Caitlin and Silvino work in the Garden

Hi Everyone,

Well the plants survived the heat. Now for the heat on delivery day. It's supposed to be hotter tomorrow than today so if we're dropping off your bag on the doorstep, we'll look for a shady spot. Every bag will also have ice packs in it to keep all your delicious veggies fresh. If you want to leave a cooler out we can transfer the ice packs and produce to your ice chest.

We've heard lately from some of our friends that it's hard to "keep up" with the vegetables and we totally understand. I find that if I wash and prep everything at once and have it handy in the fridge, I will be way more likely to use it. I also like to have everything ready for a quick salad or lettuce leaves washed and ready to make a lettuce wrap. Our kids love tuna wraps and it's not like eating another "boring" sandwich. We also use a lot of our vegetables in one meal. Here's an example : this week we'll have broccoli, baby bok choy, carrots, and gr. cabbage so... what I do is make a stir fry with all these vegetables and add them to pad thai noodles--super inexpensive at trader joes-- if I have extra spinach I'll add some too towards the end so that it stays crisp. Then I sprinkle the spring onions on top. This is so fast and easy.

For salads this week I plan to pair arugula with strawberries and some type of citrusy dressing.

I know it's so hot that it's hard to imagine having soup but I've added a soup that I think will be easy and delicious. so Kath and Cath there are no more excuses--eat your veggies.

Adapted from The Basque Table by Teresa Barrenechea (Harvard Common Press, 1998).

This soothing soup is from the colorful Basque region of Spain. The recipe gets its rich, creamy texture from pureeing the ingredients, not from dairy or fat. Fresh young spinach and spring onions give it lots of mineral nutrition, and the preparation is simplicity itself.

INGREDIENTS

4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 bunch of spring onions both white and green parts, cut into 4 or 5 pieces, crosswise
3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
1 bunch spinach
6 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Croutons for garnish (optional)

1. In a large saucepan or stockpot, combine the potatoes, onions, carrots, and spinach with the water and bring the contents to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes, until the root vegetables are fork-tender. Add the oil and season to taste with salt. Cook for about 5 minutes longer so the flavors blend.

Bread, Flowers, Eggs, and Plants

We have a great local baker that is willing to make organic whole wheat delicious bread for our CSA members. he has been working on the perfect formula and I have been cooperating by trying every batch. If your interested email us and we'll put a fresh, organic loaf of bread in your bag next week.

As some of you might know, we are collaborating with our friends at Growing Grounds this year. Growing Grounds is a great place where clients from Transitions Mental Health work on a 3 acre farm on Foster Rd. This year we have taken over the planting of the vegetables and Ariela and Chris from Growing Grounds are growing their amazing flowers. This gave us an opportunity to expand our CSA since we had more land to plant and it's a good way for Growing Grounds to cut down on their costs. So now if you need beautiful flowers just let us know and we can put those in your bag too.

We can also get free range eggs from a farmer in Nipomo if you are interested. Our chickens are keeping us very happy with their eggs but we don't have enough to offer to our members. I guess we need more chickens.

If there is anything else tht you would like to be able to purchase that is organic and local, let us know. We have a lot of friends that have wonderful products to share with our members.

Jerry has finally given the okay to sell the summer starts for your gardens. He didn't want them to go in too early. So if your interested come by on Monday when Jerry is here. He can show you what we have and give you some tips. Tim(our 12 year old) also wants me to tell you that if you don't want to water your garden very much, he has beautiful succulents for sale.

We are planning on having an Earth Day Our Way this month but are not quite sure of the date. (probably the last weekend in April) If you have anything you would like to share with other members please let us know.

On April 4th we had the children from Los Adobes de Maria plant the Children's Garden you can see more at

http://web.me.com/blosserurbangarden/El_Jardin_de_los_Ninos/Welcome.html

Have a great, healthy, happy week.