HARVEST #1 WOO!

The first harvest of the season is exciting and scary!  Farming is fickle and while there is plenty of food in the ground this week, there may not be quite as much in the ground next week.  Maybe there has to be arugula in every box for the first month.  Maybe there will be baby bunches of beets now and monster bunches of beets later.  In many ways, it's not up to me, I'm just the messenger.   Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather and no leaf miners or cabbage moth!

IN THIS BOX:
radish
fresh garlic (or garlic spears)
baby beets

Recipe Suggestions:
Baby Beets:  Wash well and chop.  Heat up some olive oil and garlic in a pan.  Toss the rootier parts of the beet thinnings in the pan and cook for a while until soft.  Add the leafier parts and a bit of water and cover until they're nice and soft!  Salt to taste.

Radishes:  Shave them into thin pieces for a bomb-ass salad ingredient.  Or try this: Serve with fancy butter and fancy salt (or regular butter and regular salt) for an appetizer or rad snack.  The butter helps mellow the piquant nature of the radish.

Fave salad dressing: rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, pepper. Straight up.

Get It Going

One of the main reasons I like farming for myself and farming in town is because I can do things like drink coffee in the sun before heading to one of my backyards.  Or grab a kombucha from the co-op if I'm thirsty after a couple hours of work in the sun.  I like to roll into the backyard at the Appendix Space and have one of the guys who run the space poke his head out of his bedroom window so we can have a quick chat.... like an after school special.

Obviously the weather in Portland has been beyond dreamy the past few days!  It's go-time in the farm world and I've been working every day!  Kale and arugula starts are in the ground.  Beets, carrots, radishes, and peas that were direct sowed last month are sprouting with their little green arms out-stretched.  I've been clearing out a couple of my spaces in order to till.  Once that's taken care of, all other starts are going to get transplanted: red and yellow onions, pac choi, mustard greens, broccoli, cabbage, fennel bulb, cilantro, chard, lettuce! 

After that, summer crops will get their debut: tomato, pepper, basil, cuke, summer squash, beans!

I'm currently working with Emily Baker at Sword and Fern (8th and E Burnside) and Niles Armstrong at Worn Path (Shaver and Mississippi) to set up the weekly CSA pick-up site/mini produce stand!  I'm planning for Thursdays to be harvest day with S+F pick-up from 3-4pm and Worn Path pick-up from 4.45-6pm.  (Possibly in the beautiful lot right next door to that shop.) Keep your ear to the ground to get updates on what'll be available each week!