Beachwood Canyon CSA pick-up & Panade Recipe

Vollies John and Laura with CSA shareholder Fran at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up.








Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up today:

turnips (pictured left)
arugula
Russian Kale
red & golden beets
curly mustard (pictured below)
japanese cucumbers
celery
adolescent romaine (red & green)
fresh garlic
mint
butter lettuce

Meanwhile, Mars, who happens to be launching a unique neighborhood school in Beachwood Canyon, sent in this amazing recipe for Panade - a savory bread casserole.

Make Panade with greens (kale, mustard, beet tops, turnip tops) and bread - even if it's old, stale bread - it doesn't matter. Mars brought some Panade to the CSA pick-up for us to taste and it was DELICIOUS. Here's her recipe, dapted from Judy Rodgers’s recipe from The Zuni Café.

Panada - a savory casserole

Choose a 2 quart soufflé dish or cast iron dutch oven, The size will be a gauge as to how much bread etc you will need.

2-3- thinly sliced yellow onions
mushrooms of all kinds
Garlic cloves peeled, as many as you like
ham
Salt
1 lb green Swiss Chard, thick ribs removed, or any bitter green (kale, mustard or beet green) cut into ribbons
Day old chewy bread (not sandwich bread) cut into cubes-enough to fill your casserole
Big box of chicken stock or vegetable broth
Fontina or Gruyere or swiss cheese coarsely grated (2 cups loosely packed) or more!

HEAT ¼ cup of the olive oil, add the onions and garlic, cook 3 minutes, stir and repeat.

When golden, add garlic, reduce heat to low with a few pinches of salt.

Stew, stir occasionally -- 15 minutes. Onions should not be mushy. Remove from pan.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees so as to cook for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Heat oven to 250 degrees so as to cook 2 hours 45 minutes.

In same large pan as you cooked the onions, wilt the chard with a drizzle of water and oil. Add a few pinches of salt.
3-4 minutes. It will taste bitter—ignore that. Toss in the bread with few T of olive oil and some stock.
Arrange layers of bread and greens with handfuls of cheese and a grind of pepper. Place cheese on top.

Bring the stock to a simmer and taste of salt.
Add stock to dish, nearly to the brim (1 inch below) Wait till it is absorbed.

BAKING THE PANADE
Cover the top with parchment paper then loosely wrap the top and sides with foil--With dull sides out.
Place a piece of foil on the floor to catch the inevitable drips.
It will rise a little, lifting the foil with it.
The top should be pale golden in the center and slightly darker on the edges.
Not really necessary but you can finish by uncovering the panade and raise temp to 375 for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Excellent the next day. Great for freezing.

Thank you Mars! tara

Lauren's Babies Love Greens!

Hi Tara,

Thanks so much for bringing this program to us in Beachwood Canyon and keeping this CSA alive. I love the freshness of this local produce and always look forward to the variety of greens and root vegetables. I was putting it all away and couldn't resist letting the babies satisfy their curiousity. I snapped these picks of them as they delighted in the vivid colors and texture of the beets and greens.

Sincerely,

Lauren O'Connor, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian

Note from Tara: Lauren's blog is definitely worth checking out for nutrition information. www.nutri-savvy.com

Mom to the rescue!

Tara,

I love the Silver Lake Farms CSA. Seriously, it's a blessing to be able to be a part of this. I just polished off the last portion of a saute i made on Sunday for lunch.

Thanks again for doing this. I've told all my friends about it. You might start getting more calls!

If you're interested, I blogged a little bit about my experience with my first share. Read about it here

-kevin

mmmm Sunday Frittata

Hi Tara, just wanted to thank you for the greens! My girlfriend Jen and I made frittatas with Farmer John's mustard greens, dandelion greens, and parsley this morning for a late Sunday breakfast. Just wanted to send this photo along to show you how happy our mouths are. See you in two weeks!

