Turtle Times
_____________________________________________________________________
Vol. 12 No. 6, June 12, ‘07 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rain: 6/04, 0.2”;
In the Box . . .
Kohlrabi ‘Kolibri’, ‘Eder’
Garlic Scapes
Scallions ‘Evergreen Hardy’
Lettuces ‘Freckles’, ‘Les Orielles’
Edible flowers – pansies
Strawberries ‘Northeaster’, ‘Mesabi’, ‘Jewel’, ‘Cavendish’
Herb share availability: French tarragon (order day ahead), mint (regular and chocolate), lovage, marjoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, summer savory
Farm Update
June is such a busy month at Turtle Farm. Harvesting and deliveries have started while we are still trying to get major crops planted. This week we will try to get our sweet potatoes, melons and winter squash planted. Meanwhile, strawberry harvest takes up major time even with some extra helpers. And somewhere in there the weeds have decided to make an appearance as well and need attention. It looks like we will have little rain this week to interfere with those activities, except, some crops would now like some moisture, so add putting out irrigation lines to the list. If you have been meaning to get to a fitness center for a workout, you might consider Turtle Farm—applicants are welcome and the opportunity is free!
We have a guardian at the farm. A resident snake has made several appearances in the strawberry beds. I can assure you he/she is not eating the berries, but most likely has rodents on his/her menu—and rodents can eat the berries. However, we have seen more signs of berries with bird and beetle damage—so the snake must be very vigilant and successful with the rodents. Now if we could just get the birds to eat the beetles before they get in the strawberries . . .
We hope to get everyone their fourth box of strawberries this week if you have not already gotten them. We are also working on extra berry shares as we are able. (We are not having any U-pick or pre-picked berry sales at the farm until we get the CSA boxes filled.)
Cohousing Informational Meeting
If you would like to learn more about the cohousing concept for Turtle farm that I wrote about in the April newsletter, an initial informational meeting has been set for Tuesday June 19 at the Johnston Library from 6:30 to 8 pm. The Johnston Library is located at 6700 Merle Hay Road (west at the stop light).
Recipes
Bonnie Boal sent this kohlrabi recipe for the newsletter. We don’t have fresh tomatoes yet, but maybe you have some leftovers in the freezer from last summer. And you could probably use garlic scapes for the garlic in the recipe. The scapes are another taste of garlic before the real thing gets harvested in July.
Kohlrabi-Tomato Sandwich Sauce from Bonnie Boal, Cooking with Bonnie
1 small kohlrabi, cut into small pieces
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary
˝ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1. In a 10-inch skillet cook kohlrabi, mushrooms,
onion, celery, rosemary, and salt in hot oil over medium heat 10 minutes. Stir
in tomato and garlic. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes more.
2. Store sauce in refrigerator until ready to use. This is delicious on
everything from burgers to cheese sandwiches.