In this week’s farm share, we expect to have strawberries, along with a selection of green vegetables.  We thought we’d have carrots, but it turns out the carrot rust fly got them first.  Check the end of the post for this week’s recipes.

Cody from Bear River comes to our farm once a week to help out so he can learn about market gardening (a 2.5 hr drive each way).  Such a nice guy!  We all love him.  The crew decided it was really important to go to his farm and help him out for a day, since he is so giving with us.  Everyone except Jen loaded into the delivery van.  She had to stay home and get caught up on book keeping (but that’s another story).  First we went to pick up Av Singh, the organic and small farm specialist, who wanted to come along.  Cody’s farm has a beautiful view of the Annapolis Basin, and everyone got to work.  It’s actually a relief to work on someone else’s farm.  There’s not as much pressure and stress when it is not your own. Hopefully it helped Cody.  On the way back home, everyone checked in on a farm for sale near Middleton.  It’s a big deal to keep track of farms for sale, with a group of budding farmers!

Here are some photos from the last 7 days:

 

Recipes:

Spinach Squares

This is the easiest, fastest, yummiest recipe. I’ve been using it for years!

 

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 including the melted butter. Blend. Pour into the pan and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Serve hot or cold.

 

One Dish Spanikopita  (Thanks to Nature’s Route Farm)

The nice thing is 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!

6 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

large bunch chopped parsley

8–10 scallions, sliced

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
5. 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.
6. Bake at 325 degF until golden brown (30-40 minutes).

 

Gomasio  (https://elanaspantry.com/gomasio/)

This is an tasty condiment to sprinkle on top of salads and cooked vegetables.  Especially good with beets, spinach, and kale.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon celtic sea salt

1. Place sesame seeds in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
2. Roast 10 minutes, stirring constantly until seeds turn golden brown.
3. Place sesame seeds and salt in a grinder (I use a nutribullet) or mortar and pestle; grind into a coarse meal.
4. Transfer to a glass container.
5. Sprinkle over kale, broccoli, or other greens.