Fresh Today froom Wellspring Charitable Gardens - January 16, 2025
Fresh Today… Cabbage, Turnips, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Baby Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, Swiss Chard, Cilantro, Parsley, Lemons, Tangerines, Oranges & Grapefruit
Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno
This crispy crunchy salad is a great side dish and holds up if you need to make it ahead of time. The Asian influence comes together with the combination of cilantro and soy sauce. My favorite ingredient is the toasted sesame oil. It can seem extravagant, but a little goes a long way, so use it sparingly. Serve it with grilled chicken or tofu to make it a full meal.
Cabbage Salad
with Orange and Almonds
½ cup slivered almonds
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey or sugar zest
from one orange
7-8 cups green cabbage,
finely shredded
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated
1 orange, peeled and cut into
bite sized pieces
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Freshly ground pepper
* Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small pan or pie plate, toast the almonds for 5 minutes, until they are light brown. Let cool. In a large mixing bowl, mix the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, salt, honey and orange zest. Add the cabbage, green onions, carrots, oranges and cilantro and toss. Add the almonds and fresh ground pepper. Toss again, let sit about 30 minutes, if possible, before serving.
Pillars of Creation
More beginnings! The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed wonders of creation that only ancient words had so far declared:
Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,Give unto the Lord glory and strength.2 Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness…
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
We tend to think holiness is austere, stern, forbidding and foreboding rather than what it truly is - Beauty. Holiness reveals the glorious nature of The One who is almighty, majestic, awesome, and radiant in imposing, intimidating beauty. Give to the LORD the glory due His name, worship Him in the beauty of holiness!
Bitter Sweet…
Roasted turnips are taken up a notch with a little extra sweetness and tangy mustard. Add the glaze mid-way through cooking, then caramelize the outside while the insides become creamy and tender.
Maple Mustard Roasted Turnips
2-3 purple top turnips,
peeled, and diced large
1-2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbsp real maple syrup or honey
1 Tbsp whole grain or Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
* Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the turnips with the oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, mustard and cider vinegar. Take the sheet pan out of the oven and pour the maple mixture over the vegetables and toss to coat. Return to the oven for 10 minutes until browned and caramelized. Serve right away.
Metaphors of Soil and Soul…
Nothing Wasted
Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin
Walking the garden resembles journeying through life. There is always something to see, something to discover, something to learn, ponder, and inspire wonder. My fondest childhood encounters with wonder occurred in gardens. They offer poignant reminders of the mystery and interconnectedness of life and death; they are sacred spaces where seemingly irreconcilable elements work together to provide nourishment, growth, and transformation.
I see newly delivered mounds of brown compost piled beside colorful crops – purple broccoli and pink cauliflower, red cabbage and green kale. What a story the contrast reveals. Winter morning air is brisk, but the sun warmly smiles as if enjoying the incongruous images existing side by side: decayed and discarded waste brought back to nurture life in the garden. Compost – comprised mostly of dead vegetation - seems inert, but it is living and active. Worked deeply into the soil, the organic agent releases nutrients and organisms that loosen and enliven the soil. The dead and the living are essential yet contrary catalysts for supporting growth in the garden.
Later, I harvest sweet watermelon radishes from compost enriched rows and reflect on our longings to be nourished and transformed. Like garden plants, we need to be rooted and well-tended, we require rich and varied nutrients, and we yearn to thrive and bear sweet fruit. At times, though, we find ourselves surrounded by heaps of compost. Waste and want, death and decay restrain our growth and compromise our vitality. Still, somehow, God purposefully transforms that debris into nourishment that helps us thrive.
Today in the garden I saw and was able to treasure that juxtaposition of active life and transformed waste. Life and death lay side by side, preparing to be joined for good. God wastes nothing. Rather, He transforms waste and want into wonders to enrich and nourish our lives.
“Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:26-29
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