This week your basket contains: potatoes, winter squash, onions, carrots, bok choy, and RADISH microgreens.

The land on which we farm is in a 50-year rural reserve. Oregon’s strong land use planning laws are one of the reason we can grow food so close to you.  Right now a bill in the Oregon legislature (SB 4) is threatening to circumvent the planning process and ultimately threaten farms like ours. We urge you to learn more and sign this petition circulated by a neighboring farmer. https://www.change.org/p/modify-sb-4-and-save-oregon-s-working-farmland-and-rural-areas?redirect=false  Please also contact your state representative and senator and urge them to vote NO on SB4

We’ve been giving a lot of micro greens of late.  There are several reasons for this; we love them, they taste great, they are versatile, and they grow very fast!  Remember that you can use them as garnish on soup or crackers & cheese, as greens for a sandwich. Once snipped, they will not re-grow.  However,  you can snip some and save others for later eating or even planting in your own garden.  At this early stage of growth they are the most nutritious, ounce for ounce, of any vegetable or green.  Finally, as we have been enduring the harsh cold weather of late, growing these in our greenhouse was a relatively no-risk way to get food into your baskets.  If you’ve been using your microgreens in a different, creative way, please pass you tip along to us so we can share it with other subscribers.  You can return the pots (and soil) to us in your empty basket if you want.

We’ve been cutting outer leaves from the bok choy for a few weeks, and they are finally ready for harvest as whole plants.  I always see the maturing of the bok choy as a harbinger of spring.  This recipe is one of my favorites.

BOK CHOY WITH HOT BACON SAUCE

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chili sauce

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 Tbsp. cooking oil

3 cups chopped bok choy

Combine all but cooking oil and bok choy in a saucepan and simmer 5 minutes. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet. Add bok choy and stir-fry until crisp tender. Place hot sauce over it when ready to serve.  Serves 6

The recipe below is a great sauce for sauteed greens, stir fry, or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or vegetables.

THAI PEANUT SAUCE

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy or tamari sauce

1 tablespoon sherry, optional

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a small bowl, blend peanut butter, water, soy sauce, sherry, lemon juice, and brown sugar. You can heat the peanut butter in the microwave prior to adding other ingredients to “liquefy” it. It blends much easier that way. You can marinate tofu in 1/2 the peanut sauce over night. Cut the tofu into thin strips length wise and then in half width wise. This coats the tofu nicely for pan searing the next night. Reserve the other 1/2 the marinade to pour over the stir fry.

Another sign that spring is, indeed, almost here is that FLOWERS WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE (a good 3 weeks later than last year!) to add to your delivery, starting with daffodils and tulips.  Polly can make you a beautiful bouquet for only $10.  You can order one time, or place a standing order.  Just email to let us know and we will add them to your delivery.

EGGS are also available again.  The hens are just starting to ramp up their laying, so we are allocating them as best we can.  Our youngest hens (ie the baby chicks you saw on our pumpkin pick up weekend in October) should be starting to lay soon so our supply will improve.  We have had to increase the price of eggs to $7.20 per doz ($3.60 for a ½ doz ; $1.80 for ¼ doz) to help cover the feed costs that have almost doubled in the past year.  Just email to order.