Spring 2024 #8/10: Spring Onions, Asparagus & Making Way for Summer
Over a thousand tomato plants are now in the ground, putting out serious roots at Wild Hare, along with Zucchini, Summer Squash and more rotations of leafy greens. Peppers and Cucumbers are going in this week too, which means that this week’s harvest, like last week, is greatly determined by our need to make space in the greenhouses. Little lettuce heads, Spinach and Red Russian Kale are on this week’s docket, along with Organic Asparagus from Eastern Washington. Also, I hope you’re ready to geek out on Onions with me for a paragraph or two, because after years of light spousal bickering and serious strategizing, we’ve got a glorious stand of Red Spring Onions to show for it…and they’re GOOD.
As farmers, we’ve come to learn that although Onions are a kitchen staple, a whole lot of things have to go “just right” in growing them. (Which is a more optimistic way of letting you know that there’s a whole lot that can go wrong). In addition to the inherent ills of weed pressure and mildew in our climate, timing is critical. When it comes to seeding an overwintered onion in late Summer so that you can have something harvestable in late Spring/early Summer, you have to give an onion plant just enough time to size up just enough before reaching dormancy during the winter so that it can successfully start to regrow and bulb out in Spring rather than stress out and go directly to seed and flower, turning inedibly hard instead of crisp and tender. We’re aiming for the sweetest of sweet spots. On top of this, every Winter is a little bit different than the one before, right? So, we hedged our bets, planting two rotations of Spring Onions two weeks apart. (And when the infamous freeze hit in January, we had one small piece of extra greenhouse plastic to spare, and we tucked those little onions IN.)
And then within those rotations, we planted four different varieties of Onions, because as I’m sure you can guess, seed selection is also significant. Latitude, of all things, is a huge deal when it comes to choosing what onions to grow. This is why, for a famous example, the Walla Walla Sweets are prevalent in our region as opposed to the Vidalia that is known and loved throughout the South. An Onion seed produced in Vermont might be better suited to growing in the Maritime Northwest than one grown in Medford, OR, so reading and researching are very important. Our farm might be called Wild Hare, but Mark and I are pretty deliberate. There’s a whole lot of homework involved in farming. All of that academic rigor was good for something, because now we get to share some really tasty Spring Onions with you all. They’re great for grilling, sauteing, eating raw in salads, green parts and all, or even pickling in the fridge. Not to mention, they’re a match made in heaven with Asparagus. So, I hope you enjoy this particular harvest snapshot of Springtime and make some great meals with it. I think we’ll be planting and eating, rinsing and repeating until further notice.
Thanks to everyone who picked up Tomato Plants from us last week! I have updated our list of available varieties, because we sold through a couple of varieties but had a few extras to spare after our big plantings. We hope to add some cucurbit starts for sale the week of 5/20.
Have a great week,
Katie
IN THIS WEEK’S FARMSHARES:
Red Spring Onions
Lettuce
Spinach or Kale
Asparagus
Fuji Apples or Extra Eggs
RECIPES & SEASONAL TIPS
BLACK BEAN & VEGETABLE BAKE
Smitten Kitchen
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced small
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 fresh jalapeño or habanero pepper, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 to 3 teaspoons ground chili powder (to taste)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, or 2 to 3 cans Rotel
Kosher salt
2 (15.5-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt
1 cup corn kernels, fresh (from 1 ear), canned and drained, or frozen (no need to thaw)
4 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 lime, halved
3/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese
6 to 8 ounces (1 1/2 to 2 cups) coarsely grated monterey jack or pepper jack cheese
Tortilla chips
GRILLED ASPARAGUS & SPRING ONIONS WITH LEMON DRESSING
Bon Appetit, March 2016
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
¼ cup olive oil, plus more
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 large bunches thick asparagus, trimmed
2 bunches spring onions, halved if large
CRISPY SCALLION & ASPARAGUS PIZZA
Naturally Ella
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional- see note)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
½ cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon salt
6 to 8 thicker asparagus stalks
ASPARAGUS RISOTTO
Simply Recipes
About 4 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock for vegetarian option
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine, or 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water
1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed, tips cut off, and the spears cut into thin disks
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
SPINACH SALAD WITH WARM BACON VINAIGRETTE, RED ONION & AVOCADO
Eating Well
8 ounces spinach
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
⅓ cup red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water, as needed
Freshly ground pepper for garnish
SPRING ONION ASPARAGUS FRITTATA
Love & Lemons
6 eggs
¼ cup water or milk
olive oil, for the pan
3-4 thin spring onions, chopped small, plus slice a few into thin vertical strips
½ cup chopped asparagus tips
1 garlic clove minced
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
¼ cup fresh mozzarella pieces
¼ cup crumbled feta
¼ cup chopped tarragon
salt & pepper
a few pinches of red pepper flakes