Saturday, June 14 Market Update

At JenEhr we grow two different kohlrabi throughout the year.  The late summer, fall and storage kohlrabi are the big crisp and juicy balls, sometimes as big as your head.

 

In the early summer, we grow a more traditional kohlrabi, Vienna, with smaller bulbs and lots of big leaves.  You'll find these green and purple wonders on our farmers market table this week again.  And while you might be dreaming up recipes for the bulbs, I'm looking at the greens and thinking sautee, braise and even stuffed.  The kohlrabi leaves are perfect sized for dolmas, pigs-in-the-blanket and other favorite stuffed recipes.  Or, a chiffonade cut and sautee with the green garlic for the perfect side dish.

 

In walking the farm with Farmer Paul the other day, we talked about some salad surprises coming up.  In the hoophouse is a beautiful little salad mix with some purslane mixed in and I'm hoping it makes it's way from the growing beds to the market table.  Was talking to a chef the other day who was telling me about a farm that was actually trying to grow the wild purslane - and couldn't get it to grow.  It reminded me of our several year experiment with trying to pasture rabbits and the problem was getting them to breed like rabbits.

 

Sometimes when we try to cultivate what's wild, the result is opposite what happens in nature, where plants grow because of perfect conditions (soil, fertility, compaction, etc) for that particular edible weed.

Recent research found that telling your kids that something is good for them has the opposite affect of what was intended.  That the best method of getting someone to eat something new or in this case vegetables, is to just put it on the table, shut up and eat it yourself.  They did the research on groups of children, but I'm willing to get the same is true with adults convinced they don't like something.

So that's what I've started doing.  When asked, I might start with a generic name, "oh, that's salad" putting it on my plate and commencing to eat.  I might add more descriptors as the meal progresses or if there are questions.  But for now, I'm following the less said advice.  Once my fellow diners feel less pressure, maybe they'll actually find they like it because it tastes good.