Life can throw people curveballs, and so can Minnesota weather. Weren't we all just sweating in a dry heat about a week ago? This morning I put on a sweatshirt to pick radishes in a light rain because it's 50 degrees out.
Our wild weather ride provides me intersting growing challenges. So far I've really been striking out getting carrrots to germinate well. With the sun beating down day after day through May (when we typically seed carrots), the top of the ground just dries out too quickly and carrot seed is planted very shallow. On the other hand, hot and dry weather also keeps weed seeds from germinating, so we were able to get a fair amount of cultivating and hoeing done in May and early June. I suppose it balances itself out.
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| Kohlrabi Harvest at Lida Farm |
Yesterday, pulling kohrabi for the box, I hit a wonderful 'harvest flow.' Brand new harvest knife, LCD Soundsystem on my iPod and a beautiful evening...all was right with the world and harvesting was coming easy. This time of year I get excited about pulling veggies out of the ground and getting a new season rolling. There's nothing finer than getting something in your hand which took months of work. Let's just hope it's not just a flash in the pan and I can keep the energy up for the whole season.
In the box:
- Napa Cabbage: Big item on bottom of box. See reciple below.
- Green Onions aka Scallions
- Westlander Kale
- Small Bunch of Arugula: Oakleaf-shaped green with rubber band
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce: This is a mix of types coming in, so people received green butterhead, greenleaf, or red butterhead. We doubled up small heads.
- Two Bunches of Radishes: Everybody received standard red radishes and some french breakfast radishes.
- Snap Peas
- Fresh Mint
Napa Cabbage Salad from All Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 head napa cabbage
- 1 bunch minced green onions
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, broken
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions
- Finely shred the head of cabbage; do not chop. Combine the green onions and cabbage in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Make the crunchies: Melt the butter in a pot. Mix the ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds into the pot with the melted butter. Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake the crunchies in the preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, turning often to make sure they do not burn. When they are browned remove them from the oven.
- Make the dressing: In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool.
- Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve right away or the crunchies will get soggy.
