Turtle Times
_____________________________________________________________________
Vol. 14, No. 5, June 9, ‘09 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rain: 6/06/09, 0.75”, 6/07/09, 1.5”
In the Box . . .
Kohlrabi ‘Eder’, ‘Kohlibri’
Broccoli ‘Nutribud’ (some sites)
Lettuce ‘Green Deer Tongue’, ‘New Red Fire’
Endive ‘Tres Fines’
Spinach ‘Hector’, ‘Whale’, ‘Tyee’, ‘Renegade’ (last week)
Radish ‘Pink Beauty’, ‘Cherry Belle’ (last week)
Scallions ‘Evergreen Hardy’
Asparagus (for some)
Pansies, edible flowers
Ala carte options: Herbs ($1 ea.) rosemary, lovage, tarragon;
Free to anyone requesting it: Marjoram, sage
Email (info@turtle-farm.com) if you want any of these free or ala carte items
Farm Update (from Ben Saunders)
If anyone has a working crystal ball, we would like to borrow it. Our earliest variety of broccoli, ‘Nutribud’, decided that it wanted to start producing heads even earlier than we had predicted. Because of this, some sites received broccoli last week. We will continue to pack broccoli into different sites’ boxes until the other broccolis catch up and then every site will get broccoli together. This is also the case with the strawberries. The rows that we were not able to cover with straw last fall are producing ripe berries and the rows we got covered appear to be ripening. We will also be distributing these on a site-by-site basis. But yes, the berries are here!
It was a very fun and busy week at the farm last week. The soil finally dried out after a much appreciated rain, and we were able to get a lot of planting done. All of your sweet potatoes have been given a bath (to remove the soil) and put in the ground thanks to a hard working farm crew. Last week’s newsletter discussed why we had to take this extra step. Turtle Farm over the years has participated in many forms of research to help promote knowledge. Last year, we began a two-plus year research project with Dr. Gail Nonnecke at Iowa State University on what is the best organically approved weed management technique in between rows of raspberries. This year we have partnered with ISU to study the effects of row covers on winter squash production. On Thursday a six person crew from Dr. Mark Gleason’s office came out to put on the row covers, lay straw in between the rows and place yellow sticky traps around the research area. If you go by the farm and see the space-age looking covers over an area of the fields, under them is the winter squash. The row covers are to reduce damage from squash bugs, squash vine borer, and cucumber beetles, three pests for which there are not good organic controls. They will have to be removed to allow for pollination once flowering begins, although timing of that removal is part of the research.
Recipe
There are several spinach strawberry salad recipes on my website, but Terri Thornton sends one with a different dressing. So maybe with the last of the spinach and the first of the strawberries, you can try this one.
Strawberry & Spinach Salad with Lemon Dressing
10 oz fresh spinach
1 lb fresh strawberries/sliced
Dressing:
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 egg yolk
6 T olive oil
Place sugar in bowl. Add lemon. Add egg yolk, whisk. Add olive oil 1 T at a time whisking after each addition until thick. Cover/Refrigerate.
Here’s a recipe to make coleslaw with the kohlrabi. It’s the first recipe where I’ve seen the leaves used.
Kohlrabi Coleslaw with Paprika Dressing (Bon Appetit, Tastes of the World)
3 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
½ c. olive oil
2 tsp. purchased cream-style white horseradish
½ tsp. sugar
2 large kohlrabi (leafy tops reserved), trimmed, peeled, cut into large pieces
1 large carrot, peeled, cut into 2-inch lengths
Combine vinegar and paprika in bowl. Whisk in oil. Mix in horseradish and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Using medium shredding disk, shred kohlrabi and carrot in processor. Transfer vegetables to bowl. Thinly slice enough kohlrabi leaves to make 1 cup; add to bowl. Toss with dressing. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving. (4 servings).