All the animals are grazing the cover crops, which are so tall you can barely see them. Stella and the sheep have been in the flower field, which we will mow and till tomorrow while the cows are in the soon to be wheat field. We tilled the first two acres this weekend. Now this week we are prepping irrigation and the tractors to be ready to plant soon.
We are including dahlias in the share this week. They will be large clumps of undivided tubers, basically one plant that we dug up lat fall. The variety is black satin. As they multiply each year, we have too many to plant and manage in the flower field!
This week's pick list:
- Lettuce
- Chicories
- Mini Fennel
- Green Garlic
- Chard
- Strawberries
- Sonora Wheat
- Dahlias
Lemon Balm Panna Cotta, adapted from nytimes.com
2 cups gently packed lemon balm leaves and small stems
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 ¼ ounce envelope unflavored gelatin
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
Lightly oil six 8- or 12-ounce ramekins. Place lemon balm in a mixing bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice, sugar and salt. Stir to combine, and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place 3 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin; allow to soften for 10 minutes.
Add cream to lemon balm and stir, gently crushing leaves. In a medium saucepan, heat milk just until steaming, then add gelatin mixture and remove from heat. Stir until gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes.
Place a fine-mesh strainer over saucepan, and pour in lemon balm mixture. Press hard on leaves to strain out all the liquid, then discard leaves. Stir liquid, then distribute evenly among ramekins. Place in refrigerator until chilled and solid, at least four hours. After 4 hours, ramekins may be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
To serve, dip each ramekin in hot water and invert to release panna cotta onto a plate. Serve immediately.
