Cilantro Pesto Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups, packed, of cilantro, large stems removed
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped and seeded serrano chile
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Method
In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, almonds, onion, chile, and salt until well blended. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream. Add more oil as needed for your use.
Makes about 1 cup.

Whatever you don't use, you can freeze. Line a ice cube tray with plastic wrap and fill in the individual cube spaces with the pesto. Freeze and remove from the ice tray, put in a sealed freezer bag for future use.

++++++++++++++++++
this goes extremely well atop of cheddar/scallion scones!


Ingredients
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Pastry Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup cream or sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup (4 oz.) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 scallions, chopped

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375¡F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Rub in the butter with your fingers. Mix together the eggs, cream, and mustard. Add this to the dry ingredients. Stir in the grated cheese and the scallions. Mix just until combined. This is the consistency of drop-cookie dough. Liberally flour the counter and your hands. Pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Cut into 10 triangular scones. Place on a well-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until nicely browned and a cake tester inserted into a scone comes out dry.

How to Sucker Tomato Plants!

click on this post's title to check out this simple video link showing exactly how we will be suckering the tomatoes tomorrow evening!

THINGS TO HARVEST...this week at the garden!

Did someone say "HARVEST"?!?! Not to let the priority of PULLING WEEDS get away from us (which we DEFINITELY need to pay some attention to tomorrow evening), but we have good stuff to harvest! And it is only the first week of June!

ARUGULA - Please harvest one big bunch of arugula per household. Gently grab your bunch with one fist and cut about 1/2 inch above the dirt. The remaining arugula roots will grow again and we can have multiple cuttings form this crop.

CHIVES - Please help yourselves to chives and chive flowers. They are very flavorful and the flower itself is edible too.

CHINA CHOY - Cut about 1/4 below the dirt for a full intact head of china choy. Please just harvest the FULLEST heads of China Choy and leave the smaller ones to grow bigger. One per household.

KALE - Kale is available to harvest on a leaf by leaf basis. Snip the largest leaves just above its connection point to the base of the plant. Snip leaves from different plants, not all from the same plant, to allow the plants to continue to grow bigger. If you have any questions about WHAT to harvest and/or HOW to harvest it, PLEASE ASK! We will be meeting at 5:30pm tomorrow for a community work session. See you then. Come with a basket or a bag for bringing your harvest home.

Update on the covered up peas & lettuces: They are coming back! They just needed a little protection from the hungry birds. I guess it was a long winter for those guys too...

Special report: The first marigolds and nasturtium blooms of the season have made their way out!

We still have room for a few more gardeners to join us this season. Please spread the word and put any interested folks in touch with us via this email address: gjmainstreetcommunitygarden@gmail.com

Colorado now has a New Food Council Bill

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter just signed a bill to create a 13-member Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, which will begin meeting later this year to set state-wide goals on access to healthy foods.  Read more about this bill here, and note, at the very end of the short article is a little shout-out to LOCAL FOOD!  What do you think about this piece of news?

CSA talk at KAFM tonight!

Please join us tonight at 7pm at KAFM's Radio Room for a talk by Melanie Ettenger from The Cameron Place CSA. You can learn more about the farming practices at one of the Grand Valley's main sources for local/organic veggies and fruit. Come out to show your support for this important movement and to satisfy your appetite and curiosity about where your food comes from!

more info. here:http://kafmradio.org/beyond-radio/learning-series/2010/cameron-place-csa

Mmmmmm mmmmmm good!

Here's a recipe (see below, courtesy of PCC Natural Markets) for using some of the things we have in abundance in the garden.

Chive Blossoms - check!
Peas - any week now!
White beans - coming...one day (probably not until fall to be honest...!)

And before the peas and pods join us, feel free to take a few of the young pea shoots and tendrils here and there! Here's how:

Once your pea plants are about 6 - 8 inches tall, you can snip off the top growth including one set of leaves. This will be your first, small harvest, but cutting off the growing tip will encourage the plants to branch out and continue growing.

After that, you can continue harvesting the top 2 - 6 inches of the pea plants every 3 - 4 weeks. You can harvest shoots, leaves and tendrils as well as any flowers or buds that may have formed. Once they stop tasting tender, stop harvesting the shoots and pods will still form on those plants! Don't harvest the shoots from every plant. Try one out of every 3. We can work together to harvest some shoots at our work session on Thurs. after we pull weeds, create a trellis for the pea plants, and fill in the spaces where we left off from Planting Day with more transplants.

Tuscan Pappardelle with Spring Peas, Hazelnuts, White Beans and Chive Blossoms
Serves: 4 to 6
The textures and flavors of this dish are so bright and fresh, and the combination of the sparkling green peas with the deep purple chive blossoms is gorgeous! It can be served as a side dish with roasted meats or as a simple one-dish meal on its own.
Ingredients
· 3 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 cup shelled green peas
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
· 2 cups cooked white beans (cook your own or use organic canned beans)
· 2 to 3 cups cooked pappardelle pasta
· 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
· 1/2 cup sun-dried or oil-cured tomatoes (or use fresh tomatoes or sweet red peppers)
· 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
· 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley or fresh basil
· 2 tablespoons chive blossoms (or substitute rosemary blossoms or pea blossoms)
· Juice of 1/2 lemon
· Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
· Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Preparation
In a wide sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the peas, garlic and sage. Cook for a few seconds until aromatic. Toss in the white beans, pappardelle, hazelnuts and tomatoes. Add the chicken or vegetable broth and cook gently until heated through.
Toss in the parsley or basil and chive blossoms. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with shaved Parmigiano.
Recipe by Lynne Vea, PCC Chef
Source: Demonstrated at the Pike Place Market Flower Festival, May 9, 2010.

We pull our weeds by HAND!

This article in the NYT talks about the threat of Round-up resistant weeds that have been cropping up throughout the US since 2000. “It is the single largest threat to production agriculture that we have ever seen,” said Andrew Wargo III, the president of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts. All the more reason to grow our own organic veggies!