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Week Ten! - We are providing the e-news for ALL shareholders, however only Full Share and Week B Half Shares pick up this week!
Shareholders - the flowers on the farm are blooming in abundance! Feel free to bring along a jar/vase of water and scissors to cut a few blooms when you pick up this week! Not an on-farm pickup? Stop by anytime between 9am-5pm on weekdays and we will show you where you can pick. Please remember to limit your picking to one handful per week - we want there to be enough for all to enjoy!
We are in the middle of summer, but fall will be here before we know it. Don't want the fresh veggies to end? We still have some fall/winter shares available! Details and registration is on our website here:
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Farm News
from Farmer Evan
Hello and welcome to week 10 of the Wellspring CSA. Week 10 means that we are already halfway done with the summer CSA season, and boy, has it gone quickly.
I wanted to talk about the salad turnips you will find in your box this week. We had a lengthy debate yesterday in the field whether or not to include them in the share this week. If you are not familiar with salad turnips (also known as Hakurei or Tokyo turnips) they are more comparable to a radish than a big storage turnip you may be used to. They are smallish, sweet, and very tender and have a somewhat buttery texture. They are one of my favorite vegetables and are great raw on a salad (or by themselves) or roasted like a potato. Anyway, here at Wellspring we have had a bad problem with cabbage rootworms eating our turnips and rutabagas. We have already lost 2 successions of salad turnips to the worms and we were excited to see if this succession was looking good. As we started pulling the roots it became apparent that there was still a lot of damage from the worms. I really didn't want another planting to be a failure, so I decided we should go ahead and harvest the turnips with a fair amount of damage because it seemed like mostly surface damage that could be avoided and leave a nice turnip. About 10 minutes into harvesting the turnips our intern, Christina, expressed concerns that the damage was actually much deeper than we thought and we should be much more stringent with our selection criteria. After some discussion and cutting into 4 or 5 turnips we decided that Christina was right and we needed to be only harvesting the best turnips.
This is a great example of a constant struggle we have as organic farmers. Our customers are used to conventional produce grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides so they expect damage-free produce. I think it is great that customers demand perfect or near perfect vegetables because it makes us become better growers and convert more people to organic agriculture. As organic farmers we try our hardest to supply you with the beautiful veggies you have come to expect but sometimes the pests win out and we need to try to salvage a less than ideal crop as best we can. This is where direct marketing can really help the farmer. I can explain the problems we are facing so you can better understand our difficulties, and we can hear back from customers directly when they are unhappy, making us strive harder to provide the best food possible.
That was a very long-winded way of saying we have salad turnips in the share this week!! Most should be very nice but don't be surprised if there are some brown spots you need to trim off.
Hope you enjoy eating the food as much as we enjoyed growing it.
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What's In the Box and Where Does It Go?
CROP FRIDGE? NOTES/VARIETY
Salad Turnips Yes Hakurei, edible greens
Cabbage Yes Mini Green or Savoy
Collards Yes Flash or Champion
Lettuce Head Yes Magenta, Butterhead or New Red Fire
Green Beans Yes French Filet (Maxibel) and Jade, bagged
Basil No Genovese
Kohlrabi Yes remove leaves and store separately
Beets Yes Red Ace, separate greens
Kale Yes Lacinato
Garlic No not cured! German White
Cucumber Yes Pickling or Marketmore
Eggplant Maybe if in fridge put in warmest part
OR Squash Maybe if in fridge put in warmest part
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Storage Tips
The garlic is still not completely cured, so treat it like fresh garlic and try to use it within 2 weeks. Don't refrigerate it. It will be fine on the counter or in the pantry (don't forget about it!). Beans are bagged and NOT washed. They should be washed just before eating. For the beets and turnips (and all root veggies in general), the roots should be cut from the tops and stored separately to prevent the greens from wicking moisture out of the root and making for some limp beets or carrots. Kohlrabi will also store better if you remove the leaves.
Save those scraps! Keep the stems, trimmings, peels, etc from your veggie prep each week in a gallon bag in the freezer. When you accumulate enough, you can make a delicious, homemade vegetable stock...from seemingly nothing at all! Check out this blog post for the details on how to do it.
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Recipes from Farmer Heather
Salad (Hakurei) Turnips: These strangers finally make their CSA box debut... but not without complication. (such divas, those Hakureis!) Rootworms and flea beetles, two of the most prevalent pests on the farm, love to attack this crop from the moment they are seeded. We cannot really blame the pests though, because these turnips are so tasty and good for you! Both the roots and the greens are edible, so use both. Turnip greens are just starting to show up on those "best vegetables for you!/top ten superfoods!/most nutrient-dense foods of all time!" lists that are all over the place. This one is not a passing fad though; paging through my Grandmother's old copy of The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook this past weekend, I spotted turnip greens on numerous lists of "veggies containing highest amounts of vitamin (fill-in-the-blank)", right behind the "newest" superfood darling, watercress. Like watercress, turnip greens have a bite to them if you eat them raw. If you weren't a fan of those earlier mustard greens, try cooking these greens briefly to tame their spiciness.
