Produce Pack Week 3: Growing weather!

With sun and heat comes the need for irrigation

We’re so grateful for some sun and warmer temperatures! At this point, it looks like we’ll be back up to full produce packs at $35 and $45. There still is no fruit available, but strawberries will be available near the end of the month. New this week: bok choi, chard, kale, dill, cilantro, and the SWAP BOX. Swapping, either with fellow customers, or with items in the swap box, is encouraged. Leave items behind that are not your favourite, and pick up something that you love. We will continue with the eggs, salad mix, beet greens, green onions, spicy greens, and the super-popular sweet Japanese turnips.

We have another wonderful member in our crew: Stephanie. She is on the right in the photo below. She and Cassie fill out the team nicely and they both love to harvest! This week one of our hens hatched three beautiful little fuzzy chicks, but photos of them will have to wait because mama is very protective and won’t let me get too close yet. More lambs were expected, but none appeared. The lambs born at the end of April are all healthy and chubby and grazing the grass now.

How to use and care for your salad greens. We pre-wash and dry the bagged salad greens. If you want to wash it again, do it right before you serve it. Whole lettuce heads are dunked in water before they are packed for you. The individual leaves will need to be washed and dried for a salad. Salad spinners are ideal for this job. It is important to store lettuce and all other leafy greens in a plastic bag in the fridge. If you don’t, they will quickly wilt since the air in the fridge is very dry.

Since we’re all eating a lot of salad these days, here are a few salad dressing recipes:

Home-made salad dressing can save a lot of money on the grocery bill and also reduce sugar intake. Commercial salad dressings have a lot of sugar and other additives in them. Salads at this time of year can be dressed up with small amounts of sautéed mushrooms, beets, bacon pieces, etc.

Very simple dressing: In a small jar, add one cup of olive oil, half a cup of lemon juice, 1 tbsp honey, a slosh of some fruit juice, and a little salt & pepper. Shake well. It will keep in the fridge for a week or two.

Intermediate salad dressing: Make the very simple dressing, with garlic pressed in.

Fancy, creamy salad dressing: Make the dressing above, with dried dill, and plain yoghurt or sour cream added.

Arugula salad is great with any of these dressings, along with some cooked bacon pieces. It is one of our most favourite salads at this time of year.

Smoothies: Here on the farm, we make fruit smoothies most mornings. Jen usually adds greens to hers because she is such a freak for greens. She’ll add dandelion greens, arugula, borage, comfrey, and/or stinging nettle leaves. It is just too much fun to eat healthy!

**** We’d love to know your favourite ways to use your veggies. Please share them with our Produce Pack community on the Facebook page or in the comments section at the end of each post on this web page. ******

Below I’ve included a photo tour from the last 7 days.