D&V Organics CSA
Week 4
Our season is progressing and everything is loving the warm weather we've been having lately. We are looking forward to sharing a few new things this week...cauliflower will be making its appearance, as well as green cabbage, garlic scapes (pictured) and purple sprouting broccoli. The weather this week isn't looking great for some of our cooler season crops like the cauliflower and broccolini, so we are hoping that we can get these items to grow properly through the upper 80s that is forecasted for later this week.
The garlic scapes are an interesting, hyper-seasonal item that is only available for a 2 week period during the spring. Our garlic is planted in November on the farm and slowly grows over the winter and spring months into the bunched fresh/green garlic that we've been putting into shares this spring. As the garlic grows, the cold weather over the winter months has created a phenomenon called vernalization. Vernalization is the process in which a plant that is exposed to cold (winter-type) temperatures reacts in a reproductive manner, going to seed. Garlic scapes are the young and tender flower stalk, that if left, will blossom and then form seeds. We harvest the scapes when they are young and prior to their opening into a flower, because their eating quality is at its best. Treat the garlic scape like an intense garlic scallion, to flavor oil for sautéing other greens, use it to flavor a salad dressing, or turn it into a pesto to enjoy with pasta or on bread.
Enjoy,
Derek and Crew