Mark

Celery Soup

Swiss Chard (left)




Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Silver Lake pick-up this week:

Red and golden beets (roast covered in tin foil. sautee the tops)

Celery

Green garlic (roots, stem, leaves are edible)

Mustard greens (one bunch sautee, cooks down for 2 people)

Dandelion greens (sautee in olive oil & garlic)

Swiss chard (ditto above)

Butter lettuce
Chrysanthemum greens (left)
Adolescent romaine
Arugula
Dill
Italian parsley



It's been a busy week with yesterday's City Planning Commission vote on the Food & Flowers Freedom Act. It was heartening to see so many urban farming activitists from all over the city show their support. The commissioners' approval is a big step toward promoting the cultivation and off-site sale of healthy, local fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other urban gardening products in Los Angeles.

With the Planning Commission meeting behind us, it's time for something warm and soothing, and celery soup fits the bill. It's super easy and delicious. Chicken stock gives the soup a rich flavor, but it's just as good with vegetable stock or even water. And since you puree the cooking liquid with the vegetables, you don't pour off any vitamins or minerals that might be cooked out of the vegetables.

Personally, I prefer using an immersion blender to puree the soup, but you can use a food processor or a counter-top blender if you prefer.

Celery Soup

1 bunch celery
2 medium russet potatoes
1 medium brown onion
3 C chicken stock (or vegetable stock or water) + 1-2 C additional stock or water
1 bay leaf
1/4 C cream (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh parsley

1. Chop off the bottom of the celery and throw in the compost. Wash the stalks and remove any tough fibers from the ribs. Compost those, too. Chop the celery and leaves into large chunks and put them in a medium stock pot.

2. Peel the potatoes. Compost the peels. Chop the potatoes into large chunks. Add them to the stock pot.

3. Peel and trim the onion. Compost the skin and ends. Cut the onion into 8 pieces and put in the stock pot.

4. Add 3 C of stock (or whatever liquid you're using) and the bay leaf. Cover tightly and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until all vegetables are very soft.

5. Remove from heat and cool a little. Remove bay leaf. Puree the vegetables in the pot using an immersion blender until very smooth. If necessary, add more liquid - stock, water, even milk will do.

6. Return the pot to the stove over medium heat. Add the cream, if desired and/or more stock or water to bring the soup to your desired consistency. Heat the soup, but do not allow it to boil.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot garnished with chopped fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Shelley

V-Day for the Food & Flowers Freedom Act!

Pic: left to right: Erik Knutzen, Homegrown Evolution, UFA; Laura Garcia, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Jed Lind, artist and CSA vollie; Shelley Marks, UFA & SLF recipe blogger; Bella Allen, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Bruce Chan CSA shareholder/Silverlake; Jeremy Drake, musician, UFA; Molly Morrison, SLF vollie; Matthew (he found us on Facebook); Emmanuelle Bernard, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Tara Kolla, SLF, UFA; Elizabeth Curbo, SLF vollie; Tamar Halpern, CSA shareholder/Silverlake; Kirsty Hume, super duper supermodel; Beat Frutiger, my amazing husband.

I am on cloud nine today after a resounding victory at yesterday's Planning Commission hearing for the Food & Flowers Freedom Act.

Commissioners voted across the board to adopt the clarifications proposed by City Planning. Yesterday's victory puts urban farmers in LA City on track to legally sell homegrown fruit, seedlings, nuts and flowers off-site, at local farmers' markets for example.

We still have a few stages to go (PLUM, City Council and Mayor's sign-off) but yesterday was a big day for urban farming and the local movement. Bill Roschen, head of the Planning Commission, called it "a happy day." Oh my, was as it ever!

Thirty + supporters came to the hearing! That was some show of people power! Pictured above are some of the supporters who came.

Thank you to everyone who came to the hearing, and to every single one of you who sent good vibes and letters of support. Not everyone had the chance to speak yesterday but your show of hands, your presence, was critical, so thank you for coming! Supporters who spoke in favor of the Food & Flowers Freedom Act moved the panel of commissioners, and their joyful enthusiasm, in turn, moved the audience. Yes, I cried. I couldn't help it.

LA's urban farming movement owes a great deal to Shelley Marks, our very own cooking consultant, cooking class teacher and recipe blogger. Shelley heads up Urban Farming Advocates (UFA), and our success yesterday is largely due to her hard work, energy and the way she organized us. Big hugs and kudos for Shelley!

