Recipe: Broccoli with Beets

The colours of this side dish are striking in combination. The bright green of steamed broccoli against the deep ruby red of raw beets is a beautiful sight to behold. Both veggies bring out different aspects of each others' earthy sweetness and this contrasts well with the tart bite of a sesame-lemon dressing. Toss some nuts or sesame seeds over top if you want added crunch.

Ingredients:

- 1 large broccoli (1 1/2 lbs), coarsely chopped
- 2 medium beets (1/2 lb)
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt or to taste

Steps:

1) Steam broccoli for 3-4 minutes or until tender. I use a steam basket over an inch of boiling water in a shallow pan but whichever method you prefer is fine.

2) While broccoli is steaming peel beets and then grate with a box grater on the coarsest setting.

3) Toss steamed broccoli with beets and dressing ingredients and mix well. You can serve immediately or refrigerate and serve cold.

Enjoy the colours of summer! Our first CSA boxes went out last week but there's still time for prospective members to apply for Block 2 of the CSA season. Check out our CSA page for more info.

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Summertime

Summer is officially here and so is the heat! The garden is soaking up the sunlight on these ultra-long days and growing fast.

In Fields 2 and 3 are potatoes, garlic, onions and various cover crops. Nearby are the two greenhouses. The old greenhouse in front is home to the tomatoes and the new greenhouse behind is still where seedlings mature before moving out to the field as transplants.

Through the roll-up sides of the old greenhouse (put up in the daytime for ventilation and put down at night for warmth) you can see the tomatoes are getting tall.

Inside view of the tomatoes growing up the string trellises.

Tomatoes!

In Field 1 are the peas, broccoli, eggplant, radishes, lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kohlrabi, beans, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, corn, carrots and beets. Most of the mid-late summer veggies are still small but growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Lettuce is one of the first late spring veggies to appear and we've been eating it for the past couple of weeks. It's so exciting to start digging into fresh garden produce after a long winter of root cellar veggies, preserves and pickles and the few things we buy at the grocery store. I'm never disappointed at the amazing taste of the food our land gives us.

Veggies aren't the only thing growing at the farm this season. Baby #3 is due to arrive in two months with all my late summer favorites like corn, peppers and zucchini.

The kids have started their own little garden in the front near the house. They check daily on the progress of the cherry tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucumbers, peas, carrots and lettuce. There's also a small corn plot nearby.

Stay cool during these sweltering days! Visit our CSA page for info on our local pick-up options.

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Spring snapshots

It's a busy time as the weather is finally settling. The greenhouse is bursting so here's a quick tour of what's growing.

Best seats in the house (on the heat storage tank): tomatoes, peppers and some new seedings.

West benches.

East benches.

The onions are ready to transplant.

Tomatoes are rarin' to go! I have one batch transplanted in the ground in the old greenhouse and these ones are ready to get out there once the nights warm up a bit.

Early beets.

The first wave of broccoli is in the field, here is the second.

Some trays of lettuce, also ready to get out to the field.

OK, back to work!

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Spring is near!

Outside the sky is blue, the temperature is above freezing and the icicles on the roof are melting a steady drip-drip-drip in the warm sun. After a dark and wintery hiatus to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming one, Eva Mae Farm is starting up our second season! Go to our CSA page to register for 2015 membership.

The first job in the new season is starting seedlings, which will first spend some time indoors, then move out to the brand new greenhouse, then finally be transplanted into the soil in the garden. Peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, and organic fertilizer are mixed in large tubs and then a soil blocker is used to press down uniform blocks of soil onto the wooden pallets that serve as seedling trays.

Next the seeds are measured out and individually placed into the soil blocks. Depending on seed size we use either a vacuum seeder or drop them in by hand. Little hands can be helpful with tiny seeds.

Once the seeds are tucked into the soil blocks and misted gently with a spray bottle, they sprout under UV lights in the basement.

Our broccoli seedlings just popped up 2 days ago. They're our first sprouts of the year. Longer, warmer days outside and the first veggies of the 2015 season sprouting means spring is just around the corner. The end of another Canadian winter is always joyful, but the start of the farming season and the anticipation of all the good food ahead makes me all the more excited for spring.

Interested in learning more about membership in our farm for the upcoming season? Check out the CSA page.

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