A Tale of Tall Peas

The snap peas are beautiful specimen this year.  The first planting did not germinate, but the 2nd did perfectly.   They have been growing, growing, growing…
 
 
Now, a “tale” usually has an up side and a down.  And so it begins…
 
 

# of times I had to seed the peas (by hand, mind you): 2
# of days the peas have been growing: 70
# of days the catalog says the peas will take to mature: 60
# of row feet: 200
height of peas currently: 8-10 feet
# of times I have trellised the peas, so they stand up: 5
# of times I have had to fix the trellis because it has fallen over: 3
# of peas we have picked thus far: maybe 5

THIS COULD BE THE WEEK!!!!  Hopefully they fatten up to their tasty sweetness and we can enjoy them before this tale takes a turn for the worse : )

PYO Flower Garden is in full swing.  Beautiful.  Good job, Zachy.


This week’s BOUNTY!  lettuce, arugula, radish, hakurei turnip, fennel, kohl rabi, broccoli, beet greens, scallions, tat soi, tendersweet cabbage, chinese cabbage, summer squash, zukes, cukes, garlic scapes and herbs  … eat up!!!!


Recipes:

Fennel: Don’t be afraid to try this on sandwiches, in salads, grilled….  It’s a lighter flavor than you think!!!

Martha’s 25 fennel recipes

• Fennel stalks can take the place of celery in soups and stews, and can be used as a “bed” for roasted chicken and meats.
• Use fronds as a garnish, or chop them and use as you would other herbs, like dill or parsley. Chopped fennel works especially well in Italian tomato sauces, but add it late in the cooking process so the flavor isn’t diluted.
• Trim the stalks about an inch above the bulb.
• If you want pieces to stay together for grilling, keep the root end intact. Otherwise, trim about a half inch off the root end before cooking.
• To slice fennel, stand the bulb on the root end and cut vertically.


Chinese Cabbage:  great sliced thin on burritos or as a side salad.  Crispy and light

Tendersweet Cabbage: Tender leaves are very thin, sweet, and crisp – perfect for coleslaw or stir-fries.

Radish: other things to do with radishes…

Roasted Radishes

13 Real Simple Radish Recipes


The Farmer’s Table:
*Portland Pie Dough Pizza with dill, parsley and basil pesto and fennel
*Sunnyside chicken baked on top of fennel stalks.  Topped with hakurei turnips and their greens and a lemon from my brothers yard in CA : )
*pulled pork stir fry with haurei turnips and carrots
*leftover pulled pork with pickled hakurei and kohl rabi slaw
*leftover chicken sandwiches with Paul’s bread, dill, arugula, mustard and Spring Day Creamery Fromage Blanc
*Saturday snack of sliced radishes and cukes with a Winter Hill Farm yogurt and herb dip
*marinated London Broil (our grass fed beef) with millet, broccoli and sliced radish

…Oh yes, we have it so gooooood!!!!!!!!!!

Shareholder’s Table:
A delicious kohlrabi, fennel and apple salad tossed in olive oil and lemon, with a bunch of the fresh herbs. That’ was an excellent way to use up some of the fennel!