Big thanks also to Glen Dake from the LA Community Garden Council. Also a UFA member, Glen played an important role in leading us to success yesterday. And to the rest of the UFA team for all their hard work: Dave Keitel, Erik Knutzen (is that avocado ripe yet?!!) Jeremy Drake and Lora Hall.

Thanks to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council for supporting the Food & Flowers Freedom Act.

Thanks to all the City Planning Commissioners, City Planning staff and Building & Safety for working on this issue.

Of course, we couldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for City Council President Eric Garcetti and his team. He made it happen. He delivered. Go Eric! You rock man! Yesterday was a turning point for urban farming Angelenos thanks to you!

with love, gratitude and the joy of blooms to come,

Tara

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood pick-up this week:

Broccoli
Chrysanthemum greens
Beets
Cucumber
Fennel
Butter lettuce
Adolescent red and green romaine
Arugula
Chicoria
Italian parsley
Dill

One of my favorite things is being introduced to a new and delicious flavor, and chrysanthemum greens were new to me last week. I'm sure I've seen them in Asian markets, but I never cooked with them until Tara presented me with a bunch. They have a mild, fresh, and slightly sweet flavor somewhat like parsley crossed with celery tops and a faint but noticeable aroma of chrysanthemums.

I experimented with several preparations: They were fine sauteed in a little oil, but be careful not to overcook them. When I added green garlic to the mix, I thought it over-powered the delicate flavor of the greens, but if you're a garlic-lover, you might think differently.

I was happiest with a simple little salad tossed with an Asian-style dressing which complemented the floral notes in the greens:

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

1 bunch chrysanthemum greens
1/2 small Japanese cucumber
1 T toasted sesame oil
1-2 T rice vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the chrysanthemum greens. Sprin dry. Remove any woody stems. Compost the stems. Break or chop the greens into bite-sized pieces and place them in a mixing bowl.

2. Wash, but don't peel the cucumber. Slice it very thinly. Add the cucumber to the mixing bowl with the greens.

3. In a small cup or bowl, mix together the sesame oil and the rice vinegar. Add a pinch of sugar, if you'd like. Mix briskly until combined.

4. Pour dressing over salad and toss until all the leaves are coated.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like, try adding a little mango, peeled and chopped; or some chopped Asian pear.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Minty Kohlrabi Slaw

above: Dandelion Greens (aka Chiccoria)








Left: Curly Mustard














Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Silver Lake pick-up this week:

Japanese cucumbers (eat the skin an' all!)

Turnips (sautee the tops!)

Red and golden beets (saute the tops!)

Curly mustard (eat raw or sauteed)

Green garlic (eat the whole thing - leaves an' all!)

Mint

Cilantro
Dill
Arugula
Red and green adolescent romaine lettuce

Chiccoria (aka dandelion greens - sauteed or raw)

Kohlrabi (pictured right)

Broccoli raab (aka rapini)

Kohlrabi is a wonderful vegetable that's too often ignored. Actually, it's quite delicious, versatile, and easy to prepare. It's related to cabbage, but with a milder and sweeter flavor and much more juice.

You can prepare kohlrabi myriad ways: It can be boiled and mashed into a puree. It can be baked, scouped out and stuffed. Kohlrabi makes a nice gratin thinly sliced, topped with grated cheese and baked. You might even layer in some thinly sliced turnips, too. Raw kohlrabi can be sliced or grated into a fresh green salad, so I hear from CSA shareholder, Jed, who I chatted with at the Silver Lake pick-up this afternoon.

Kohlrabi also makes a fabulous slaw which is especially good with fresh mint. It's super easy to prepare and tastes great.

Minty Kohlrabi Slaw

1 bulb kohlrabi
8 mint leaves
1 T mayonnaise
2 t white balsamic or white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the leaves off the kohlrabi bulb and compost or save for another use (the leaves are also edible).

2. Peel the tough exterior off the kohlrabi. Rinse off the bulb and grate the bulb into a bowl using a coarse grater.

3. Wash and dry the mint leaves. Stack them and slice the mint into very thin strips. Add the mint to the bowl with the kohlrabi.

