Salamander Springs Farm/Permaculture Organics

In your May 28 CSA box:

FRESH BAKED BREAD & goodies from Clementine’s Bakery

GREEN ONIONS (scallions)
PERENNIAL ONIONS
GARLIC SCAPES & GREENS
Use with any dish for which you use garlic & onions--get the flavor & health benefits of the nutrient-rich green parts (without having to peel!).  The scallions are also excellent raw in salads.

SALAD GREENS  can be enjoyed many ways, but tasty just as they are with a good dressing (some easy, healthy homemade salad dressings below).  We often make a chef salad with eggs, other veggies or fruit, sprouts, various nuts and seeds--a wonderful raw meal for a hot day.  

SWEET SNAP or SNOW PEAS are hard to resist whole & raw off the vine.  We plant them in February with hope that they’ll produce before they give up in Kentucky's May heat.  This was an unusual good spring for peas and we wished we had more! They can be chopped for salads, steamed or used in stir fries or other dishes.

RADISHES add color and crisp succulence, sliced or shredded, to your salad or stir fry.  Radish greens are tender when cooked and are flavorful addition to your stir fry or fritatta.

STIR FRY GREENS MIX:  a tender spring harvest mix including Kale, Chard, Turnip, Joi Choi, Mustard, or Cabbage greens. The mix is great for a flavorful stir-fry with oil, green onions, garlic scapes, tamari, and a little lemon juice. A simple and delicious way to prepare the greens is to steam them up with a bit of salt!

Fresh BASIL is a lovely, fragrant herb for the balsamic dressing recipe below.  Basil is great for salads, dressings, sauces, soups, pestos, pasta, and stews and more!

PARSLEY is a versatile green for many dishes in the kitchen.  The ancient Greeks associated the herb with Hercules, and rightfully so!  It is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C (more than oranges by weight!) and many of the B vitamins, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, selenium, zinc and iron!  Another great addition to the diet in cases of anemia.  Freshens breath, and neutralizes indigestion as well!

FRESH PEPPERMINT makes an excellent ice tea. For hot tea, pour boiling water over about one sprig per cup (cut up a bit), steep about 5 minutes, strain into cup. To make a sun tea, you can steep the whole bundle of mint in a half gallon jar and place in direct sunlight for two or more hours.  Chill for refreshing ice-tea on a hot day! Excellent after-dinner tea, aids digestion, relieves tummy-aches, gas, headaches and colds.

“MICROWAVE POPCORN” on the ear!  a gift from last fall’s harvest.   Place the ear in paper bag and fold end over twice (butter the ear first if desired).  Microwave on HIGH for 2-4 minutes or until there’s more than 3-4 seconds between pops (microwaves pop at different speeds; monitor closely to avoid burning).  Remove cob from bag, add salt, seasonings & butter as desired.  
Children enjoy watching the kernels pop off the ear in a lighted microwave--without the bag!  
If you prefer to prepare on the stove top, remove the kernels from the ear by twisting off in your hand; pop by heating in oil in a pot with a lid.  A few of our favorite seasonings are nutritional yeast, curry or cumin, and garlic (chopped in big pieces and put in the oil with the popcorn).  
All popcorn is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer (in a sealed bag).  If left out, kernels can absorb moisture from the air.  Our popcorn is dried to under 15% moisture for best popping.

Remember to bring your box each Tuesday. We’ll gladly reuse your produce bags for your produce each week--just wash & bring them too (with your name on them).  Thanks for recycling!
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DRESS YOUR OWN SALAD!
Why buy bottles from grocery store--with a few ingredients you can prepare a wonderful fresh salad dressing without the HFCS, GMOs or unhealthy additives.

Balsamic Dressing
Beat together (with a fork or whisk) in a small bowl:  2 T of a good quality mustard,  1/3 cup balsamic vinegar.  Add 1/2 cup olive oil in a thin stream while beating until well mixed.
Our additions sometimes include minced garlic (or garlic scapes) or onion, a tablespoon of honey, black pepper and some minced fresh herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, thyme or dill).
(adapted from Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon)

Tahini-Lemon Sauce/Goddess dressing
Whip together with a whisk or electric mixer:  1 & 1/2 cups tahini, 1 & 1/2 cups yogurt or buttermilk, 1-2 stalks finely minced garlic scapes, 1/4 cup finely minced scallions, 1 bunch of finely minced parsley, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of tamari.  (For a thicker dressing, whip longer)  Serve chilled as dressing on a salad, or as a sauce with sauteed vegetables. Yum!
(adapted from the original Moosewood Cookbook and from the kitchen of our friend Adrienne)
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Setting the Table...a word from Mirra
Our work stokes the a hearty appetite, and when we are ready to eat, Kayla, Susana, and I are ready to eat!  We set the table with bowls, spoons, bread, butter, cups, plates, condiments, and FOOD...
...and with tummies rumbling, it is a tradition at the Salamander Springs table for one of us to say a blessing, a prayer of gratitude, or read a silly poem! Sometimes we sit in silence with ears perked to the wind.
This tradition is a part of setting the table for a hearty meal!
One of our blessings is:
The Five Contemplations
This food is a gift of the whole universe, the earth, the sky and so much hard work.
May we live in a way that makes us worthy to receive it
May we transform our unskillful states of mind and learn to eat with moderation.
May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness.
We accept this food to help us realize the path of understanding and love.

And here is a silly working song, Garden Song (from the song book, RISE UP SINGING):
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All you need is a rake and a hoe (gonna mulch it deep and low)
And a piece of fertile ground (gonna make it fertile ground)
Inch by inch, row by row
Someone (please) bless the seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below (Please keep them safe below)
Til the rains com tumbling down

Pulling weeds, picking stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own, for the time is near at hand
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way thru nature’s chain
Tune my body and my brain to the music of the land

Plant your row straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother earth will make you strong if you give her love and care
An old crow watching hungrily
From his perch on yonder tree
In my garden I’m as free as the feathered thief up there!

Blessings on your food this week,
-Mirra