Circle M Farm

The theme of this week’s box is Grace. Today’s harvest was such a celebration – everything looking so fresh and good in spite of the fact that the plants have been through such a late and harsh spring. If you can picture me kneeling beside crisp rows of multicolored lettuce, slicing through each rosette with a satisfying crunch, and saying in measured rhythm as I cut, “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” you have some idea of what our time in the garden has been like in the past few days.

Grace is also of import to us right now, because when they learned some of our crops were destroyed in the flood, generous neighboring farmers offered to let us glean the extras from their gardens to keep our boxes full. This week the rhubarb and many of the herbs were gifts from our organic community out here. And so – we offer many thanks to them, to our land, and to the Lord for the bounty we share this week with you.

Our harvests list will from now on be listed in order of what is most perishable in the box. Speaking of which – how do you like the new boxes? We have decided to stop recycling grocery store waxed boxes in favor of using our own brand spanking new ones, with plastic liners to keep the food fresh and the boxes clean. Please do return them to us on the next delivery day, and we’ll continue to reuse.

Baby Salad Mix – These small mixed lettuces are the last we’ll harvest from our first spring planting. But we’ve got multiple rows sprouted in the shade elsewhere, and we hope to be bringing you salad for a while into the heat.

Snap Peas – To me, these are the absolute pinnacle of taste in the garden. But they are brief of season, and short lived in the cooler. Eat them up raw! Just zip the string off from one side and pop in your mouth…

Pea Shoots and Tendrils – We got a lot of good feedback about these from the last delivery. This may be the last time we can offer these until fall, as they hate the heat. They still look amazingly good in the garden with their beautiful flowers and fragile leaves. See last week’s list for a recipe.

Spinach – This is another plant that absolutely hates the heat, but we got a huge harvest this week, which is likely the last.

Purple Top Turnips – These gorgeous bulbs do dual duty: slice the roots up to eat raw or throw in salad, and ribbon the greens to saute or cut into soup. Turnip greens, like all dark green leaves, are the most nutritious food you can eat. Ignore the flea beetle holes and enjoy!

Rhubarb – These ruby red stalks are as good as it gets! Pretty and tart. We like to cut these into 1 inch chunks, simmer with water and sugar and cook them down into an all-purpose ice-cream/oatmeal/shortbread topping. We just leave it in the fridge and see what we can find to put it on every day. See recipe below.

Herbs! – Perennial herbs are so happy right now. Even if you can use all of these this week, consider hanging them up to dry so you can use them as the summer moves on. The small bag of herbs contains snips of sage and winter savory. The large bouquet of herbs features chocolate mint, lemon balm, tarragon, dill, cilantro and oregano, which we’ve labeled with abbreviations.

Recipes

Rhubarb Scones

2 C flour
½ c brown sugar
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
5 T butter
2/3 c sour cream
1 t vanilla
½ c fresh thinly sliced rhubarb, with ¼ sugar sprinkled over and set for 1 hour

Oven at 400. Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter. Make well and add the rest. Drop by 1/3 cups on to cookie sheet, or flatten into a large circle and cut into 8 pieces. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle over with raw sugar. Bake 20 min.

Sage Tea Cake
1/2 C milk
2 T chopped fresh sage
1/2 C butter
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 C all-purpose flour
3 t. baking powder
1 t salt

Cook milk and sage to near boiling. Let cool. Beat butter until soft, add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add remaining ingredients together, then add alternately to butter mixture. Spread in greased, floured 9-by-5 loaf pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350. Cool 10 minutes on rack before removing and wait til cool to slice.

Lemon Balm Iced Tea
Couldn’t be easier – stuff a gallon glass container of some sort with several stalks of lemon balm, which you’ve rinsed in cold water. Pour warm water over them to fill the container, and leave in a sunny spot for two hours. Pull the stalks out and discard. Pour over ice and enjoy. This is terrific with a little honey, or even brown sugar. Try a mix with half lemon balm and half chocolate mint!

Rhubarb Compote
Wash and slice rhubarb into 1-inch chunks. Put in a heavy saucepan and add a cup of water and a cup of sugar. Simmer over medium heat until soft – about 1/2 hour. Add water if the bottom gets dry, as rhubarb is absolutely ruined if scalded. You can add ginger, vanilla, or any number of interesting flavors when the stalks are done cooking. Store in fridge or freeze. Spoon over oatmeal, ice cream, pudding or brownies. Or save and use in as a quick pie or cobbler filling.