From the Garden this Week: An Update from Kyle Platt

BDA Farm Manager, Kyle Platt, tending to some tomatoes,

This week, we’re hearing from our Garden Manager, Kyle Platt! He’s giving us an update on:

How things are feeling in the fields
The breakdown on this week’s boxes
Fun recipes to try this weekend using this week’s goodies

These messages normally go out to our CSA subscribers, but we thought it’d be great to share it with all of you! If you’ve never experienced these delicious veggies, make sure to grab a box for yourself next week here.

Hi Everyone,

The heat certainly feels like it’s here this week. At least the humidity has not fully turned on yet. We hope to have cherry tomatoes in the full boxes next week! I'm so excited because tomato definitely says summer to me. Summer squash and more cucumbers are not far behind.

We recently added a few more members to our team, and we finally feel like we are getting back to being fully staffed. At the start of the pandemic, we had an incredible time keeping up with all of the work in the field. We were down three people [not because of virus-related sickness], and we all just realized we had to get it done. Now that the heat is here, it’s nice to have several more folks to disperse some of the workload.

Cabbage is in the box this week! For my family, the first cabbage of Spring and Fall is always best prepared in a coleslaw with a big juicy burger. My wife also loves a recipe her grandmother used in her childhood: sautéed cabbage in butter with coriander seed. It's absolutely delicious and goes well with any type of steak or pork-chop. (If you want, you can see our BDA meats here.)

Dandelion greens are back in the Full box this week for the last time. Consider this recipe here for pesto by substituting the dandelion greens for basil and put over rice or pasta. You can also add a touch of honey to sweeten the pesto just a touch.

In the salad box, we have Bel Fiore radicchio for the last time. This green is like a mini cabbage and should be used as a salad addition. Peel back any older large leaves, and you should get down to the cabbage’s lighter color center. I like to use this as 30% of the mix for each bowl of salad.

Spring onions are quickly turning into bulb onions in the field right now. The tops on a bulb (storage onion) eventually begin looking yellow and will soon after fall over in the field. That is the time to pull the onions and bring them into the greenhouse to cure. (See pictures below)

Straight from the field, BDA Farm onions.

Here’s what you can expect in your boxes this weekend:

Full Farm Box: 1 cabbage, 1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch leek, 1 bunch baby bok choy, 0.5 pound hakurei turnip, 1 bunch green garlic, 1 bunch carrot, 1 bunch dandelion greens

Small Farm Box: 1 bunch collard greens, 1 bunch leek, 0.5 pound hakurei turnip, 1 bunch carrot, 1 bunch spring onion

Salad Share: 1 medium bag salad, 1 head bel fiore radicchio, 0.5 pound radish, 2 heads lettuce

Very best,

Kyle Platt

Garden Manager