SWISS CHARD – THANK YOU MAYIM FARMS!

SAUTÉED SWISS CHARD
(DON’T BE AFRAID!!!)
Haven’t ever tried Swiss Chard or had some in a while?
This leafy green is a nutritional and flavor powerhouse that we all could use more of…and ready in just 13 minutes!
Might just solve one of my daily decisions…”Whats for dinner!”

SERVES: 4
READY IN: 13 mins

INGREDIENTS
Nutrition
        1 1?2 tablespoons butter
        1 1?2 tablespoons olive oil
        2 garlic cloves, minced
        1 pinch dry crushed red pepper
        2 bunches Swiss Chard, stems trimmed, leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide pieces
        1/2 lemon, juice of
        salt

DIRECTIONS
        Melt butter and oil in heavy large pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper.
        Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
        Add swiss chard; stir to coat.
        Cover and cook until tender (stirring occasionally) about 8 minutes.
        Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon onto chard.
        Season to taste with salt.
        Enjoy!
Recipe by… @hollyfrolly

MARKET CHITCHAT

This is an annual event Market at Dothan has participated in with Dothan Nurseries. It’s ALWAYS the best party in town and this year the theme is “Pinwheels, Pinot and Pimiento Cheese”. We suspect that Pimiento Cheese will be delectable!

Our Market Vendors will be on site from 3-7 pm and order pickup will take place between 3 – 6 pm instead of Friday morning. Because of this there will be no Daleville pickup that week and we invite our Daleville customers to visit. Many of you have met very few of our growers and this is a great opportunity to meet, ask questions and learn more about one of Dothan’s best kept secrets.

New Products

• 30 Count egg flat from Hawkins Homestead
• Basil from Avalon
• There’s more of Danny’s Red Summer Crisp Lettuce listed this week
• Peas Trio from Bain Home Gardens
• Organic Kale Duo from Hawkins Homestead
• Parsley from Avalon
• Radish Greens from Bain Home Gardens
• 
  
• MULBERRIES from Hawkins Homestead
• Beet greens from Avalon

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

AVALON FARMS: Asparagus lovers, I’m so sorry it keeps coming up short. I’ve reduced the listing this week and set it to exact. Hopefully with the warmer weather this coming week it will perk up and start producing more.

Fava beans. What did you think of the fava beans? Should I grow them next year? There are more on the bushes. Anybody what some? Let me know.

Offering some beet greens this week. It’s time to thin the beets. The young plants have tasty leaves great for salads, sauteed or however you like your greens.

How are your rose cuttings doing?   Send me an email at wendy@avalonfarms.us and let me know.  You may be surprised to see leaf growth way before there are very many roots.  So don’t be too quick to replant them. Let me know how they do. If something goes wrong just let me know and I’ll send more.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Marketeers,
    Today is absolutely gorgeous and we are loving every minute! On the agenda today is more planting, staking cucumber vines, and hilling potatoes – & that isn’t the half of it!
    Some of our Spinach plants that made it through the freezing temperatures have now subcumb to bolting. Flowers are kinda cute but we prefer spinach leaves. Unfortunately, this means our postings for spinach will steadily decrease. Take advantage of our offerings while we still have them!
    On the brighter side of things, our Peas are flourishing! Look for the Peas Trio listing on the market page. Organic Blue Shelling, Golden Yellow, & Green Arrow are included in the mix.

We have tried these and we are extremely pleased with the flavor and appeal of these peas! Also we are listing Radish Greens this week! On planting our last batch of radishes, we had a massive seed spill and didn’t recognize it till they began coming up. Waste not want not!
    Bain Home Gardens is now on Instagram. Follow us for latest updates on plantings and harvests. Sending 34 beautiful Spring days – from our family to yours!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: We love to watch how the life cycle reproduces itself in nature. Right now we are growing a sunflower patch by accident. How? Well we grow and feed our chickens organic sunflower seeds and they in turn provide us with litter which we compost. In one particular batch, some of the sunflower seeds sprouted after a big rain, so we decided to conduct an experiment. These sprouted seeds  were then removed by none other than Mr. Hawkins, himself and strategically placed around the property to see if they would grow. The end result is FREE beautiful sunflowers! This is a win-win because not only do we get to enjoy the beauty of the sunflowers, but it’s good for the bees, AND once harvested the seeds will be fed back to the chickens. Awesome right? We think so!

NEW offerings this week of mulberries, picked fresh from our tree, organic kale duo, and a 30 count egg flat? We also want you to enjoy our organic sprouts this week, along with chopped and ready to use green onions, plus more! We have planted up some organic more goodness around here, so once it grows you’ll be the first to know about it. Thank you for your support of our small, local, urban farm and for supporting the Market. We appreciate you all.

HORTONS FARM: Despite a couple of really heavy rainfalls up here on our hill in beautiful downtown Echo, AL, our naturalized stinging nettle continues to flourish. Despite its intimidating looks, it’s actually a delicate plant. My chickens nibble them when foraging the yard and I’ve some to suspect this nutritional powerhouse might not make it from year to year without some protection! I “suit up” to harvest them – pretty much like working bees except no face protection is needed. And just like working honeybees, my hands are the most vulnerable part as I can get stings through them – it’s just a different kind of sting as it leaves your nerve endings numb a few hours from the urticaria content. It’s annoying but harmless.

That being said, I was humbled and grateful for the nettle capsule orders last week. I actually ran out of capsules and had to order more. If you’re curious, we use Kosher/Halal certified GMO free vegi-caps that are made in the USA. It’s not something that we’ve advertised, but Horton’s Farm has made many different types of capsules through the years. When we began our journey out of processed foods gel capsules were one of the tools I utilized to get my children to take “yucky” things. (I’m happy to tell you that they all take a natural approach to their own children’s health now.)

Our capsules are filled with the tender leaves and upper stems of the plant. Batches of tincture from the same are in the works and we’re slowly collecting roots where the most benefit hides. So stay tuned! We count ourselves blessed to have this plant choose our farm for it’s home and want to see it bless others as it has blessed us. Stinging nettle is an amazing plant and if you’d like to learn more about its antioxidant and cancer fighting properties, this article by David Wong is an informative short read.