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

June 13, 2013

Welcome to the 2013 Season! In your share: We are happy to have many new shareholders and to welcome back returners! We Greens•Lettuce• hope that all of you are as excited as our team and the World PEAS farmers to kick •Scallions •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 Tokyo Bekana (looks like lettuce, but is that will not only be nutritious and satisfying, but a fun cooking adventure as relative of bok choy)•Arugula•Mixed Leaf well. Our team of enthusiastic, dedicated, and diverse farmers is excited to begin Lettuce• sharing their harvest with you. With everything from arugula to tomatoes, to gooseberries, you will get to enjoy a wide range of your favorite crops, as well as Crop information: some that you may never have seen before. Garlic Chives 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 vegetables at our incubator training farm in Dracut. Last year, we had a handful of Also known as Chinese chives, individuals renting land on our training farms, and this year there are 13 beginning Nira, or ku chair, garlic chives are a farmers building their farm businesses at Smith & Ogonowski Fields. Farmers fantastic addition to any stir fry or Patrick, Tim, and JoAnn have all expanded the amount of land they are farming at soup, or can be used on their own the training site, and Jean, Kate, Karen, John, Nasrin, Steve, and Rob are all taking for a tasty dish. Flat narrow leaves the leap into farming this year! You’ll be enjoying lots of their tasty produce this and a decidedly garlic flavor identify season and supporting this incredible group of beginning farmers, along with our this commonly used in Asian more experienced cohort of individuals who have been with World PEAS for several cooking. Garlic chives do not taste or years. look like what we call chives, and are cooked as a vegetable in the areas in This spring has been a challenge for many of our farmers, given the amazing Asia where they are most commonly amount of snowfall we had in March that saturated the soil. The land at our grown. There are three forms: green incubator farms is fairly heavy to begin with and our farm manager and intern leaf, yellow or blanched, and flowering. worked very hard to help plow the fields as quickly as they could with the weather. Garlic chives are commonly steamed However, the wet soil delayed some of our farmers from being able to seed whole, simmered in broths, stirred some of their more tender crops and has put a few of our producers a bit behind into thick soups, or cooked gently schedule. Our farmers can be as prepared as possible for the season, but we are at with vegetables. These tender leaves the mercy of the weather. However, we are fortunate to work with really fantastic become sweet and plump when cooked folks and our farmers are all working hard and we are certainly on track for a with a liquid. bountiful season. Every part of the garlic chive plant is Please enjoy your first week of produce and stay in touch with us- we want you to edible, from its small bulb to its flat enjoy your experience as a shareholder! Here’s to happy eating and a wonderful (not hollow, like other chives’) stems season together! to its white blooms and even its tiny black seeds. Use both stalk and leaves of this mild garlicky-flavored vegetable Chinese Scrambled Eggs w/Garlic Chives as you would onion chives or green Adapted from Unlimited onions. Like other members of the garlic and onion family, garlic chives Ingredients 1 teaspoon vegetable oil contain a sulfur-rich that 1 bunch garlic chives 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil aids digestion and helps promote the 4 large eggs flow of blood. 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce freshly ground black pepper, to taste Handling: Garlic chives are usually Directions best added to a dish at the last Wash and dry the garlic chives. Remove any hard ends and chop into small pieces. minute. Remove any wilting leaves, Lightly beat the eggs. Add the soy sauce or salt, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and pepper. wash, and chop. Heat a frying pan or wok on a medium high heat and add the remaining oil. When the Storing: Refrigerate in a plastic bag or oil is hot, add the chives. Stir-fry briefly, then add the beaten egg mixture. Reduce the to keep it for about a week. heat to medium and gently scramble the eggs until they reach the consistency that you like. Serve over rice. Notes: Add in some scallions for flavor! Mustard Greens with Onions Adapted from Martha Stewart Ingredients 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (sub 3-4 scallions) 1 bunch mustard greens, washed and cut into 3-inch pieces Mustard Greens Salt & Fresh Pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice Native to , mustard greens are now cultivated all around the world Directions and can be widely used in a range of In a large high-sided skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add diced onion, and cuisines. Many of our farmers from sauté until translucent and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the prepared Cambodia, like Rechhat, Sorn, and mustard greens, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. the Kim family, grow many plantings Toss until greens are just wilted, adding more greens as they will fit into the pan. Toss with of mustard greens, especially in lemon juice just before serving. the cooler spring and fall weather mustard plants prefer. Notes: Add crushed red chile flakes for some nice heat! Wash these often-sandy greens very well before cooking, and treat them Warm Spinach & White Bean Dip with Sliced Veggies as you broccoli raab, collards, or From Whole Living kale. Mustard greens are a bunching green from the family (the For The Dip same family as kale, collard greens, 3 cups spinach cabbage, broccoli and many other 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese favorite vegetables) and are very 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed popular in Asian and Mediterranean 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives (substitute garlic chives) cuisines. Mustard greens can be 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon sautéed quickly with garlic and oil, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt added to soups, used as a spicy Freshly ground pepper addition to salads, or braised. When For The Crudites the plants are left to go to seed, the Variety of sliced fresh vegetables, such as radishes, fennel, carrots, etc. mustard seed can be collected and Directions used as a . Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the dip: Wash spinach, leaving some water Mustard greens pair well with clinging to the leaves. Transfer to a large saucepan. Cover, and steam spinach over rich meats such as pork, lamb medium heat, stirring once, until wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove spinach using a and , creamy sauces, slotted spoon, and let cool. Squeeze out excess liquid using a kitchen towel; coarsely aged and melting cheeses, apples, chop. peaches, cucumbers, citrus, (especially apple cider and rice), nuts Pulse ricotta and cannellini beans in a food processor until smooth. Transfer mixture like pistachios and hazelnuts, herbs to a medium bowl. Add chives, lemon zest, and salt. Season with pepper. Stir in and including , cilantro, spinach. Transfer to a 1-quart baking dish. , garlic, and fennel. Bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes. Season with pepper. Serve warm with crudités. Handling: Wash all dirt or grit from leaves and stems. Place the mustard Creamy Scallion Salad Dressing greens in a large bowl of water and From Urban Organic Gardener swish them around with your hands. Ingredients Directions Cut off any discolored or woody 2-3 scallions Puree in blender or food parts. 1/4 cup of olive oil processor until creamy. 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider Storing:Mustard greens should be stored in a plastic bag in the 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