WORLD PEAS The Pod Community Supported Agriculture Newsletter World PEAS CSA is a program of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

June 11, 2013

Welcome to the 2013 Season! In your share: We are happy to have many new shareholders and to welcome back returners! We •Lettuce•Garlic Chives •Scallions hope that all of you are as excited as our team and the World PEAS farmers to kick •Radishes•Spinach•Eggs off a great CSA season. With our new, even longer program, World PEAS CSA will Also in Large Shares: be offering 20 weeks of wholesome, sustainably-produced fruits and vegetables Tatsoi•Arugula•Mixed Salad Greens• that will not only be nutritious and satisfying, but a fun cooking adventure as Fennel well. Our team of enthusiastic, dedicated, and diverse farmers is excited to begin sharing their harvest with you. With everything from arugula to tomatoes, basil to Crop information: gooseberries, you will get to enjoy a wide range of your favorite crops, as well as Garlic Chives some that you may never have seen before. World PEAS CSA will be serving over 400 CSA shareholders this season at a variety of different pick up locations. This year, we expanded to a few new neighborhoods (Waltham, Billerica, and Jamaica Plain) and two new workplaces (Merck Research Labs and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Wellesley). We are very thankful for the time and effort put in by our partners at all of these locations to coordinate the logistics and spread the word about World PEAS in their communities. This season, World PEAS is also working with many new farmers who are growing Also known as Chinese chives, vegetables at our incubator training farm in Dracut. Last year, we had a handful of Nira, or ku chair, garlic chives are a individuals renting land on our training farms, and this year there are 13 beginning fantastic addition to any stir fry or farmers building their farm businesses at Smith & Ogonowski Fields. Farmers soup, or can be used on their own Patrick, Tim, and JoAnn have all expanded the amount of land they are farming at for a tasty dish. Flat narrow leaves the training site, and Jean, Kate, Karen, John, Nasrin, Steve, and Rob are all taking and a decidedly garlic flavor identify the leap into farming this year! You’ll be enjoying lots of their tasty produce this this herb commonly used in Asian season and supporting this incredible group of beginning farmers, along with our cooking. Garlic chives do not taste or more experienced cohort of individuals who have been with World PEAS for several look like what we call chives, and are years. cooked as a vegetable in the areas in Asia where they are most commonly This spring has been a challenge for many of our farmers, given the amazing grown. There are three forms: green amount of snowfall we had in March that saturated the soil. The land at our leaf, yellow or blanched, and flowering. incubator farms is fairly heavy to begin with and our farm manager and intern Garlic chives are commonly steamed worked very hard to help plow the fields as quickly as they could with the weather. whole, simmered in broths, stirred However, the wet soil delayed some of our farmers from being able to seed into thick soups, or cooked gently some of their more tender crops and has put a few of our producers a bit behind with vegetables. These tender leaves schedule. Our farmers can be as prepared as possible for the season, but we are at become sweet and plump when cooked the mercy of the weather. However, we are fortunate to work with really fantastic with a liquid. folks and our farmers are all working hard and we are certainly on track for a Every part of the garlic chive is bountiful season. edible, from its small bulb to its flat Please enjoy your first week of produce and stay in touch with us- we want you to (not hollow, like other chives’) stems enjoy your experience as a shareholder! Here’s to happy eating and a wonderful to its white blooms and even its tiny season together! black seeds. Use both stalk and leaves of this mild garlicky-flavored vegetable as you would onion chives or green Chinese Scrambled Eggs w/Garlic Chives onions. Like other members of the Adapted from Herbs Unlimited garlic and onion family, garlic chives contain a sulfur-rich mustard oil that Ingredients 1 teaspoon vegetable oil aids digestion and helps promote the 1 bunch garlic chives 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil flow of blood. 4 large eggs Handling: Garlic chives are usually best 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce added to a dish at the last minute. freshly ground black pepper, to taste Remove any wilting leaves, wash, and Directions chop. Wash and dry the garlic chives. Remove any hard ends and chop into small pieces. Storing: Refrigerate in a plastic bag or Lightly beat the eggs. Add the soy sauce or salt, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and pepper. to keep it for about a week. Heat a frying pan or wok on a medium high heat and add the remaining oil. When the oil is hot, add the chives. Stir-fry briefly, then add the beaten egg mixture. Reduce the Bok Choy/Tatsoi/Asian heat to medium and gently scramble the eggs until they reach the consistency that you Greens like. Serve over rice. Also known as pak choi or spoon Notes: Add in some scallions for flavor! Stir Fried Bok Choy & Scallions Adapted from Ming Tsai for Epicurious Ingredients 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoons garlic, minced (a couple cloves) 1/2 tablespoon ginger, minced 2-3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, white & green parts separated 1 bunch baby bok choy, halved lengthwise, with bottoms trimmed but left intact cabbage, bok choy is one of the most Kosher salt & fresh pepper to taste popular Chinese leafy greens. In most Directions common types—white-stemmed, green-stemmed, and “soup spoon”— In wok or large sauté pan over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. both leaves and stems are edible. Add garlic, ginger, and white parts of scallions and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. One of the most delicately flavored Add bok choy and sear until tips have wilted and stalks are crisp-tender, about 3 Asian greens, bok choy is good for minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Garnish with green parts of scallions and serve stir-frying (in oil, with garlic and soy immediately. sauce), braising, or simmering in Notes: Add some garlic chives for extra flavor; delicious served with seared , grilled soups. Choose unblemished leaves chicken, or other simple protein. and firm stalks for best results, and blanch before stir-frying. Warm Spinach & White Bean Dip with Sliced Veggies From Whole Living Our World PEAS farmers grow a wide For The Dip variety of bok choy, and also produce 3 cups spinach related varietals like komatsuna, tatsoi (PICTURED), and Tokyo Bekana 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese (also known as spey). Komatsuna 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed is very similar to bok choy in taste 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives (substitute garlic chives) and appearance. Tatsoi leaves are 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest very delicate, and are delicious raw 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt in salads, or stir fried over very high Freshly ground pepper heat for just a minute or so. Tokyo For The Crudites Bekana can easily be mistaken for Variety of sliced fresh vegetables, such as radishes, fennel, carrots, etc. lettuce, due to its light green color, Directions but is a fantastic green to stiry fry or Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the dip: Wash spinach, leaving some water use in place of bok choy. clinging to the leaves. Transfer to a large saucepan. Cover, and steam spinach over Handling: Examine the ends of the medium heat, stirring once, until wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove spinach using a bok choy/komatsuna/spey/tatsoi; slotted spoon, and let cool. Squeeze out excess liquid using a kitchen towel; coarsely cut off any brown spots. Break the chop. bok choy into pieces. Clean each Pulse ricotta and cannellini beans in a food processor until smooth. Transfer mixture stem thoroughly to remove any dirt. to a medium bowl. Add chives, lemon zest, and salt. Season with pepper. Stir in When very small, baby bok choy can be cooked whole. If large, halve spinach. Transfer to a 1-quart baking dish. lengthwise. Bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes. Season with pepper. Serve warm with crudités. Storing: Asian green varieties can last up to 1 week if wrapped in damp Creamy Scallion Salad Dressing towel or put in plastic bag in hydrator From Urban Organic Gardener drawer of fridge. Ingredients Directions 2-3 scallions Puree in blender or food Freezing:These tender do not 1/4 cup of olive oil processor until creamy. freeze well. 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon of honey (preferably raw) Salt & Pepper to taste

World PEAS Coop | 155 Merrimack St., 3rd Floor, Lowell, Mass. 01852 | (978)654-6745 | www.nesfp.org