4. Stir in the mayonnaise and vinegar. Add a little more mayo if you'd like. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe makes 2 servings, but you can double or triple it.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Beachwood Canyon pick-up 3/16

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up this week. Last week we had lots of greens. Farmer John is famous for his greens. This week we had more root crops - great for roasting (turnips and beets).

Shareholder feedback is good so keep it coming!

Thanks as always to John Allen and Laura Garcia for volunteering to distribute veggies at the pick-up. Spencer is studying hard these days.... Go Spencer! We miss you...

arugula + flowers - all edible!
red and golden beets
fresh garlic
chrysanthemum leaves AKA Japanese Ssukgat (see below)
cilantro
Japanese cucumbers
broccoli + leaves - all edible!
red/green adolescent romaine
turnips
curly mustard (sautee with chrysanthemum leaves)

From Wikipedia:
Chrysanthemum leaves are popular in Korean traditional soups, stews, hot pots, and casseroles, Cantonese cuisine, especially in the cuisine of Hong Kong, and in the Japanese in Nabemono . Overcooking should be avoided and it is recommended to add it at the last moment to hot pot since it easily loses the structure. The leaves are an important ingredient in Taiwanese Oyster omelettes and, when young, are used along with stems to flavor soup and stir-fry.

And from recipetips.com:

Chrysanthemum leaves may be prepared by serving fresh or by steaming, blanching, or sautéing the greens and stems. Overcooking however, will produce a bitter tasting flavor, so maintain a lower heat and cook until tender and lightly tangy in taste.

Enjoy!

Tara

Mustard Greens and Sweet Onion Frittata

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Silver Lake pick-up this week:

Carrots
Turnips
Broccoli
Baby bok choy
Tat soi
Green garlic
Rapini (pictured below)
Chicoria
Texas mustard (pictured right)
Nettles
Red romaine
Arugula
Cilantro


I just love that spicy mustard greens make a regular appearance in our weekly CSA box. Mustard greens add a delicious zing mixed into a fresh green salad. They're terrific chopped and sauteed in olive oil, or better yet in bacon grease with the crispy bacon crumbled and stirred back in before serving.

Here's a wonderful frittata recipe adapted from the Food and Wine website. Frittatas are easy and versatile. They can be eaten hot, cold, or room temperature. They can be served for breakfast with toast and coffee. Add a salad and serve your frittata for lunch or supper. Or cut it up into small bites for an appetizer or a snack.

Mustard Greens and Sweet Onion Frittata

3 T olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 large bunch, about 1-1/2 lb mustard greens
14 large eggs
salt and pepper
1/3 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash mustard greens. Remove stems and compost them. Chop leaves coarsely.

3. In a large ovenproof skillet, such as a well-seasoned 10 inch cast-iron pan, heat 1 T olive oil. Add the sweet onion and cook over moderately high heat until golden.

4. Add the mustard greens and cook until wilted and most (if not all) of the water has evaporated.

5. Season the eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining 2 T olive oil and whisk the eggs until well blended.

6. Pour the eggs into the skillet with the greens and the onion and cook over moderate heat until the bottom and sides begin to set. Lift the sides of the frittata to allow the uncooked eggs to seep under and continue cooking until the bottom is set and the top is still runny.

7. Sprinkle on the cheese.

8. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for about 8 minutes until the center of the frittata is set.

9. When done, slide the frittata onto a cutting board and cut into serving pieces or allow to cool before serving later.

Enjoy!

Shelley

p.s. Amy Scattergood wrote a wonderful article on green garlic in this week's Los Angeles Times Food Section.

Fresh Chamomile Tea

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood pick-up this week:

Fresh chamomile
Tat soi
Bok choy
Romaine mix
Mizuna
Red radish
Spinach
Chicoria
Turnip tops
Fresh garlic
Baby dill
Arugula

What a delight to have fresh chamomile for a steaming cup of tea on a windy afternoon! If you've never made tea from fresh herbs or flowers, here's your chance to check it out. Fresh chamomile has a naturally sweet flavor with a hint of apple and a beautiful yellow color.

