This week your basket contains: potatoes, arugula, MUSTARD GREENS, shallots, parsnips, and salad mix (lettuce, spinach, radicchio, and endive)

We are back online with lots of vegetable, herb and flower starts for your garden! Our online store is at https://pumpkinridgegardens.square.site.  The web site is updated weekly with available stock, so if something you want is labeled “out of stock,” check back regularly. That way, we can ensure that you get your plants at the right time for planting. We have early starts for Spring crops right now. Let us know that you are a subscriber when you order and we’ll make sure you get your order with your vegetables. Please disregard the delivery date that is automatically generated when you order.  We are happy to deliver plants to your door for your friends and neighbors too! Have them note that they would like delivery to you in their order. We will box and label their plants separately.

Every once in a while, we are reminded that nature is going to do what it is going to do regardless of how it affects us and our plans for your veggie baskets.  This week it is the mustard greens that have been affected.  Temperatures in the mid-twenties have caused minor damage to the leaves that means they should be used sooner rather than later.  This basic soup recipe would be great for them and the arugula.  Cooking these greens will mellow their flavor and natural bitter edge. 

GREEN SOUP

2 cups chopped greens

1/2 onion, chopped

2 medium potatoes, peeled & diced

3 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. dry sherry

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

salt & pepper to taste

½ cup cream

fresh nutmeg

In a large heavy bottomed pot, sauté onion in butter until translucent.  Add stock and potatoes and cover. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Pour a cup of the soup into a food processor or blender along with a handful of leaves and blend at high speed.  Repeat until all the soup and greens are blended.  The mixture should be a nice, fresh green.  Return the soup to the saucepan, add sherry, and reheat.  More stock can be added at this time if the soup is too thick.  Stir in cream, heat and correct seasoning.  Add several grinds of fresh nutmeg.   From The Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan

Spring greens are naturally more bitter than at other times of year (and it is truly spring; we’ve seen snow, rain, hail and sunshine all on the same day which is my definition of the first day of spring)!  Studies have shown that this bitterness is healthy for us as it acts as a tonic for your liver after a winter of eating richer, fattier dishes (at least that is how our diet works).  For the salad mix you can do a couple of things to mitigate that bitterness.  You can cook them as in the above recipe or you can dress the greens with a heartier dressing.  We tried the one below and really liked it.  It is similar to (but lighter than) a Caesar Salad dressing. We ran across this recipe on Instagram (@wellspentmarket).  Well Spent Market is a local grocery with lots of local and delicious foods to up your pantry game.

ANCHOVY AND CAPER DRESSING

6 anchovies

1 Tbs. capers

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic

Warm the olive oil in a skillet.  Add the anchovies and garlic.  Cook until the garlic is fragrant, and the anchovies become a paste.  Remove from heat and add the capers and vinegar.  Whisk to emulsify then taste and adjust for salt.

Fraga Farm cheese is available again! From chevre to feta to goatzerella, and even treats like goat’s milk truffles and caramels can be ordered on Fraga Farm’s online farm store (https://www.fragafarm.com/farm-store).  Select “Pumpkin Ridge Gardens CSA” as your shipping option at checkout. Complete purchase, and the items you purchased will be included in your next CSA basket.

Did you know—not all cheese is seasonal, but Fraga Farm’s is. Why? Winter is kidding season, and Fraga’s goats get a break (maternity leave) before and after giving birth. They prioritize allowing their goats to give milk to their babies before processing it for cheese and treats. This means every kid has been getting delicious milk and TLC from their moms the past several weeks, and every one of Fraga’s milking “ladies” was raised by her mom in the herd. This is unusual in the dairy industry, but Fraga believes it’s what’s best for the goats. Now, the wait is over and cheese season is back! Celebrate by placing your order today.  If you are looking for a covid-safe outing for your family some Saturday, Fraga encourages you to come out to their farm to meet the mama goats and their babies (they are at peak cuteness now).  Just contact Fraga by email to arrange a time and other details.