Miso-Butter Braised Turnips
*Potential Adventure: Try subbing in some kohlrabi for the turnips! They are in the same family and have similar textures, making them great for swapping around in recipes. The kohlrabi will need to cook a bit longer to soften, so add it in first.
1 bunch salad turnips plus 5 cups chopped turnip greens or spinach or other greens, divided
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons white miso (fermented soybean paste, found in most grocery stores in a refrigerated section)
Peel turnips and cut into 1-inch wedges. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turnips and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots and beginning to soften, 7 to 9 minutes.
Add 1 cup broth and sugar; reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until the turnips are tender and the liquid is almost completely evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. (Add up to 1/2 cup more broth if the pan is dry before the turnips are tender.)
Meanwhile, mash miso with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small bowl until combined.
When the turnips are tender, stir in the turnip greens (or spinach), cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the miso-butter and gently stir until the turnips are well coated.
Turnip Greens Frittata
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 small white potatoes, skin on and finely diced (no larger than 1/4-inch; 1 1/2 cups total)
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
Salt
1 to 2 bunches turnip greens, stems discarded and leaves sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips, supplement this with kale, collards, beet greens, chard, etc (you should have 4 cups loosely packed sliced greens)
8 eggs, lightly beaten
Coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Herbs of your choice, roughly chopped, for garnish (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley are all delicious with eggs)
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Warm the oil in a large skillet. Add the potatoes and cook over medium high heat until browned on the edges and soft in the center. Add the garlic and season with salt after the potatoes have been cooking for 2 minutes. Stir in the turnip greens and cook until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Pour the eggs into the pan, sprinkle with the cheese and transfer to the oven. Bake until the frittata is just set, about 10 minutes. Remove from over and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Kohlrabi: Check past newsletters for recipe ideas or Click here for tips on how to cut it and what to do with it
Beets: This is the 4th week in a row for beets, which could be either a GREAT thing or a less great thing depending on your feelings for beets. Good news is that the roots will store for a long time if you remove the greens and wrap them loosely in a plastic bag. You can also pickle beets to extend their shelf life. For those of you who have yet to find a way to enjoy the beets, try making beet chips! I can personally attest that these have the power to convert even the staunchest of the beet-adverse folks out there... like my father. (love you, Dad!)
ROSEMARY SEA SALT AND VINEGAR BEET CHIPS
from Running to the Kitchen
2 large beets, thinly sliced with a mandolin or using the slicing mechanism in a food processor
rice vinegar
2 sprigs of rosemary
extra virgin olive oil for pan frying
sea salt
For the dip:
� cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon roasted garlic
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
Place sliced beets in a large pot. Add rice vinegar until just covering the beets. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes then drain. Add enough olive oil to the bottom of a large pot or sided skillet, add 1 sprig of the rosemary and heat over medium. (*see below for other cooking options) Once oil is hot, add the beets in a single layer. Pan-fry the beets for about 1-2 minutes on each side until they start to crisp up. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain and repeat with remaining beets, adding oil as necessary to the pot/skillet. Sprinkle with sea salt and the remaining rosemary sprig and serve warm. For the dip: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir together.
Not up for frying? You can easily bake these as well. Lay beets on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping half way through. Remove beets as they crisp up and brown, some will be done before others so watch carefully towards the end.
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Upcoming Classes, Workshops and Events at Wellspring!
For more information and to register for classes, please visit www.wellspringinc.org or call (847) 946-5565
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Seasonal Produce Cooking feat. Tomatoes
Thursday, August 14th - 6 to 8 pm
Wellspring offers a series of monthly cooking classes, inspiring and teaching students how to use various veggies during peak season! In each class, a chef demonstrates recipes using the featured produce of the month and provides healthy cooking tips. Attendees enjoy tastings of each dish, with an accompanying glass of wine, and receive recipe handouts to take home. Highlighted seasonal produce for August is Tomatoes!
Cost: $30 till 8/11, $35 after.
Tasting Tour of Wellspring Organic Farm 
Thursday, August 21th - 6 to 7 pm
New in 2014, Wellspring will be holding "Tasting Tours"! Tour participants will learn about all the systems and processes that work together on a diversified, organic veggie farm while walking the fields and, of course, sampling veggies in peak season!
This is a great opportunity for shareholders to see how their veggies grow out in the field!
Tours are capped at 20 people to keep groups interactive and personal.
Cost: $9/ adults, $6 for children 12 and under.
Family Farm Day 
Saturday, August 23rd
- 10 to 11:30 am
Bring the whole family out to experience a morning on an organic farm! Feed and meet the Wellspring Chickens, participate in hands-on activities and garden based games, interact with our worm bins, and of course, enjoy tasting seasonal veggies!
Cost: $5 per family member, Ages 3 and under are free. Sign up early as this program does sell out! 
Wellspring Permaculture Tour
Thursday, September 4th - 6 to 8 pm
Join Wellspring's permaculturist, Adrian Lee, for a two-hour tour of our grounds to view how we have integrated renewable technologies and regenerative agricultural systems to live more holistically. From the simple, to the complex, we will walk and discuss sustainable practices that can easily be integrated into your life. Whether you live on 120 acres or in the inner city, there is always something more within your reach. Come and be inspired!
Cost: $12/ person
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