Turtle Times
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Vol. 13, No. 6, June 17, ‘08 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
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Rain: 6/8, 2.9”; 6/9, 0.2’; 6/11-6/12, 2.5”
In the Box . . .
Scallions ‘Evergreen hardy’
Lettuce – farmer’s choice (maybe)
Pac choi ‘Mei qing’
Kohlrabi ‘Kolibri’ or ‘Eder’
Strawberries
Braising greens (to those who request them—limited supply)
Edible flowers: pansies, nasturtium, or calendula (petals)
Ala Carte Herbs ($1 ea): Rosemary, lovage, mint, chervil, cilantro, summer savory
Free herbs to anyone who requests them: marjoram, sage
Farm Update
Deer tongue lettuce is my favorite lettuce—an heirloom buttercrunch. You won’t find it in any grocery store as it’s so fragile, it is very difficult to harvest and wash without breaking outside leaves, leaving it looking a little mangled on a good day. But it still tastes so good! Last week, Sunday’s storms destroyed the spinach crop and damaged leaves on the lettuces. So the fragile deer tongue lettuce started out looking pretty bad before we even harvested it. Then we discovered as we were harvesting lettuces on Friday, that the long periods of moisture were starting to take their toll with rot appearing on some lettuces and the endive. We plant out lettuces very intensively, so there is not a lot of air circulation around them, and this year that is turning out to be a negative factor. We went through several successions of lettuce, many different varieties, to find enough for Friday’s boxes, and they still weren’t very pretty. It remains to be seen what shape we will find them this week. So while many of us weren’t directly impacted by the flood waters in the city, you will be impacted in your food supply indirectly by the heavy rainfall and storms.
Strawberries amounts are looking pretty good. The lower earlier patch is much wetter than the new one up the hill. It’s not surprising that we are finding more rot in the lower patch. One type of rot has a very distinctive taste and odor that are nasty. While we try hard to inspect each berry (and now we even smell suspect ones), I know we may miss some, hopefully not too many. Also if anyone is interested in U-pick berries ($1.70/lb), I am going to open part of the patch on an appointment basis as long as amounts stay up. If we have enough pickers and enough berries, some prepicked berries may be available ala carte. Communicate to me your interest.
Fish Stories
For those of you new to our CSA, we have the good fortune to have a direct connection to a “fish farmer”, from whom we have been ordering halibut and salmon each summer. Danielle Wirth knows Kevin, and has coordinated this for us for a number of years. She reports that they are fishing for halibut now, and anyone wanting it should order it now, even though it will not come until later with the salmon. Ordering now will help us get in line for a price decline later. To order, you need to take a 50 pound box. If you don’t want that much, find others to split it with, and one person contact and pay Danielle when the time comes. We will request it be shrink-wrapped. If you are interested or want more details, please contact Danielle at ehorizon@netins.net. She will also let those of us wanting salmon know about that process at a later time.
Repeat Scheduling note: Since July 4 arrives on a Friday this year, we will plan that week’s harvest day for Thursday July 3. Please mark your calendars!
Recipes
If you want the recipe for the kohlrabi served at the orientation meeting, Unforgettably Forgotten Kohlrabi Marinade, it is on the Turtle Farm website (www.turtle-farm.com).
Here’s another recipe from Farmer John’s Cookbook.
Kohlrabi & Carrot Slaw
1 pound kohlrabi, peeled, grated
2 medium-large carrots, grated
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, chopped (about ½ c.)
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 large clove garlic, minced
½ c. sour cream
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
4 c. wine vinegar
1 ½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
Toss the kohlrabi, carrots, bell pepper, onion, thyme, and garlic in a large bowl. Whisk the sour cream, oil, vinegar, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.