May Garden Harvest

Plenty of garden fresh vegetables for you at the Morganton and Conover Farmers' Markets this Saturday, May 11th.

 Grown with love using organic methods.  No synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. 

This week’s harvest:

Arugula

Baby salad mix

Radishes “French Breakfast”

“Red Russian” Kale: See the Kale Chip recipe below!

Curly Kale

Romaine Head Lettuce- “Rouge di Iver,” a red heirloom and “Forellenschluss,” a speckled heirloom

Buttercrunch Head Lettuce-

Swiss Chard- small, early harvest bunches

Free Range Eggs: The hens are still laying well! Plenty of free range eggs from hens fed organic grains.

Pastured Pork:  Don’t forget a pound of sausage or ground pork to cook with some good greens.

Pastured Chicken: Never roasted a chicken? Go ahead! It is not an exact science; try this great Herb Roasted Chicken recipe and my tips for a great roast chicken.

Here's William checking on animals in pasture.  Our hens and sheep gooble up the spring clover. Clyde the guard dog is always watching!

Roasted Kale Chips

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch kale- any variety of kale will work 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt Optional:  A drizzle of balsamic vinegar (about ½ tablespoon)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C)
2.	With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. (I like to use my hands to strip the leaves from the stem.)Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Place kale in a plastic bag. Drizzle kale with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with sea salt. Thoroughly massage the bag to mix the oil and vinegar into the leaves.
3.	Using several baking sheets spread the kale pieces out so that they are not touching; I use 3 or 4 sheets.  Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, about 7 to 12 minutes. Make sure to check the chips almost every minute after 7 minutes have passed.  Every oven is a little different…Adjust this recipe’s time to your oven! ~Marie, 2012