Welcome to our summer share subscribers!

As mentioned previously, the beginning of summer will be a continuation of late spring. We are so close with some of the summer crops; they just need some hot weather to finish maturing.

Look at all those flowers on the Romano beans!

Royal Burgundy beans starting to form

We did not start other, more tender, summer crops until mid-May when the weather was (supposed to be) more stable.  So eggplant and cucumbers are a little further behind.

We should get one more week out of the lettuce, but the expected hot weather later this week will probably do them in. We are trying an experiment (gardening is all about trying new ways!) and succession planting some of the longer standing varieties in an area that is shady all afternoon. If it works, we will have lettuce over the summer, if it doesn’t, the lettuce will be back in the fall. In the meantime, try this recipe for a robust Swiss chard summer salad. Later in the summer the chard will taste better as a cooked spinach substitute, but for now it is still good raw:

Ingredients:

1 bunch Swiss chard

1 15 oz can Mandarin oranges-other fruits such as mangos, raspberries, strawberries, etc. would also work 

2-3 Hard boiled eggs

Crumbled bacon

Feta cheese (optional)

Croutons or fried Chinese noodles (optional)

     Dressing:

½ cup oil (we used olive oil)

1/6 cup vinegar (any type-we used apple cider vinegar)

1/3 cup sugar

¼ tsp onion or garlic powder

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Cut the stems and midribs off the Swiss chard leaves. Don’t discard the stems; a recipe for them is on our webpage. Tear into pieces a little bigger than bite size. Rinse well and either pat dry or use a salad spinner.

Washed and dried torn up chard

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a container that is easy to mix. We use leftover mason jars from canning and shake vigorously. The dressing will separate so you want to be able to mix well right before you pour over the chard. Refrigerate any leftover dressing; it will get thicker in the cold. Mix well and use on other salads also.

Mix dressing and pour just enough over the chard to coat well. Using a Tupperware type container with a lid and shaking it to mix works well.

Add Mandarin oranges and gently mix. Serve immediately or let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to slightly marinate the chard. The longer it sits the more the chard will shrink. Right before serving add hardboiled eggs and crumbled bacon (and feta/croutons/noodles if desired). Yum!

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jeff and Sandra