Market

The roses are shedding their petals as we are shedding layers now that summer is officially here. We have had several hot and humid days and the plants have been enjoying the heat more than we have.

Come see us tomorrow at the market! Every week we have something new as the season progresses.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

- swiss chard

-lettuce (red and green)

- kale (tuscan and curly)

- beets (red and golden)

- arugula

- parsley

- dill

- salad mix (asian and regular)

- radishes

 - cilantro 

- basil

 - grape jelly

- flower arrangements!

Swiss chard, beets, and parsley ready to go to market

Looking towards Hemlock Road

Terry's work boots for the rainy days

Pepper plant

Chimichurri

I realize it has been a while since I posted a recipe and thought I would share with you a recipe of one of the samples we have been having at the market. Chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce that is made primarily with fresh parsley and cilantro. I think it is a great recipe especially for the use of the cilantro because I often have a hard time finding things to put it in besides burritos and bean salads and when we have a surplus in the garden, it's nice to be able to use a lot of it. This sauce is a great marinade for grilled meats but it also stands alone as a great dipping sauce for veggies.  As the weather gets warmer, this may be one of the last few weeks we will have these fresh herbs until the fall, but especially for those not in Cleveland, I urge you to find these ingredients and make this sauce! It is so bright and fresh and really adds that wonderful extra flavor to a meal.

Chimichurri

2 cups fresh parsley
1 cup fresh cilantro
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves (or 4 tsp dried oregano)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely minced (put in as much as you like depending on how hot you want it)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix the vinegar with the shallot, garlic, and jalapeno and let sit about 10 minutes (this will pickle them slightly). Place parsley, cilantro, oregano and vinegar mixture and salt and pepper (to taste) in the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment. Process until finely chopped. With the motor running, slowly drizzle oil in a steady stream. Scrape down the sides several times to evenly combine. The sauce will keep in the fridge up to one week.

Things are progressing quite nicely in the garden as you can see!

Tomato plants are staked and tied and you can see a little lettuce head growing next to it from the compost we put around the base of the plants!

Green beans

The scapes are finished and we sold out of them faster than we could have imagined last weekend. 

Seth helping harvest swiss chard last Friday night!

This Saturday, June 22nd, we will have:

-swiss chard

-beets (red and golden)

-kale (tuscan and curly)

-lettuce (green and red)

-dill

-parsley

-cilantro

-basil

-tomato plants

-grape jelly

Market

We have a new location this year at the market because we really needed a spot with more shade. Around 9 or 10am on a sunny day we would get hit with direct sun that would make all of our herbs and lettuce wilt which was so frustrating to see all of our beautiful produce shrivel up before customers could get it home to their fridges.With our old spot, we were centrally located and had 2 sides of the tent accessible but with our new location, we are on the side and only have the front of our tent accessible. So, we rearranged the tables to allow for more retail space and are so far loving it. The shade makes a huge difference for the produce as well as us!

Our new location

We have been bringing samples of garlic scape pesto, green green garlic pesto (when it was still available), and grape jelly and we have gotten great reception! We hope to give you a taste of as much as we can all summer. 

Beets and swiss chard

Radishes and green and red head lettuce

This Saturday, June 15, 2013, we will be selling:

-dill

-cilantro

-parsley

-swiss chard

-kale

-head lettuce

-beets

-spinach

-salad mix

-radishes

-garlic scapes

-grape jelly

The list is getting longer every week and we are excited to bring you more produce as it is ready to eat in the garden! Happy Friday and hope to see you tomorrow!

The Calm Before the Storm

Right now the garden is perfect.  It is beautiful, the temperatures are mild, the humidity is down, there are very few weeds, and the slugs and Japanese beetles haven't figured out that the season has begun again. The storm I refer to includes the challenges that face us every year and ones that we try to solve and often frustrate and madden us. Heat, mosquitoes, rabbits, drought or heavy rains, and pests will inevitably show their face at some point this year, but we will do our best and use our years of experience to solve problems before they actually become problems. For now, we are relishing in finally eating fresh produce and seeing new growth every day!

The Bounty.

It's garlic scape time again! 

Beautiful, tidy rows of cabbage, beets, garlic and lettuce.

Some of the first blooms!

We are growing more cucumbers this year and built this trellis so they can grow vertically instead of horizontally which saves us lots of space. 

Swiss chard before the slugs have found it. 

Tuscan Kale

This Saturday, June 8, we will be selling:

 -garlic scapes

-tomato plants

-lettuce (red and green)

-cilantro

-parsley

-kale (tuscan and curly)

-dill

-grape jelly

-swiss chard