In the Box and On the Farm

In this week's box:

Carrots

Onions 

Cucumbers

Salad Turnips

zucchini

Fennel

Swiss Chard

This week's favorite has to be the cucumbers. My daughter loves her cucumbers and it is so hard to wait until they make their appearance in July. The timing for the carrots and onions was perfect and I was very excited to see their appearance in the box since I had picked up a chicken the week before and was ready for roasting.

Using this amazing recipe as a base, I added the onions and an orange to the cavity and then sprinkled with oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. I chose not to add any liquid to the pan and this had to be one of the most flavorful chickens I have ever had. The skin had that perfect crispness that just melts in your mouth and the meat was moist and tender. 

Some of the carrots and the rest of the onions were then used to make a nice rich stock.

It was an exciting week on the farm this week as we had a full crew. There are usually only two to three of us out in the fields on a given week, but this week we totaled six. With all those extra hands we were able to accomplish so much more and so I had the wonderful opportunity to do some planting this week. The celery, winter squash and melon transplants were ready for planting and so in efficient assembly line fashion we placed and planted several rows of new produce. I then got my real work out pulling the row covers off of the summer squash and placing them over the new crops. This allows the new transplants time to grow without the distraction of bugs and mildews in the air. Then back to weeding in the cabbage and potato beds.  It was a very busy day filled with mud from the much needed rain the night before and there was not much opportunity for pictures in the field this week. One speedy toad refused to have his picture taken so I decided to share a picture of the potato plants this week.

 

There is something about the shape of the leaves that I found rather beautiful, although this picture does not do them justice.

Some recipes I would like to try this week are this carrot top pesto and this fresh fennel salad.

This post can also be found at Fresh Foods Wednesday.