details: Royal Oak and Eastern (shed 3, 367 and 369)!

Fresh From the Field- 
Greens:
Microgreens: Various.
Pea Shoots (back next week)
Sunflower shoots (back next week)

All Manner of Deliciousness
Apples (Al Mar Orchard, certified organic, at Eastern and Royal Oak)
Beets! (certified organic from Stutzman Family Farm)
Garlic (certified organic from Cinzori!)
Napa Cabbage- baby and delectable
Kohlrabi
Onions: Yellow and Red (certified organic from Cinzori!)
Potatoes: Red and white
Daikon (Purple, Red (grown with organic methods by Tantre) and White)
Watermelon radishes (certified organic from Cinzori!)
Rutabaga
Purple top turnips

Recipe: CHINESE CABBAGE AND APPLE SALAD

From RecipeTin JapanThis super simple kohlrabi salad features honeycrisp apple, lemon, tarragon and olive oil! It’s a delicious and unique fall side salad. You’ll love it! Recipe yields 4 side servings or 2 large.

INGREDIENTS
Salad

• 300g / 0.7lb Chinese cabbage (note 1)
• 1 small apple (note 2)

Wasabi Salad Dressing

• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp wasabi paste (note 3)

Garnish (optional)

• Small green salad leaves (note 4)
• Flaky sea salt (like Maldon) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If the stalk (white part) of the cabbage leaves are very wide, halve them vertically. Shred the leaves crosswise and put them in a bowl.
2. Sprinkle two pinches of salt over the cabbage, mix and leave for 5 minutes to wilt the cabbage.
3. While wilting the cabbage, add all the Wasabi SaladDressing ingredients to a jar (note 5), put the lid on and shake well until the sugar is dissolved and there are no wasabi lumps.
4. Quarter the apple vertically and remove the core. Then slice the apple thinly (about 3mm / ⅛" thick), perpendicular to the first cut so that every apple piece has a band of red skin.
5. Squeeze the water out of the cabbage as much as possible and transfer to a mixing bowl.
6. Put the apple pieces with the cabbage and mix, ensuring that the apple pieces are scattered evenly.
7. Pour the Wasabi Salad Dressing over and mix well ensuring that salad pieces are well coated in the dressing.
8. Transfer the salad to a large bowl to share or individual bowls. Scatter green leaves (if using) to decorate.

NOTES

1. I used about a quarter of the whole Chinese cabbage which was not very large.
2. I used a Kanzi apple today. Crisp apples with a balanced sweet and sour flavour such as Jazz and Jonathan are best suited to this sald.
3. The weight of my apple was about 160g / 5.6oz. After removing the core, it weighed 130g / 4.6oz.
4. I made wasabi paste from wasabi powder. It had a very strong kick when freshly made. If you are using wasabi paste in a tube, you may need to adjust the quantity as the heat varies.
5. I picked some baby beet greens from the bag of mixed green salad that I had. I could have used mizuna leaves or other small green leaves instead. Rocket greens/arugula are not suited for this salad as they have a strong flavour.
6. If you are unsure of how much kick you can tolerate, you may start with smaller quantity of the wasabi in the dressing. Taste test, then adjust to your liking.

Nutrition per serving, assuming dressing is all consumed.serving: 267g calories: 204kcal fat: 14g (22%) saturated fat: 1.1g (6%) trans fat: 0.3g polyunsaturated fat: 9.2g monounsaturated fat: 3.3g cholesterol: 0mg (0%) sodium: 210mg (9%) potassium: 464mg (13%) carbohydrates: 18g (6%) dietary fibre: 3.5g (14%) sugar: 13g protein: 2.5g vitamin a: 135% vitamin c: 118% calcium: 13% iron: 7.3%

Market Details: We are at market this week
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market- Back in May

Eastern Market, Shed 3, stalls 367 and 369 (on the LEFT when you enter shed 3 Russell St.), Saturday with Helen! 6 am to 2:30 pm

Royal Oak, Saturday with Peter, and Lisa! 7 am to 1 pm