The Final Week of the Spring Share

Reminder: This is the final week of the Spring Share, and it is a vegetable-only week. Next week is the start of the Summer Share and we will be distributing vegetables, eggs, fruit, dairy, meat and trout.


This Week's Vegetable Harvest:

• Broccoli
• Strawberries (from Mick Klug Farms)
• "Purplette" Onions
• Zucchini and/or Yellow Summer Squash
• Head Lettuce
• Arugula
• Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Easter Egg Radishes
• Flat Leaf (Italian) Parsley  

Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)... spinach, zucchini, strawberries, fennel, green onions, lettuce, sweet cherries, kale, cilantro and more!

 

Thank you, everyone! We hope you enjoy the final week of the Spring Share. 

Delivery Schedule for the Week of July 4th

Tuesday the 2nd:
Allstate 2:30-5:30
Glenview 3:00-6:30
Evanston 3:30-6:30
Lake Forest 4:00-7:00
Grayslake Farm 4:00-7:00 (including members who normally pick up on Thursday)

Wednesday the 3rd:
Buffalo Grove 3:00-6:30
Barrington 4:00-7:00
Glen Ellyn 3:00-6:30
Clarendon Hills 3:30-6:30
Oak Park 4:00-7:00



Farm Photo Journal




Planting beans in the garden with Dad--not a bad way to spend some time on Father's Day! Sunday afternoon was relaxing for one and all. Happy Father's Day, Matt and Jeff!



Monday morning it was back to work. Here the crew is weeding onions using a technique we'd never tried before--sitting on the planter as it rolls along in the field. Who knew it was possible to sit in a chair and weed?!
 



All of our fruiting crops are setting beautiful flowers. Cucumbers, squash, melons, tomatoes, and peppers are just some of the crops that must set flowers in order to bear fruit. 

 



And what a lot of fruit we will have! This is a shot of one of the tomato fields. The plants look as robust and healthy as they've ever looked.

In the Farm Kitchen

Swiss chard is flavorful yet mild, and can be substituted for spinach in many dishes including quiches, omelets, lasagna, pasta sauce, stir frys, etc. I like to use braised chard as a pizza topping and as a filling for vegetarian pita pockets. Chard is high in vitamins A, E and C and the minerals calcium and iron. You can use the entire leaf as well as the tender stem.

 

Purplette is a mini onion variety with beautiful purple and white coloring and a delicate, sweet onion flavor. You can eat the whole plant, from the bulbs all the way to the tips of the green tops.

 

Flat leaf parsley, also called Italian parsley, is an extremely versatile herb. Here are some of our favorite uses:

• use as a garnish for deviled eggs
• add to pizza dough, bread dough, or biscuits
• make a salad of sliced radishes, chopped parsley, green onion, lemon juice olive oil & salt
• make parsley butter by adding minced parsley to softened butter. Use on broiled fish or steamed vegetables.

This Week's Featured Recipes

Tabouli-Stuffed Summer Squash
1/2 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small garlic clove, minced

3 medium zucchini or summer squash, scrubbed, trimmed, and halved lengthwise

1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

2 purplette onions, bulbs and greens finely chopped

2 radishes, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives 

 

In a bowl combine the bulgur with the salt. Pour enough boiling water over the bulgur to cover it by 1 inch, and let the bulgur soak for 1 hour. Drain the bulgur and squeeze it dry in a kitchen towel. In a bowl stir together the bulgur, the lemon juice, the oil, and the garlic and let the bulgur marinate, covered and chilled, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.

With a melon-baller, scoop out the zucchini flesh, reserving it for another use and leaving 1/4-inch shells. On a steamer rack set over boiling water, steam the zucchini shells, cut sides up and covered partially, in batches for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are just tender. Transfer the shells, cut sides down, to paper towels to drain and let them cool. Stir the mint, parsley, onions, radishes and olives into the bulgur mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the tabouli among the zucchini shells and serve.


Italian Minestra with Chard, Parsley and White Beans

3/4 cup peeled, diced carrots

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch purplette onions, bulbs and greens chopped
2 bay leaves
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
6 cups water and/or chicken stock, or both
2 cans white cannellini beans, drained
3 cups chopped chard leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup chopped Swiss chard stems
4 chopped canned plum tomatoes
salt and freshly cracked pepper

In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, about 6 minutes. Add the bay leaves, the garlic and the rosemary, and cook for two minutes. Add the water or stock, the beans, chard and basil and simmer 20 minutes. Pick out the bay leaves, stir in the chard stems and the tomatoes and cook until the chard stems are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls and drizzle each bowl with a little olive oil. Serve with grated Parmesan and crusty bread or rolls.