Howdy folks and welcome to week 5 of your Tumbleweed Farm CSA share. Hot damn—it’s felt awesome out here in the fields these past few days. Breezy, cool (we’ve been wearing sweatshirts in the mornings and that’s a big deal!) and the plants are loving it! The fields are popping and zucchini is on the horizon, the melon plants are looking healthy and the corn is tall enough to be breezy in the wind. We even dug up a few new potatoes to have with your dinner last night and they were so creamy and delicious. Look out for those coming soon!
This past week we started harvesting the first of the spring broccoli. My kid’s are ecstatic! The plants aren’t as healthy looking as in year’s past but they are still delicious. I think that early heat wave did a number on the broccoli but they recovered. They just aren’t as big as we normally like.
We are continuing to seed fall crops and it feels crazy to already be planning for October! But here we are and it’s wild. Time is crazy out here!
Before I get to this week’s haul I wanted to encourage any of you with kiddos to come on out to our farm for our dedicated family focused farm tours. We held our first one last month and it was so stinking fun! I’ve teamed up with our neighbor rancher and we tour Tumbleweed farm first and get to harvest a few veggies with the kiddos and then walk over to the ranch next door and feed the animals, tour the homestead and have another farm fresh snack. I’ll attach the detail in the photo below. You can sign up via the website shown in the link below the photo. And it’s not just for kiddos. If yo want to come without kids the tour is for you as well! Just know there will be kiddos running around too.
https://www.letthemeatdirtkids.com/farm-tour
Alrighty, let’s get to this week’s haul! First up, ya’ll need to try the dill-cilantro chimichurri sauce. It’s one of the best green sauces I’ve made and it’s great for serving over any kind of grilled meat or fish. Second, the carrot salad may sound boring, but it’s so stinking simple and good! Try it out for yourself. It’s going to be a summer staple for me!
I hope you all enjoy harvest week 5!
Harvest 5
Spinach-rich in iron, potassium, vitamins C & E, and magnesium. Spinach can also aid in digestion and has anticancer properties. Eat this veggie up!!
Carrots—Rich in beta-carotene which your body converts into Vitamin A. This vitamin is important for vision, bone and immune function. Carrots are also high in antioxidants and important minerals for overall body health. Remove the greens on the carrots before storing them so they don’t go soft.
Garlic Scapes—the list of health benefits is almost too long!! It’s anti-fungal, anti- inflammatory, boosts immune health, and is full of antioxidants! Just eat garlic with every meal!
Turnips—Rich in vitamins and minerals turnips are high in antioxidants which help provide anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antibacterial effects, among other benefits. The greens boast a whole list of their own nutritional values but the biggest ones are that they’re high in vitamin A and calcium. Please remove the greens from the turnips and store them separately so the roots don’t get soft.
Collard Greens—High in vitamin K they are also a good source of cancer fighting compounds and are rich in glucosinolates which is a sulfur-containing compound which is thought to help stop cancer process at different stages of development. Pretty rad!
Salad Mix—These leafy greens are a rich source of vitamins A, K and folate. Also a good anti- inflammatory leafy green.
Broccoli—Broccoli contains many vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Research suggests that some of broccoli’s plant compounds are thought to help prevent cancer when eaten often. Broccoli’s benefits include helping reduce inflammation, keeping blood sugar stable, and strengthening the immune system.
Cilantro—Cilantro is one of the most potent and detoxifying herbs for our bodies. It helps remove heavy metals from our bodies and has antibacterial properties along with being one of the most adrenal supporting herbs out there.
Dill—is great for digestion and helps with bloating. Because of its antacid properties it’s great at easing indigestion, gastritis and other inflammatory conditions.
Recipe Suggestions
Grilled Chicken with Cilantro-Dill Chimichurri (SO GOOD!!)
Broccoli, Carrot & Kohlrabi Slaw with Peanut Sauce (if you don’t have any kohlrabi left from last week I bet turnips would taste great!)
Sheet Pan Blackened Salmon Bites with Creamy Cilantro Sauce (this is SO good!)
Teriyaki Salmon, Broccoli & Spinach Bowls (so tasty!)
Miso Glazed Turnips (one of our favorites!)
Garlic Dill Yogurt Sauce
Collard Greens Summer Slaw with Soy-Sesame Sauce (very tasty!)
Alrighty all of you CSA farm kids…Below are some of my kid’s favorite farm fresh recipes using ingredients from this week’s haul. Enjoy!
Sausage, Egg, Spinach Breakfast Muffins (very good!)
Healing Chicken, Cilantro, Coconut Soup (even though this soup is green my kid’s love it!)
Maple Chocolate, Chaga Spinach Muffins (these are divine!)
Miso Salmon & Turnip Cakes (these are delicious!)
