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.

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!

Recipe: Lettuce and Pea Soup

It may seem strange to cook lettuce and make soup out of it, but chilled soups for hot weather tend to follow different rules than the heavy soups of winter. Here wilted lettuce with sweet shelled peas makes for a light and fresh-tasting lunch on a sweltering July day. If you've grown a bit tired of salads through the leafy spring this cold soup is a refreshing change as we await the meatier (so to speak) veggies of mid-summer.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 head of lettuce, chopped
- 1/2 pint of peas, shelled
- 4 garlic scapes, chopped coarsely
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 cup milk
- salt to taste
- a handful of parsley, chopped
- (optional) a handful of mint, chopped

Steps:

1) Heat pan on medium-low and melt butter. Add garlic scapes and lettuce and sauté until leaves are wilted, about 1-2 minutes.

2) Add stock and simmer on low for 5 minutes.

3) Add peas, parsley and mint and stir for 1 minute.

4) Remove from heat, add milk and puree. Taste and add salt as needed.

5) Chill and serve cold with a dollop of yogurt and mint garnish. Makes 2 large or 4 small bowls of soup.

Recipe: Creamy Garlic Scape Dressing

The curly green stems that garlic plants send up in June and July have a mild flavour with a hint of garlicky bite. Eaten cooked or raw they are versatile and delicious. You can try a classic garlic scape pesto, throw them on the grill for a summer BBQ or use them wherever you might want a fresher, slightly sweet version of garlic's taste. Here I made a creamy yogurt salad dressing to compliment an early summer salad.

Ingredients:

Salad
- lettuce
- radishes
- Hakurei turnips

Dressing
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-4 garlic scapes, chopped

Steps:

1) Prepare salad ingredients and set aside in a salad bowl.

2) Coarsely chop garlic scapes and add to blender with other dressing ingredients and puree.

3) Check consistency of dressing while pureeing. If you prefer a creamier dressing, add a bit more yogurt, for a thinner dressing add some water. Extra dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.