Now, I know a mother is not supposed to pick favorites, but Green Garlic is my favorite Spring vegetable…and it is ready for harvest this week! If left in the ground each stalk would eventually swell out into a fully mature bulb of garlic, but we pick it in its "green" state, because it is very mild, tender and brings out the best in so many other Springtime foods and meals. Green Garlic is very easy to love, because it takes very little effort to cook, which I find helpful during the busy planting season.  So many good, last-minute meals start with a bit of olive oil, chopped Green Garlic and whatever random vegetables or proteins I've been neglecting in the fridge. Greens?  Into the garlic.  Nuts, Prawns, Tofu?  Into the garlic.  Potatoes?  Asparagus? Pizza? Grains? Pasta? Salads?  You get it. Green Garlic is the perfect foundation for the very best stir fry you’ll have all year, and judging by the looks of the Mustard Greens and Baby Kale that are coming out of the greenhouse, I stand by my bold claim. It looks like this year’s crop is actually starting to thicken out at the base of the stalk already, and you can just cut across the bulb and continue up the stalk like you would with a Leek or Green Onion.

April is on its way out, and in addition to letting you know that

• Washington Asparagus Season is here

• Olykraut is restocked at the farmstand, with a few exciting new additions!

• the crew pulled some wonderful Spring Onions and Baby Bok Choy for this week

• and we will begin selling Tomato Plants NEXT week on May 6th.  It is too cold to harden the plants off properly tonight, so we’re going to pitch things to the first full week of May. 

I thought you might enjoy a little snapshot of what Farmer Mark has been up over the past few days and tell you a bit about Cover Cropping at Wild Hare.  You may have heard the phrase tossed around here and there as it is a practice employed by many organic and regenerative growers, but have you ever seen Cover Cropping in action?  Do you know what it means in practice?  Perhaps not.  It is a slow process involving months of growth, dormancy and multiple passes on a tractor for a farm of our scale.  But, Mark has made a commitment to working out the kinks to work Cover Crops into our farm plan, because building soils is paramount to what we’re trying to accomplish.

Some seasons of life ask us to keep on keeping on, and that’s about where things are at here at Wild Hare. The crew has been busy planting our first rounds of head lettuce in the field this week, as well as the bunching greens that we’ll enjoy over the course of the next four seasons. Phew! I’m feeling short on time to write this week, but you should know that the blend of Braising Greens that Kelly, Claire and Mia have harvested are almost too good for words! Leaves of Rainbow and Green Curly Kale mixed with a few of my favorite kinds of flowering raab from the Brussels Sprouts and Cabbages (the ones that got zapped by frost at the start of the year)—when we finally get around to having dinner tonight, I’m going to steam up a whole bunch to have with rice. No frills necessary. Just seriously tasty Spring vegetables.