For the most fragrant tea, use only the flowers. Pull off the flowers and compost the stems. Measure out a rounded 1/4 C of fresh flowers and place them in a teapot. Bring 4 C of cold water to a boil. Pour the hot water over the chamomile flowers in the teapot and steep for 5 minutes. Serve hot, or cool the tea, then refrigerate it and serve it cold.

Dried chamomile is perfectly fine, too. You can dry the flowers by hanging them upside down in a warm spot until dry; or you can pull off the flowers and dry them on a mesh screen set over a rimmed cookie sheet to facilitate air circulation. Once they're completely dry, store them in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid or a metal cannister. To make tea with dried chamomile flowers: Use about 2 rounded tablespoons of dried flowers to 4 C boiling water. Steep for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Shelley

3 RECIPES + NUTRITION FOR NETTLES!

I love it! Shareholders in Beachwood Canyon and Silverlake have sent in some amazing recipes to share for what to make with nettles. Lauren at nutri-savvy.com made nettles her Food of the Month.

Below are three recipes: nettle soup, spicy nettle pesto and nettle gnocchi. Below that: nutrition information from nutri-savvy.com

NETTLE SOUP

Julie says: My husband is french and a professional chef; he was very happy to see Nettles in the box two weeks in a row.
In France, they use them a lot and he claims were quite popular during wartime.
He has made this soup for us the past two weeks and the color is a beautiful vibrant green!

The recipe is simple to make and similar to that of Michael's (on the blog) but with the added ingredients of potatoes and oregano....

SOUPE D' ORTIE (Stinging Nettles soup)

Stinging Nettles
Potatoes (we used Yukon Gold) cut in cubes
Butter
Creme Fraiche (or sour cream)
Salt, pepper, oregano
Garlic Croutons

Wearing GLOVES, cut off the leaves of the nettles and rinse in a colander. Melt butter in a skillet and add the leaves. Once the leaf color begins to change add the potatoes and water to cover. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are done. Puree with food processor or blender. Add salt, pepper, oregano and creme fraiche and warm slightly over low flame. Add garlic croutons .......voila!


Thanks for everything Tara, we are very much enjoying being a part of the CSA!

All the best,
Julie Simms


SPICY NETTLE PESTO

This from Sunita: I didn't use a recipe really but here is what I did for Spicy Nettle Pesto:

- place a few garlic cloves and serrano peppers in a food processor (peppers are optional if you don't want to make it spicy) along with about 1/2 cup of pine nuts

- run the food processor until the mixture is diced

- cut off tough stems of the nettles and chop about half of the bunch roughly

- add chopped nettles to food processor along with a handful of basil

- run the processor again to dice the greens

- stop the processor and scrape down the sides.

- add salt, pepper to taste and grated parmesan cheese (at least 1/2 cup but probably closer to 2/3 or 3/4)

- start running the food processor again; slowly pour in olive oil while the blades are running until you have a smooth paste



NETTLE GNOCCHI

Hey, I thought I'd pass along this recipe I tried last night. I halved the quantities, used as many nettle leaves as I could pick off and added mushrooms and italian sausage to the sauce. The herbs in the cream sauce really complimented the gnocchi well! I wouldn't make this every night due to the prep time required for the nettles and the rolling/cutting of the gnocchi, but it was fun to try something new.

Amanda

http://regional-italian-specialties.suite101.com/article.cfm/cooking_with_nettles_easy_tuscan_recipe

Green Nettle Gnocchi with Cream and Fresh Herbs – Recipe
Gnocchi Verdi con panna ed erbette
Ingredients – Serves 6

* 800g (1lb 12 oz) waxy potatoes
* 800g (1lb 12oz) young green nettle leaves
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 50g (½ cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* About 200g (70z) plain (all purpose) flour
* 50g (1¾ oz) butter
* 1 tablespoon each of these fresh chopped herbs: Tarragon, sage, mint, basil, thyme and parsley
* A splash of good-quality brandy
* 250ml (1 cup) thick (single) cream
* About 120g (1¼ cups) freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and boil them in their skins in lightly salted
water for 15-20 minutes, being careful not to overcook them. Drain and
when cool enough to handle, peel them. Pass the potatoes through a
food mill – or grate them through the large holes of a grater, into a
wide bowl.

