The first tender cuts of Kale Raab are ready!
...however, this is anything but the first harvest from these plants. Every year, we seed and more than fifteen thousand plants to get us through four seasons of harvest. The big bunches of Kale we see in the main season give way to smaller leaves in the Fall and Winter for Braising Mix, and at about this time in late Winter/Early Spring, we get to treat ourselves to the flowers, aka Kale Rapini or Raab.

I don't know if you needed a pick me up today, but I sure did. And as a pleasant surprise, it came in the form of some gorgeous weather and a field of Purple Sprouting Broccoli. It was super sweet to sneak a snack of this morning, and I just know that you're going to love it too--stem, leaf and all, raw, roasted, steamed or otherwise. It is just too good for its own good.

We're getting ready for some true Winter weather this week. Precipitation? We'll wait and see (and hope not), but at the very least, we know that some very cold days and hard nights of frost are likely ahead of us. We've got plenty of plants to harvest, tuck under cover or roll the dice with.

The clearer skies have allowed the ground to dry up a little bit in the field--just enough for us to drive a tractor out into the beds so that Blake and Erica could make one more go at gathering Parsnips and Carrots for this week. Meanwhile, Mark is also got something special up his sleeve--a really stunning Wintry Salad Mix that is a little different than our typical blend. This mix is made up of Baby Romaine, Frisee and the prettiest leaves of Radicchio in variegated shades of pink. It is swoonworthy stuff. Bitter, bold and floral in appearance, these greens are a flavorful counterpoint to the loads sweet squash, fruits and roots that we've been serving up on our tables since November. Those beautiful bitter leaves, when dressed in the raw with citrus (like the Salad I prepared last night for our family) or anchovy, or even a bit of pear and cheese, make for really special seasonal meal. Forget professing your love with flowers...say it with salad!

XOXO,
Katie