Farm Notes

We’re getting back into the growing + harvesting groove around here, as we wrapped up Week 2 of our Spring CSA yesterday! There’s a pretty amazing abundance of spring greens right now – from swiss chard to lettuces, arugula, baby kale, bok choy, and radishes – with more variety becoming available each week. Below is a snapshot of one of our full shares from this week… once again, it was not easy to fit all these bodacious veggies into their boxes!

I’ll admit I’m a little sad to say goodbye to some of these greens, but it’s already time to make room for tomatoes! Starting today, we’re clearing out several rows in our caterpillar tunnels and planting the majority of our tomatoes (a mix of heirlooms, slicers, and cherries). I’ve found there are several benefits to growing tomatoes in a covered tunnel – first, you’re able to plant a bit sooner than usual, because it’s warmer in the tunnels + less chance of frost damage. Growing tomatoes under cover also means that you can control how much water the plants get, and you won’t be dealing with too much rain, which can cause tomatoes to have major fungal issues. All that said, I know most folks don't have tunnels in their backyards, and you can absolutely still grow amazing tomatoes out in the open!

For an extensive look at what’s growing here at the farm right now (plus lots of tips for your own gardens), I just took a virtual tour around our farm, which you can watch here on Facebook or via our private google drive folder here. In this week’s farm walk, I dig into specifics for properly harvesting a wide range of spring greens.

In other news, I’m excited to announce our first in-person workshop here at the farm in over two years! Join me on Saturday, May 14th for a Growing & Cooking with Herbs Workshop from 2pm-4pm.

This outdoor workshop is part demonstration and part hands-on, and everyone will get to pot up their own herb to take home. During this workshop, I will cover the following topics:

Culinary & medicinal herb identification

Recipes, techniques, and tips for cooking with a wide range of herbs
Understanding when to use fresh vs. dried herbs in recipes
How to properly store fresh herbs to maximize shelf life
How to properly and safely chop fresh herbs
How to make homemade herbal tea blends
How to grow, maintain, and harvest herbs in your home garden

As Farmbelly Club members, you get first dibs on tickets before I release them to the public on Monday (April 18th)! I’m keeping this class nice and intimate (max 10-12 people) and have a feeling tickets will sell out quickly. And no worries if you’re not able to join for this first class, lots more workshops and tours will be announced soon!

Kitchen Notes

In honor of my upcoming workshop all about herbs, this week I’m sharing a spring-centric recipe that’s heavy on the herbs… Asparagus with Pistachio Gremolata! A gremolata is a fancy-ish work for a super simple herby sauce/condiment that is traditionally made from chopped parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. In this recipe, we mix things up a bit by adding some crunchy pistachios to the mix – though you can certainly omit the pistachios or use another nut/seed of choice instead. Enjoy!

ROASTED Asparagus with Pistachio Gremolata

INGREDIENTS

Asparagus

1 bunch fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed off
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

For The Gremolata

1/2 bunch fresh Italian parsley (will make about 1/2 cup chopped)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/4 cup roasted and salted pistachios, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Prepare the asparagus: First snap or trim off the woody end of each asparagus stalk. Spread the asparagus in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil, tossing gently to coat evenly. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until asparagus begins to brown and gets a little crispy on the ends.
Make the gremolata: Chop the parsley with a chef's knife until it is finely chopped. Using a microplane or fine-toothed grater, grate the garlic clove over the parsley. Using the same grater, grate the lemon zest on top of the garlic (doing the garlic and lemon in this order will help to rid the microplane of garlic odors). Add your chopped pistachios to the parsley mixture and continue to chop, mixing in all the ingredients as you go. Use your knife to scoop the gremolata mixture into a bowl and set aside.
To serve: When the asparagus comes out of the oven, toss gently with the lemon juice and top with the gremolata, season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

Today’s Stats

Low temp: 49F
High temp: 73F
Sunrise: 6:44am
Sunset: 7:51pm
Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous
Additional notes: Mostly sunny and lovely