Week 5

Hello –

Another rainy start to the week, but the weather reports are sounding more positive for the weekend. Today wasn't too bad – we were able to get everything harvested without getting soaked.

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There are a variety of tasty veggies in your bags this week:

Spinach

Salad greens

Scallions

Lucky Moon garlic :>)

Sweet young carrots

Snow peas

Raspberries

Arugula (depending on the weather)

I love this time of year because it seems that every week something new is ready to eat from the garden. I'm sure by the end of the summer my appetite for zucchini or spinach or peas will be satisfied, but right now, that first sweet carrot just pulled out of the ground and rinsed off tastes better than any candy! Snacking on a few of the first snap peas that I've had since last summer – you'd think I'd never tasted them before. But that's one of the pleasures of eating things in their own season; their long absence makes them even more enjoyable. Your palette has time to forget how things taste, so eating them again when they're at their very best (fresh from the garden) is really special.

In our modern, on-demand world, the concept of delaying pleasure, especially when it comes to food, is practically forgotten.

We have access to all kinds of food and produce at all times in the supermarket, so many people don't know that vegetables even have a specific season.

Although it is incredibly convenient if you want to have bell peppers and blueberries in February, it means that we end up eating a lot of mediocre-tasting produce. And no wonder, if those peppers and blueberries have to come all the way from Chile or California or Holland (Yes, I saw eggplant the other day in the store that came from Holland – that just doesn't make sense. Can't we grow eggplant on this side of the Atlantic?)

So I'm not trying to tell you to eat things only in season – that's up to you, of course. But enjoy these "first fruits" from the farm and see if you can't taste the difference.

If you still have some Rhubarb in your fridge from last week, here's a recipe Kathy sent me:

Rhubarb Bread I

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups brown sugar

⅔ cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)

1 egg

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ to 2 cups chopped rhubarb

½ cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Lightly grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

3. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Enjoy your summer!

Sarah VanNorstrand

for Lucky Moon Farm

#rhubarb