First Harvest of 2017 at Lida Farm

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. 

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

1. 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.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve right away or the crunchies will get soggy.

Minerals on the Farm

This week as I was harvesting broccoli for the box, I was looking across the brassica field where we have the kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts and thought just how good the field looked this year.  The good timings I've had with cultivating helps, but one thing which I'd like to highlight is the mineral fertilizer I've incorporated this year.

Ryan harvesting Napa Cabbage

Plants in the brassica family like broccoli are pretty heavy "feeders" of micronutrients (macro-nutrients are nitrogen, potash, and potassium) like calcium, boron, and manganese.  To better feed the plant, this year we sourced a mineral blend from Midwestern Bio-Ag which the brassicas really responded to.  We've never had such healthy-looking cabbages.  People always wonder what we do about insects when raising vegetables without pesticides, but this is part of the secret.  If you have healthy plants with proper nutrition, the bug pressure is always less - kind of like those healthy people you know who never get sick.

In the box:

• Cilantro
• Kohlrabi 
• Napa Cabbage: It seems like not a lot of people cook with Napa, but I absolutely love the stuff!  Follow this recipe below from the Epicurious website for an idea on how to use it.  
• Radishes 
• Strawberries
• Snap Peas: These are edible pod peas, so please don't try to shell; just eat them.  
• Spinach 
• Broccoli 
• Red lettuce: Most people got a red oakleaf variety called Cocarde, but some did Red Sails red leaf. 
• Salad Mix  

Spicey Napa Cabbage Slaw with Cilantro Dressing from Epicurious

1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 fresh serrano chile, finely chopped, with seeds

1 small head Napa cabbage (1 1/2 pounds), cored and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices

1 bunch scallions, sliced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Whisk together vinegar, sugar, ginger, oil, chile, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add remaining ingredients and toss well. Let stand, tossing occasionally, 10 minutes.
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Napa-Cabbage-Slaw-with-Cilantro-Dressing-243168#ixzz1zDu8T5Ia