Spinach and Daikon Radishes
We've never had such a lovely, limitless spinach patch in springtime before. Planted last fall, we have enjoyed spinach from this patch for nearly every delivery since January. Growing in "Enterprise" one of our in ground greenhouses, it is warmed only by the sunshine. Protected from the wind it is delicious and tender. This delivery the leaves are slightly larger, earning it's title "Giant Winter Spinach". Around this time of year it would usually go to flower and we would loose the crop... but it hasn't yet so let's enjoy it while it's here! We should have the wash station up and running to give it a pre-wash here at the farm, but we always encourage members to rinse off your veggies just before enjoying. Here at the farm Stephanie has been enjoying a little chopped spinach salad with her breakfasts, with honey dijon dressing. Delicious cooked as well I've been looking for new recipes to enjoy it in - and we enjoyed a lovely shakshuka recently! I just added a bag of chopped washed spinach to the tomato sauce, put the lid on and let it wilt before adding the eggs. Here's the recipe: https://downshiftology.com/recipes/shakshuka/ For a baked treat, try spinach scones or biscuits, I love it when the internet has lots of options!
This time I'm also sending out lots of Daikon radishes, these mild radishes are several to a pound. While these can grow quite large (often they're around a pound each), way back last August I planted them accidentally six rows to the bed instead of three. By the time we walked past and realized they were too crowded, we thinned them but we didn't get them all to size. Just as delicious, and ever so cute, these little darlings are a great size to chop into meals, cut into dipping sticks, grate into salads. Our new favourite this winter is to boil them in salted water, and top them with a lemon miso dressing: https://www.shinagawa-japanese-cooking.com/post/tender-daikon-with-yuzu-miso-sauce We also love using it in place of Jicama which can be hard to find, for a classic mexican dish of chopped (radish) sticks tossed in lime juice and Tejin a dried pepper seasoning mix. There are some great Daikon ideas here too if you're hungry for inspiration, from salads to curry roasted diakon and daikon cake I've tried at dim sum before! https://foodsguy.com/recipes-with-daikon-radish/
We'll be busy in the greenhouses seeding, building tables, and planting - and by next delivery we should be well into the field clean up in preparation for the ground drying up so we can start planting in the garden! Spring always hits us full of excitement... but we've learnt we need to wait with patience for the soils to dry out and the weather to be ready for us ;)
Heather
