Greens, greens and nothing but greens!

Spring is finally here at the Frosty Farm.  It’s always fun to see what comes back from the following year.  I’ve got a number of greens “going rogue,” as my BFF, Sarah Palin, says.   Arugula, kale, lettuce, and ton and tons of cilantro.

 

I planted some from seed in the flats here.  The arugula is off to a great start, but the lettuce is slower by a landslide.  The arugula seeds are new this year, from The Hudson Valley Seed Library, but the lettuce I used a pack from last year.  Germination rates should still be pretty decent for seeds that are only a year old, but this is terrible.  Each pod had five to seven seeds, but as you can see, very few sprouted.

    

Part of the problem might be the cool spring temps we saw in late April.  Temperature is a major factor in seed germination.  Lettuce germinates best with temperatures of 65 to 70, but I’ve found can tolerate 55, however as we know, the early spring temps were in the 40s.  I am guessing this is an evolutionary tactic to not sprout too early, in case there’s a frost.  Some species need a period of cold before they will sprout, called vernalization.  The seed stays dormant until exposed to cold, so that it will sprout in the spring, instead of dropping in the fall and re-sprouting next time it rains.

  

It's still early, so I don't have too much to work with, but these spring greens make a great base for a salad, baby kale, baby chard, arugula and lettuce. 

Sneaky Radish

Is there anything more seductive than a radish?  No, really!  Sure, tomatoes are soft, warm and voluptuous; beckoning us with their supple skin and sweet juicy flesh…But the radish, she is a sneaky temptress.  In the ground, she taunts you, just flashing her green, slightly prickled leaves, making you wonder what’s beneath.  But once you pull her from the soil, that’s it, there is no ripening on the counter like a tomato.  What danger, what excitement!  Will it be a little nip of a thing, or a full, robust root, bursting with flavor? A tomato lays it all out right on the vine, no mystery, no imagination, where’s the fun in that?  With a radish, you don’t see what’s hiding under the soil; you don’t know what you’ll get.  

Radish Greens

After she's been picked, the red root looks rather unimpressive; perhaps slightly blemished, covered in dirt. You think it’ll be like any old root vegetable, right?  Rather bland, like a potato, or a turnip.  It will probably taste fine, but there won't be any fire coming from this wee radish.  Roots are what holds us to the ground, steady us, but surely there is no excitement, no pizzazz.  

Then you bite in, and out of nowhere, there’s that quick surprise of spice, zing and flare.  What flavor hiding in this unassuming little root!   

Recipe:

One of my favorite radish recipes comes from The Farm to Table recipe book by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann

Salad of Peas, Feta, Mint and Radish

2 cups shucked fresh sweet peas

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tbsp local honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 radishes, finelinly sliced*

1 red spring onion, finely sliced

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves roughly chopped

1/2 cup crumbled feta (opional)

In a medium Pot of boiling salted water, blanch peas until just tender and bright green, about 2 minutes.  Refresh under cold water.  In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey and mustard.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add peas, radishes and onion; toss to coat.  Add mint and gently toss.  Sprinkle with Feta

Health Benefits:

Loads of vitamin C (1)

Radishes contain a group of compounds called isothiocyanates, which have been shown to effective against other cancer cell lines (1) (2)

(1) http://www.livestrong.com/article/413273-health-benefits-of-radishes/

(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20652750

Spring Greens

Well - a year reprise, but Frosty Farm blog is back.  The overwintered Kale and Collards bloomed like a dream in the spring, and I've been eating it a few times a week, trying to give away the rest.  As the first rays of spring sunshine fall on the Kale and Collards, they burst to life, and start to produce a flower.  What to do with all these greens - well, a gentle steam or sautee can do as a nice side dish, but one of my favorites is my "Spring Greens Pie"
 

Collards & Kale

Spinach seedlings from early April

Preheat oven to 375.

• Use about 15 stalks of garlic scapes, diced - otherwise use more onions/shallots, and add garlic to herb mix
• 1 or 2 spring onions, sliced (or ramps if they're still available)
• A bunch of collared greens, separated from the stem, and cut into slices.
• About 5 baby bella (crimini) mushrooms.
• Season with fresh thyme and rosemary cut up into tiny pieces, and add some cayenne pepper and cumin too

Sautee all together until the greens and onions are just getting soft.  I always cook these sorts of greens on med/med-low heat so that they cook in their own juices.

Meanwhile, beat 5-6 eggs.  And by eggs, I of course mean from chickens that live outside Grazin Angus Acres, for example.  And keep the yolks, folks.  Like my mother said.  Eating an egg without the yolk is like licking the outside of a glass of wine.  #truth

Butter the outside of a glass pie dish, and pour the eggs in, then add the greens, pushing them down into the mixture.  You can add goat cheese or some kind of melty cheese in chunks on the top if you'd like.  Pop in the over, and check every 10 mins until eggs are just set.  You can check by sticking a fork in the middle, it should come out dry.  It should take about 30 mins total, but remember that it will still cook a bit.  Let it cool, and enjoy!

Squash in NYC - not just a racquet sport

It is really hot.  I have kinds of squash.  Lebanese green:

Strawberries

From June.

Peas on Earth

Last year I got in trouble with my 90 year old grandmother because I tried to plant peas in May - I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.    

Last May I called her to tell her about the progress of the garden, and that I had just planted peas.  "Christopher, what are you doing planting peas in May!  You have to put them in the ground on St Patrick's day!"  Well she was right, and my peas were crap last year.  This year, naturally, I was sure to get the first batch planted on St Patrick's day, and they have been wonderful.  Sugar and snap peas.  I've had 54 total this year, and there are still tons of pink and purple flowers.

Now - since I had gently tilled the soil before I planted the peas - it became immediately clear that the 9 feral cats that torture me would swiftly make this soon-to-be-pea-bed a soon-to-be-cat-shit-bed...so, after two mornings of arriving upon freshly shat cat crap, and pea seeds dug up and strewn about, I laid down chicken wire over both bed, hovering about an inch above the soil, so that they could not get access to the soil.  The peas would grow through the chicken wire, and use it as a support.  So far, so good, and the beds were left unperturded.  

The thaw - and a survivor!

Much to my pleasant surprise, the lacinto and red russian kale that had been planted last fall survived the winter, and burst into life as the ground thawed.  The picture above is in early March, and on the left side (that little green patch), is the still dormant kale.  As soon as temperatures rose, and the sun began to shine, the kale exploded!  The new growth had big main leaves, the typical leaves we think of with kale - as well as smaller off shoot leaves, that weren't as big, but still tasty.

Here is the same kale just a few weeks later totally full of life.  Kale is a superfood, and is literally one of the BEST foods for you.  On the ANDI (aggregate nutrient density index) scale, kale gets a top score of 1000!

I'm pretty sure  I had kale for dinner ever single night from April to mid May.  (plus what I'd eaten in the fall!)

This was the final harvest of the lactino kale, which had to be pulled up in early April to make room for the lettuce.  I left the red russian kale, on the right below, stick around for a few more weeks.