Hutten Family Farm
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Hutten Family Farm Newsletter for Sunday May 8, 2011

      I have news for all of you that should be reason to smile. We are now sold out of both cabbage and rutabagas. What this means is that you will no longer have to eat these winter vegetables, at least not for a while. We have planted a few spring arrowhead cabbages for cole slaw in the summer but only a few. It is now the season of greens. This week in the boxes there will be fresh radishes (from the field), salad, rhubarb, chives, Asian greens, and Hamachi turnips. These small white Japanese turnips are really good. The tops are also delicious steamed or fried. We eat the turnips raw or cooked a little bit. We are not putting apple cider in the boxes this week just for a change. Apple cider will only be available fresh for another two or three weeks. There will also be some other vegetables in the boxes but I have to see what is ready before I decide. We are still harvesting some cold frame crops, some crops under row cover in the field, and some perennial crops (rhubarb, chives). The selection in the boxes will change from week to week but will be mostly leafy salad and stir fry vegetables. We are starting to pick both swiss chard and kale as well as various Asian greens now. In June we begin to harvest the first peas, snow peas, snap peas, carrots, broccoli, nappa, and maybe even zucchini.
     We spend a lot of time hand weeding and hoeing in the fields. The row cover helps us grow early crops but it also requires a lot of hand labour. Any extra time that we have is either spent transplanting, seeding, or weeding. It is hard work but rewarding at the end of the day. This week we will transplant a large planting of celeriac, some shallots, leeks, red onions, and some tomatoes. Many of the less common winter root vegetables are planted this month as well. Crops like burdock root, salsify, and parsnips are seeded now but are not harvested until late October or November. 
     Have a good week and enjoy the spring greens.
     Ted

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