Our first Produce Packs will be finding their way to Metro locations during the week of May 20!  We’re excited to meet all our new customers, and to reconnect with returning customers.  I hope everyone has found their pick-up points.  Please email or phone Jen at 817-1986 (local for metro) if you have any questions at any time.  She has this phone on her all the time, even during pick-ups.  All the pick-up information can be found here.

Cooler than normal temperatures this spring mean that we will have a very green offering for the first few weeks.  We will have salad mix, green onions, arugula, spinach, eggs, and other goodies.  (I have included a great recipe for spanikopita, using most of these items, at the end of this post).  The price for the produce pack will be lower during the first few weeks, until fruit and a wider selection of veggies are available.

Here is a little photo tour of the farm over the last few days… See you all soon!

Jen, David, and Bruce

Carpathian walnut

Peach blossom

Salad greens with peas. Once the greens are finished, the peas will be trellised.

Tomato blossoms. Five hoop houses have warm-season tomato, eggplant, melon, and pepper plants. 

Red leaf lettuce

Speckled lettuce

Spinach

Beet greens

Forsythia with barn in the background

We are growing some vegetables in rows that we can hill, and then seed cover crops in between.

Red russian kale

New little strawberry plants for harvest next year

Brent Horner, on left, will be joining the Abundant Acres crew two mornings a week.  He comes with his own checked jacket.

One Dish Spanikopita

(Thanks to Nature’s Route Farm)

You can make it in a large 9×13″ pan, so there’s no fiddly bits, and it’s terrific heated or cold for lunches, if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers! The other nice thing is that it is possible to make this one almost completely from local market produce!

6 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
large bunch chopped parsley
8–10 scallions, sliced (or I use diced onions too)
2 pounds spinach
1/2 c olive oil
6 eggs
1 1/2 pounds crumbled feta cheese
½ cup currants or a few tbsp of pine nuts (optional)
package phyllo pastry
1/4 c melted butter

1. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, dill, parsley, scallions.
2. Cook spinach and squeeze out excess water (if using already frozen, thaw in a sieve so water drains out), then chop and add to the bowl mixture
3. Beat eggs and feta together and add to spinach mixture
4. Add currants or pine nuts (if using) to spinach mixture
4. Layer phyllo sheets in a 9×13” pan, adding butter brushed on layers. Spoon mixture on top of the layers of phyllo, then cover with 3-4 more layers of pastry, brushing the top with the melted butter/oil mixture.
5. Bake at 325 degF until golden brown (30-40 minutes).

Here is a recipe contributed by Deborah Van Beusekom, loyal Produce Pack customer

SPINACH SQUARES

1 cup milk
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter
1 cup flour
1 lb. Cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups spinach, chopped
1 tsp. baking powder
Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in 9 x 13 inch pan at 350 degrees. Beat eggs well and add all ingredients. Blend. Pour into pan and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Can be made ahead and frozen. Serve hot or cold.