Week #1 June 16 , 2010
Welcome to everyone! We are thrilled to have you joining us for this summer’s adventure in(from?) the garden. We are looking forward to delivering the very best our partners and we have to offer! The newest partners to join us are Chris Chmiel & Michelle Gorman from Integration Acres. Chris and Michelle produce many wonderful artisan cheeses from their goats’ milk. Recently, they have been dabbling in cow cheeses from the milk used by Snowville Creamery. We can’t wait to taste them!
Besides welcoming members and partners, we also want to announce our two new drop sites: The Pilates Center of Central Ohio in Dublin and The Clintonville Community Market (aka – the coop). Both of these sites offer a later time of 8:00 pm for pickup. So, if you have friends in those areas who couldn’t swing the logistics before, please let them know about these new ones. Thanks. If you are a veteran member, now is a great time to look at our newly designed website: www.greenedgegardens.com We’ve added new and more pictures as well as updated information about the partners. You can also meet some of your farmers in person at the Upper Arlington Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30 pm at Mallway Park on Arlington Avenue. And yet another great way to meet your farmers is to join us for the OPEN FARM DAY. July 25th is the date set, and the hours are roughly 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm. We will meet and have a potluck at the Amesville Grange. Around 3, we will leave to tour the farm where we will have dessert. The spring and early summer continue to be different from any others. We were for-tunate to be able to take advantage of the dry April to turn some of the fields. May proved wetter and chillier than usual which delayed some of the plantings for a while. All and all, the plantings look amazing; the tomatoes have fruit; and, the fencing is done for this season.
From all of us at Green Edge,
Becky (Kip, Dan, John, Rob, Cale, Julia, Penny, Martin, Guinivere, Morgan, and, and Maria)

THIS WEEK’S VEGGIES

Beets - Baby beets with greens are sweet and tender. Steam, roast, or boil them. Use the greens as you would kale or chard.
Radishes - Easter Egg Radishes are multi-colored, crunchy, and tangy. These are almost gone with the warmer weather, and we’re glad to still have some to share with you. Notes on 2nd page.
Head Lettuce – One red head (Red Cross) and one green head (Green Butterhead) are yours this week. Tender butterhead (aka bibb) leaves are favorites with customers. Notes on 2nd page.
Kale – One of our all-time favorite greens! This versatile taste treat won’t be with us for long as it pre-fers cooler temperatures. Recipe on 2nd page.
Sweet Basil – The official start of summer for us is pesto, and we’ve been enjoying it for several weeks now! We hope you will too! You may also see packages of this in both Columbus Whole Foods. (Look for the Green Edge logo.)
Dill - This aromatic and flavorful herb is good chopped fresh in sal-ad, on fish, or in a dip just to name a few of its versatile uses.
Mushrooms - This week’s mushrooms are either shiitake or any of the three oyster mushrooms (yellow, white, or blue) that we grow. Notes on 2nd page.
Sunflower Microgreens - If you’re not familiar with micro-greens, you are in for a surprise! Unlike sprouts (which are only grown in water), these are grown in soil and therefore im-part the nutritional additions from the soil. These have a mild, almost nutty flavor and are juicy and crunchy.


The Combo Corner

The fruit selections from Cherry Orchard will start in July.
This week’s bread from The Village Bakery and Café is Buttermilk Whole Wheat.
The cheese share from Integration Acres this week includes Feta and Chevre’ .
The milk share is not usually mentioned here since each member orders the type of milk wanted.


PICKUP CONTACT NUMBERS & HOURS

NEW ALBANY – 614-216-9370 3-10pm
TIBET – 614-784-8124 3-6pmBEXLEY MARKET-614-252-3951 3-8pm
UPPER ARLINGTON- 614-284-1181 2- 6pm
CLINTONVILLE COOP – 614-261-3663 11 am-8 pm
PLATES STUDIO –DUBLIN - 614-336-9502 4-8 pm
HYACINTH BEAN – 740-594-9302 12-6pm

Please remember to call your host first if problems arise. Since they are closer to you, they can usually resolve the problem. Feel free to call us if the host is unable to help you – 740-448-4021 Thanks!

The GREEN BAGS provided by us for you to carry your veggies is actually on loan to you for the season. We have two per member, so please return your GREEN BAG each week that you pick up. We are happy to support the goal for all to use fewer resources. But you need to help by joining with us in the effort to keep the GREEN BAGS in the recycling loop. Thanks so much!

MUSHROOM STORAGE:
Your mushrooms arrive in a paper bag. They will store nicely there usually for up to a week. Placing them in a paper bag inside of a plastic bag will keep them moist. Without the plastic bag, they may simply dry themselves in the refrigerator. You can simply re-hydrate them in a soup or sauce. Today you have received wither shiitake (bold flavor) or oyster (mild and delicate). The cooking method used for either can be the same, how-ever, the cooking time for the oysters is shorter than the shiitake. The shiitake and oyster stems are tough, but flavorful. Instead of composting them, put them is a small saucepan with salted water and simmer for 1-2 hours. Strain the broth and place it in a container than can be frozen. After the broth is frozen, pop it out of the container and place in a plastic bag in the freezer with other frozen broth cubes. They make great starters for soups, sauces, and many other things. The softened stems can now be used or com-posted. I’ve heard and done both.

SWEET BASIL

Sweet basil is a true harbinger of sum-mer. Its requirement of 70o F soil temperature usually makes it tricky to establish early without the use of heat. To keep basil from developing those little black spots on the leaves, keep the basil out of the refrigerator. A temperature of 50o F is as cold as basil wants to tolerate. We keep it on the counter in a glass of water (change it regularly). If for some reason you can’t use all of the fresh, try drying some for use this winter. You can buy dryers. I know many people who love theirs. I use a loosely woven cloth placed in a loosely woven basket. I put this on top of the frig towards the back where the warm, exchanged air is discharged. In 2-3 weeks, the leaves are dry and easily crumbled into a jar for storage in a dark place.

HEAD LETTUCES

The lettuces are dunked and cooled quickly. They are definitely not washed and ready to eat. You may choose to wash leaves as used or all at once. Either way, placing a slightly damp paper towel or cloth in the bag will keep them fresh and moist while the absorbing excess moisture.

Those of you who were with us this winter will recognize the recipe below as a repeat, but it’s just so simple and good that I had to include it now since kale won’t be with much longer. Savor this….
MASSAGED KALE
Wash and dry the kale. De-stem the kale. You can save the stems for later sautéing. Tear the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces and place in bowl. Drizzle the kale with olive oil, honey, and either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Place both hands in the bowl and begin to ‘massage’ the kale. The acid from the lemon juice (or vinegar) reacts with the broken leaves and causes them to wilt and taste and appear cooked. It’s a remarkable dish. Ready in no time. Additions and enhance-ments that the farm crew has tried include dried cranberries, toasted sesame seeds, walnuts, and even more that I don’t remember but were great too!


Radishes - Kip came up from the packing barn this afternoon and announced that he had made a discovery about radishes and more importantly, How To Tell If They Are Bad…. He says that the ones that are not good will sink to the bottom of the water in the sink. Or from the other angle, the good ones float.
Three customers at market in the last two weeks have told us about roasted radishes. We have not tried them that way yet, but those folks were adamant about the flavor. If you try it before we do, let us know. Send us your recipe or post your recipe for them on the blog:www.greenedgegardens.blogspot.com