I was raised in a family of foodies, and when we gather for reunions it’s all about the food. From my homesteader parents to my aunts who started health food stores, wellness centers, and community gardens, my cousins and I grew up with the understanding that good food mattered. Each aunt had a large vegetable garden, and summer visits revolved around the kids hunting potato beetles while the sisters caught up over the snap pea harvest. Christmas presents included jars of jam, pickles or salsa more often than they didn’t!
Fast forward a couple decades, through the cousins going to culinary school, starting a farm, opening a new health food store, and starting their own gardens and families. It’s no surprise, then, that when my family gathered for dinner recently the table was laden with 4 summer salads and the talk turned naturally to carrot varieties and fruit trees. The crowning moment on the evening was when 4-year-old Teal announced that we would be having peach cobbler for dessert…that she had made!
The world is a crazy place these days, but when I see the next generation getting excited about finding a green bean or picking a sunflower or helping in the kitchen it gives me hope. Teal and her passel of cousins and all the Sweetland kids who scurry through the pick-your-own garden or help select the perfect bunch of radishes each week are on their way to carrying the torch for good food. And the cobbler was delicious!
Now, on to this week’s harvest.
Cheers, Norah and the Sweetland Crew
Brimmimg Basket Harvest, week 10
- Lettuce, 1 head
- Radishes, large bunch
- Zucchini, 3 pounds
- Fennel, 3 bulbs
- Cucumbers, 3 pounds
- Scallions, large bunch
- Salad turnips, large bunch
Half Pint Harvest, week 10
- Lettuce, 1 head
- Radishes, small bunch
- Zucchini, 2 pounds
- Fennel, 2 bulbs
- Cucumbers, 1.5 pounds
- Scallions, small bunch
- Salad turnips, small bunch
Recipes of the Week
- I love the idea of adding a touch of cayenne and honey to pan roasted hakurei salad turnips. Leave the tops right on and you’ll have your greens and your “starch” in one pan!
- My friend Tomm got me hooked on this recipe for roasted fennel with parmesan, but I might have to try this newly discovered fennel with wine and honey this time!
- You could even shave some fennel into this cucumber radish slaw for extra zing.
- And of course, there’s always room for zucchini cake for dessert!