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Spring Mix (Up)

Posted 6/3/2009 7:45pm by Lyndon Hartz.

Would you Care For a Tossed Salad?
By Good Earth Food Alliance grower, Amy Brucker

Monday evening the clouds rolled in, the skies darkened, the thermometer plunged and we knew we were in for something. I had just finished dropping off a friend when the rain started. By the time I arrived back at the farm the rain was in full force and I got drenched running from the car to the house. Within a few minutes, the pounding rain turned to pounding hail and we all covered our ears.....and then my heart sank. The next morning was harvest day for our CSA.

My planned list of items to bring for Tuesday's CSA (a vegetable subscription service which includes foods from 10 Good Earth Food Alliance growers and producers) included Swiss chard, spring mix, eggs, basil plants, and an herb called lemon balm. Mother nature had other plans. While the eggs and basil plants were safely tucked away during the storm, the lemon balm and greens were left out in the field seeking mercy - of which there was little.

Have you ever seen the movie Places In The Heart? I love Sally Field and the role she plays of a determined widow who is desperately seeking to save the farm and her family. She harvests cotton with her rag-tag group of friends like there's no tomorrow and brings in the crop just in time to make the mortgage payment. After Monday's storm, I sought inspiration from Sally and went to work salvaging every scrap of edible greens I could find, most of which was hanging by threads from its former lower half. Before long, the whole family was out there snipping, washing, spinning and bagging right alongside me. We worked until dark and loaded the bags into coolers. Those bags didn't contain tidy bundles of swiss chard, individually wrapped portions of gourmet loose leaf lettuce, and heads of black seeded simpson lettuce. Instead, they contained Mother Nature's recipe for a delicious tossed salad, complete with a little straw and dirt on the side!

To the Good Earth Food Alliance CSA members:

Check out Pam's recipe for Crispy Kale Chips on the website under "CSA/Products" and then "Recipes" She includes some pretty amazing nutrition information too!
Several members have had problems with Google Checkout including bogus e-mail addresses and incorrect listing of charges on their credit card report. Please know that we will no longer be using Google Checkout but will ask members to bring cash or check with them along with their invoice when they pick up ala carte items at the drop sites.