Things in the garden are finally starting to get fun. Tomatoes, squash and beans are doing their rampant rush up trellises and across fields, filling up every available space with green, green and more green. Shiny fruits peek out from under bushes of eggplants and peppers, while flowers of every sort, cultivated and weedy, are open everywhere with bright faces to the sun. The air on the farm is laden with fragrance these days – sweet clover in the pastures, dill in the herb garden, mint and lilies in the perennial bed. The boxes are full of color and scent this week, too: pretty rainbow chard, Red Gold potatoes, butterfly bush bouquets.

Spring was so very hard and disappointing – most of the early season crops we usually grow easily, even miraculously, in our little cool valley were a disaster this year. It has been difficult for me to let go of those losses – especially of crops that were planted as early as February and cultivated for months only to go to seed and turn bitter in the unseasonable heat of June. On top of that we’ve finally been forced to till in some early crops planted from seed back in May because the weed and grass seeds in the soil germinated so fast with the heat and rain they they overcame the vegetables. But now that it is properly summer and our hot season crops are hitting their stride – pouf! – the year has magically turned around for me and I can appreciate how the weather has accelerated things like tomatoes and sweet corn. We don’t have those yet this week for you, but next time for sure. Here’s what’s in the box:

Broccoli – Well, we’ve got a mixed bag here. Some of you have small heads, some have side shoots that formed after we cut off the bolting heads, and others of you have a later-maturing broccoli variety called Italian Sprouting. It’s got lumpy, uneven heads. We are really pretty happy to have any at all!
Snap Peas – Oh, my absolute favorite taste of spring! We don’t have a lot because the plants are stunted from the heat, but what we do have is soooo sweet! Do NOT shell these! Eat the entire pod – just grasp the little stem at the top and rip the string off, then eat the whole thing. These are not washed or rinsed, because they’ll start to get rusty, so DO wash them before you eat – they are probably a bit dusty.
Fennel – People generally love or hate fennel, but you should certainly give it a fair try! I love it, but I am a fan of anise and fennel tastes to me like green licorice mixed with dill. Yum. Slice thinly and add to salad, shave and eat as a salad appetizer with an orange vinaigrette, drizzle with olive oil and roast, or try the recipe below.
Green Cabbage – Nothing says summer like a cold coleslaw with a light dressing. Try finely chopping some of the fennel greens and adding to coleslaw.
Herb Bouquet – This week it will probably work best to take apart your herb bouquet right away and store the various greens differently. We’ve gotten some feedback that it’s difficult to use up all the herbs, so we are giving you a bigger variety with smaller amounts of each this time. You have a small sprig of sage, which is gray and a bit furry, and a small sprig of rosemary, which looks like a piece of pine tree. Take these and just leave them on the counter. If you don’t use in a few days, they’ll simply dry and you can use them whenever you like. Sage is just the thing to marinate or brine your pork chops in before you grill. Rosemary is a must with fried potatoes for me, but you can also add it to shortbread for a really unique cookie! Cut finely because the herb fresh is very strong. The rest of the herbs are best put in a small vase or glass with one inch of water and pot in the fridge. They’ll last a long time this way. The big flower is dill, and though there are not many leaves on the stalks, you can use the flowers just the same. Add to salad, potatoes, eggs, or beets – or dry and save for cucumbers. Add chopped dill to a vinaigrette and use with our baby swiss chard. Chives, which look just like grass, you had to have for the new potatoes. You’ve got a few stems of parsley and lovage, which look a bit similar, but lovage has bigger, tougher leaves. Use the stems and the tender leaves as a celery substitute. Finally – more chocolate mint. I want to make sure you can have mojitos at least every other week!
New Potatoes – These pretty Red Golds surprised us by being a quite large size for new potatoes. So pretty – red on the outside, yellow in. Don’t peel these, just gently wash and don’t use a scrubber because the skin will slip right off.
Arugula – This arugula is a pretty fussy spring grower, but we’ve got it in the shade of the fava beans so it is still small and tender. The holes? Well, flea beetles LoVe arugula and generally cannot be persuaded to eat elsewhere. There is still plenty for us!
Rainbow Swiss Chard – Generally chard is prepared as a cooking green. But when it’s this young, it’s perfect for a salad. Rip the leaves into pieces, then cut the stems in small piece. Toss it alltogether with a dill vinaigrette and enjoy! The flavor is like beets and spinach combined.
Cippollini Onion- These are the very last of our storage onions from last fall. They are starting to sprout so we thought you’d better use them up! These cippolinis are very popular with chefs because they have a nice flavor.
Rhubarb – Farm members sent in so many cool recipes the last time we put this in the box, we thought we’d give you a chance to try some of what they made. Recipes follow.
Flower Bouquet: Cat Tails, fragrant purple Buddleia, otherwise known as butterfly bush, Black-Eyed Susan, otherwise known as rudbekia, and fuschia Allium, otherwise known as on onion.

Remember the pretty blue eggs in my planter from last week? Now they are adorable little birds – 4 of them! This planter hangs by my swing on the front porch.

Just to the right of the porch, I have a fabulous bed of hollyhocks in bloom right now and tucked deep inside the forest of pink stalks is this mama black duck who’s been sitting on a nest for about a week now. Hooray! We put a piece of fence up around her so the dogs can’t get in and steal her eggs. Soon we’ll have ducklings! Last year we had 14 darling tiny black ducks walking in a line back and forth across the yard behind a mom.

Fennel and Asiago Baguettes
from Farmer John’s Cookbook

Juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt
pepper
1/3 c olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, tops removed
1 baguette
4 oz. Asiago cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler.

Combine lemon juice, zest, garlic, mustard and a dash of salt and pepper in a food processor. While running, drizzle in olive oil until combined. Preheat oven broiler. Cut fennel bulbs in half and then slice each half as thinly as possible. Combine with 2/3 lemon dressing in a bowl. Slice baguette and brush with dressing. Arrange on baking sheet and broil just until toasted and golden. Arrange fennel mixture over the top and top with shaved cheese.

Mindy’s Amazing Rhubarb Iced Tea
2 quarts of water
4 stalks of rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
2 tea bags

Chop the rhubarb into 3-inch or smaller chunks. Fill a pot with 2 quarts of water and your rhubarb chunks. Bring the water and rhubarb to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour. Put tea bags in the pot and simmer for 5 more minutes. Strain out the rhubarb and tea bags. Put the liquid tea in a pitcher. Add sugar to the tea and stir until dissolved. Cool and serve over ice.

Sam’s Rhubarb Cream Cheese Bars
3/4 c butter (room temp)
2c flour
3/4 c old fashion oatmeal
3/4 c brown sugar
Spread ½ in 9×13” baking pan; set the rest aside

3 c rhubarb, diced (I would use more next time, maybe 4 or even 5 cups)
Place rhubarb over the crust

8 oz cream cheese, room temp.
½ t cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/4 t nutmeg (I added more nutmeg and some other spices)
1 ½ c white sugar
Mix (Trust me, use an electic mixer, I tried it first with a spoon, and If I hadn’t switched, I’d still be trying to get the lumps out). Pour mixture over rhubarb. Place reserved crust mixture over the rhubarb mixture. Bake 40 min. at 350 degrees. These are great warm (even reheated in the microwave) with cold milk poured over.