Week One - June 2 & 5, 2010

This week's box includes the following:

1. A small bunch of beet greens - blue band - these are thinnings from the beet rows. You might have some very young beets and you could probably scrub off the peels with a green scrubbie and eat the young beets raw. Otherwise, mix the greens into a salad or saute with other greens
2. A nice bunch of green leaf lettuce - red band
3. Swiss chard - blue band - again, you can eat these raw in salad or saute with other greens
4. Mustard Greens - green band. We like these in small quantities in salad - they're kind of spicy. Good for soups. Or sautee and use as a bed for fish, top it over rice, etc.
5. Collards - yellow band. We saute these and serve as a side dish. Also check the collards recipe on the recipe blog (raisins and fresh-squeezed orange juice).
6. Arugula - yellow band. Some bunches include buds/blooms. These are edible and pretty nutty. Last year I placed a bunch on the table as an edible center piece. Everyone munched away - healthier and just as addictive as chips! When the plants really bolt, I'll hand out more blooms.
7. Spinach - this is in a bag. There's not a lot but enough to mix into your salad to add a bit of texture and additional flavor/iron.
8. A few onions - some may have blooms. Try frying the blooms in oil and salting them - tasty. Also, the onions are young and you should be able to use the entire stalk for cooking - especially easy to use for soup stock.
   
9. Herbs - rosemary, chives, sage, thyme and oregano, spearmint and lemon balm - check the table to see how much to take

The irises peaked last week but if anyone really wants one, please let me know and I'll cut one for you. It's going to be a few weeks or more before the flowers kick in.



Bug Info. - There might be a few small snails on the lettuce and mustard greens. If you eat these raw you might want to add some salt to your soaking water to get these off. Other than that, there might be some holes in the brassica plants but that's primarily due to flea beetles and they are most likely not in your veggies.