April 30th Newsletter 1

Well folks, this is where it all begins, fresh vegetables from our farm to your kitchen (and stomach) for the next 28 weeks! Today we were busy harvesting greens, lots of them over 40#, all hand picked! All of our greens are "rinsed" twice and then bagged. Tomorrow you will have to choose from three different kinds of spinach, two different kinds of kale, swiss chard, perpetual spinach, mustard greens, bok choi, tatsoi, mizuna, chinese cabbage, head lettuce, parsnips, green garlic, leeks, scallions, sprouts and numerous kinds of herbs.

The spinach types are Tyee, a crinkled type hybrid from Johnny Seed company. We like growing this type because of its holding ability (not bolting) when it gets hot. The second variety is a Italian heirloom called Merlo Nero from our favorite seed company Baker Creek. Merlo Nero, also a savoy type was chosen to be grown here on the farm because its from Italy and those Italians know good vegetables! Monnopa is the third type, it is from Seed Savers Exchange and is my favorite spinach. It's supper sweet, high in vitamin A, C and E and low in oxalic acid. Low acid improves the absorption of calcium and other minerals. We also have some great kale choices like Toscano and Red Russian. Personal I like the Red Russian more because I think it is sweeter, however Toscano seems to be very popular at markets. The reason may be because of the appearance of Toscano which has bumpy looking leaves, hence its other name "Dinosaur Kale"! Make sure you try some Gator Perpetual Spinach in the next few weeks too. I have to say this is wonderful. It is similar to swiss chard in appearance, but tastes more like spinach that just melts in your mouth. If your feeling like something more spicy, then check out the mustard greens. With all these greens we like to saute them in the morning (with herbs of course) and eat them with eggs topped with sprouts.

Enjoy your first week of fresh veggies!