We've been pulling a few radishes and picked our first greens last weekend. Did you know that radishes are full of potassium, vitamin C & fiber? If your like most people you usually only eat radishes in salads, but here are a couple of recipes I thought you might like to give a try for something a bit different.

ROASTED RADISHES
2 1/4 lb. radishes, trimmed & quartered
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced fresh oregano or 1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer to a greased 15"x10"x1" baking pan. Baked, uncovered at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until crisp tender, stirring once. Yield 5 servings

BOK CHOY & RADISHES
1 head bok choy
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
12 radishes, thinly sliced
1 shallot, sliced
1 tsp. lemon-pepper seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
Cut off & discard end of bok choy, leaving stalks with leaves. Cut green leaves from stalks. Cut leaves into 1" slices; set aside. Cut white stalks into 1" pieces.

In a large skillet, cook bok choy stalks in butter & oil for 3-5 min. or until crisp-tender. Add the radishes, shallot, lemon-pepper, salt & reserved leaves; cook & stir for 3 min. or until heated through. Yield 8 servings.

Here's a recipe for arugula, also showing up at markets now.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH SUGARED PECANS
3/4 tsp. butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups torn leaf lettuce
2 cups fresh arugula or baby spinach
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. honey
1/8 tsp. salt
In a small heavy skillet, melt butter. Add pecans; cook over medium heat until toasted, about 4 min. Sprinkle with sugar; cook & stir for 2-4 min. or until sugar is melted. Spread on foil to cool.

In a large salad bowl, combine the lettuce, arugula, fennel & tomatoes. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients;; shake well. Drizzle over salad & toss to coat. Top with sugared pecans. Serve immediately. Yield 6 servings.

The above information & recipes came from "Birds & Blooms grow it cook it A to Z veggie guide"
Enjoy!

We've got lots of flats of heirloom tomatoes just starting to sprout in the big green house, plus some cabbage, cauliflower, fennel, borage and kohlrabi. In the little greenhouse we have tomato plants about ready to go out into the big hoop house. In the little hoop house we have some greens, mizuna, arugala and radishes that we are starting to pick off. Onions have all been planted, and we have some onions that we overwintered that are about ready to start pulling. The row cover has come off the strawberries, so lets hope for no more below freezing weather so we don't have to pull those things back on! Ha-ha-ha! We've about got the third hoop house ready to plant some more spring greens and radishes. Has a bit of a wet spot that needs to dry out.

Boy what a difference a couple of days can make. Monday we had almost 9" of snow, and today is up in the 70's! Got to love that saying about Missouri, "If you don't like the weather, just give it a day"! This Sat. is our last indoor winter market, then the last Sat. of March we start out outdoor market. Hopefully we will have some of this 70 degree weather then! Last year we had about 2" of snow that first day of market, was not fun at all!

If you live close and are interested in our CSA, we are still taking applications, so give me a hollar if you have any questions.

SO SORE!!!! Yesterday Greg took off work and we planted around 1,200 long storage onions for this fall and winter sales, and around 1,800 candy onions, and around 180 leeks! I say "around" because some bundles have lot more than others, they make bundles a certain size and know that they have at least 60 plants in them! We plant them on raised beds covered with black plastic mulch and drip tape, so we have to poke holes with sticks and put the plant in and push the dirt around it. Lots of crawling and bending!

Seed orders have been coming in! We've got some tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and basil sprouted in the little green house. I planted some cilantro this morning. I've taken more cuttings off my rosemary, stevia and mint. The little hoop house has some greens and radishes coming along in there. We've been working on the big green house, doing some updates and modifications, about to get it done, then have to clean it all up so we can start getting seeds started in there. We worked on the big hoop house a bit yesterday. Have some tears and rips that need fixing.

The snows all melted and now we are floating in mud! The sun is shining today, so come on spring, warm us up and dry us out! I saw where day light savings time starts in a little over a week! That's hard to believe, but it will be nice! Have been hearing the "peepers" for a couple of days now. I love hearing them, but I think it's little cold yet for them, guess they are getting antsy just like us!

Speaking of Spring it's time to start signing up for our 2011 CSA. If you live in the Fulton or Columbia area we'd love to have you join us. Just contact me if you're interested and I'll get you the information. Prices and pickup times and locations will be the same as last year.