2. Wearing gloves, rinse the nettles in a couple of changes of cold
water, then boil for a couple of minutes in lightly salted water.
Drain well and when cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess
water with your hands. Chop finely on a wooden board and mix into the
potatoes. Add the egg and the Parmesan cheese, then season with salt
and pepper. Add enough flour to make a soft and elastic dough, mixing
with your hands.

3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Lightly
flour your work surface. Working quickly, break off pieces of the
dough and roll out into long cylindrical strands of about 1 cm (½
inch) in diameter. Cut these strands into pieces at about 2cm (¾ inch)
intervals with a sharp knife. Put them onto a lightly floured tray or
large plate until you are ready to cook them.

4. Cook the prepared gnocchi in batches in the boiling water for
about 2-3 minutes. When they float to the surface they are ready. Keep
the gnocchi in a buttered oven dish if you will not be mixing them
immediately into the sauce.

5. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the herbs and sauté for
a minute or so to flavour the butter. Add the brandy, cook for another
minute, then add the cream. Heat through until it bubbles up.

6. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon or wire strainer,
allowing the water to drain off and add them to the saucepan. Toss to
coat evenly. You can add a little hot milk, or some of the cooking
water to thin it out if necessary, though it should not be too liquid.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.


NETTLE NUTRITION

Dense nutrition, very little calories: a perfect combination! Nettles join the ranks of kale, spinach, and romaine – touting lots of vitamins and minerals without the expense of a high-caloric intake.

Nettles are rich in potassium, Vitamins A, B & C, iron and sulfur (great for hair, skin and nails!). Nettles offer appetite suppressing qualities as it releases two neurotransmitters serotonin and acetylcholine. Finally they possess diuretic properties alleviating water-weight, releasing toxins and purifying the blood.

Try nettles in place of spinach - in spanikopita, mixed with hearty grains, a healthy “spinach” dip, or in a soup chockfull of vegetables. (Note: Stinging nettles require care when handling, so use gloves to chop off stems and boil).

Creamy Cheese-y Cole Slaw

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Silver Lake pick-up this week:

Cabbage
Baby bok choy
Arugula
Green garlic
Cilantro
Mizuna
Texas mustard
Baby dill
Tat soi
Chamomile
Red and green romaine

There are hundreds of recipes for cole slaw. Some are creamy, others are tangy. Most are made with cabbage, which is an excellent source of vitamins C and K.

This rich cole slaw is made with blue cheese and crumbled bacon. If you're a vegetarian, or if you don't eat bacon, you can leave it out.

Creamy Cheese-y Cole Slaw

6 C finely shredded fresh cabbage
1/2 medium red or sweet onion, finely chopped (or more to taste)
2 T chopped fresh parsley, optional
1/2 C buttermilk
1/4 C mayonnaise
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
1/4 C crispy fried, crumbled bacon
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, toss the cabbage with the onion and parsley.

2. In a small bowl or a measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and mayonnaise until smooth.

3. Pour the buttermilk dressing over the cabbage mixture. Add the blue cheese. Mix well until the cole slaw is coated with the dressing.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Refrigerate for one hour or longer. Cole slaw keeps well in the refrigerator for several days, though the cabbage will become less crisp over time.

6. Before serving, stir in the crisp crumbled bacon.

Enjoy!

Shelley

First Cherry Blossoms...

Watching stone fruit trees wake up from winter dormancy is always a beautiful sight. This year, our low chill cherry trees are blooming for the first time. Their blooms are white (see picture). Gorgeous.

On the peach trees, powdery pastel pink blossoms that covered branches a few weeks ago are gone now, and in their place, teeny little fruits are appearing amidst new leafy growth. Our new quince tree is waking up too with soft furry, silvery leaves and buds showing a hint of orange color. Can't wait to see the quince bloom in full!

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up this week. Thank you to John and Bella - the "nettle support" team!

Tatsoi
Baby bok choy
adolescent lettuce mix (bag)
carrots
turnips
arugula
fresh garlic
nettles
Italian dandelion (pictured)

My next post will be all about nettles. Shareholders have been sending in recipes. Thank you so much!

Enjoy!

Tara