From the garden this week, February 25, 2021...

From the Garden this Week…

Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Green onions, Kale, Beets, Cabbage or Cauliflower, Turnip or Kohlrabi, Watermelon Radish, Cilantro, Oranges and Grapefruit

Coming Soon… Lettuce Heads and Bok Choy

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

With more broccoli coming, I was looking for something new and decided on a Thai style salad with peanut dressing. These types of salad would usually have noodles. I left them out in this recipe, but you could add in any type of long noodle, from spaghetti or linguini or an Asian rice noodle would be appropriate too. You would want about 6 ounces of raw noodles then cook them per the package directions. For the peanut sauce you could substitute almond butter and almonds if that is what you have on hand. Any shredded vegetables would work too. You could shred the broccoli in a food processor if you have one or just chop everything by hand, trying to make the pieces as small as possible.

Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing

¼ cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 to 2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

4-6 cups shredded broccoli pieces

2 cups shredded cabbage

1-2 shredded carrots

1 watermelon radish shredded

1 green onion, sliced very thin

½ cup cilantro leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts

Combine the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, hot sauce, salt and sesame oil. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl combine the shredded broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radish and green onions, toss the vegetables together. Mix with the peanut sauce. Taste and add salt if desired. Serve topped with the cilantro and roasted peanuts.

New (camera-shy) Chicks!

Four new creatures joined the Wellspring family in early February and though they are a joyous addition – boy are they hard to get on camera!

You can see two brave ones peeking out their heads from behind their adopted mamma, but all four are happily running around the coop these days.

Help us name them! Shoot us an email or a message on social media!

Leafy Wraps

When the leafy greens are tender, they make a good substitute for tortillas as a wrap. This vegetarian mixture uses chickpeas and walnuts to substitute for meat. You could use cooked ground beef, turkey or pork instead. If you like you can probably get away without cooking the chard, but I think it will be easier to roll up.

Swiss Chard Rolls

6 Swiss chard leaves

2 cups cooked drained chickpeas

1/2 cup walnuts

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

2 cups shredded vegetables, mixed carrots, turnip, peeled kohlrabi bulbs or broccoli stems

¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1 avocado, diced

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut the stems from the Swiss chard leaves so that you have two pieces. Save the stems for another use. Cook the leaves in the boiling water for 15 seconds, remove from the waters and lay on a towel to cool and dry. In a food processor add the chickpeas, walnuts and tamari, pulse several times until blended. Toss the shredded vegetables with ¼ teaspoons salt. Lay the leaf piece on your cutting board and spread a thin layer of the chickpea mixture, about 2-3 tablespoons, on top of the center of the leaf. Cover with 3 tablespoons shredded vegetables, a sprinkle of cilantro leaves and a few pieces of avocado cubes. Roll up each leaf and use a toothpick to secure the roll until ready to eat.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul

By Ronda May Melendez

Pain and Pleasure…the quince plants are blossoming at the moment and how extraordinary are its blossoms! They are so lovely. I really just wish I could somehow soak more fully into the wonder of them. But ‘soaking’ isn’t a thing that one does with quince branches because they have long, sharp thorns! There is a good reason for those thorns! They provide protection in nature from animals and pests who would gladly eat their blossoms and fruit. Yet, for all of their prickliness, if one respects the “boundaries” of the quince, one can fully revel in the beauty of their fruiting process.

These wonderous hedges provide us with quite a lovely picture of humanity and the example God set forth in boundary making. The quince plant provides lessons to consider. For example, its thorns are God-given. The thorns, while they are painful to careless trespassers, are there to protect their fruit bearing capabilities. I notice that the quince’s thorniness is not a control mechanism of another’s behavior. They can ignore the thorns and touch to their own detriment. There is likely to be some level of discomfort involved in the sharp reminder that the quince plant will maintain its boundaries. Another thing I notice is that by having thorns (boundaries), the quince isn’t disinviting those who would enjoy getting acquainted. Rather, it is still open to interaction and even shares its fruit in due time. Only to those who disrespectfully break the plant’s boundary are the thorns offensive and angry. Another lesson I noticed is that the quince plant is unapologetic for its God-given boundaries. It remains firm in its identity as created by the One who formed it and gave it thorns to protect itself.

We humans can learn so much from God’s creation. Are we able to stand in quiet confidence, forming boundaries that in no way control another and yet, allow protection for the fruit that is being formed and growing in us, because God provides and honors genuine boundaries?