Greetings Food Odyssians,

Today is the first Hunters' Greens CSA delivery, don't be late! (June 3, 2009)

Folks picking up at the farm, remember there are extra potatoes from last year you can take if you like.  They are on a bread tray.  Big sacks are yellow finn, little sacks are desiree (a red skinned, pale yellow fleshed potato) They are sprout and soft, but still good to eat.  Or plant them if you want.

We usually use the first spinach of the season in a salad, it is at it's best now, the heat will take it down.  Goes well with strawberries, mandarin orange slices, walnuts, crumbled bacon or hard boiled egg.  The leaves are giant, but should be fairly succulent and tender.  We didn't think they were quite as tender this year (though we were eating what we'd reject for you).  We're not sure whether to blame the cold spring, the hot May or "Chicken Jim."

We say the raab is "arrested" because it didn't get thinned and the leaves and stalks are very small.  It is usually much larger, but the it was time to pick it before it got tough.  Jim tried to cut it high enough not to have tough ends, but may have erred occassionally.  If you start chopping it starting at the flower end, if it is tough at the bottom it may stop cutting easily, discard any tough ends.  Also a white pithy center to the stem is a sign of toughness.

RAAB RECIPE

While it is called broccoli, but it is really a fancy mustard green with a little floret and edible stems.   Our favorite raab recipe we trot out for a variety of greens

RAAB and Spaghetti

Chop some garlic and onions and saute in oil. Chop the raab and add to the garlic and onions.  Break up some spaghetti and add it uncooked.  Pour two cups of broth or water over all, cover and simmer until spaghetti is cooked.  Sprinkle parmesan or other cheese over the top and serve.  Sweet peppers are a nice addition too.  We didn't have any last night, so sprinkled some paprika in it.

In the past we have included essays in out e-mail.  Now we usually just post them on our blog at

.  But this one is ready to go and might tease you to check out the blog.

"There goes Bossy, there goes Star, there goes Chicken Jim."

Several years ago, Jim's nieces and nephews started calling him Uncle Earth Worm Jim  after a video game super hereo.  Jim was flattered, but thought his brother John, the invertebrate zooligist and worm bin composter was a better candidate.

Sadly, however, Diane has recently found the need to add a new character at the farm, "Chicken Jim."

Now Uncle Earthworm Jim has always maintained a good understanding of soil health.  "Chicken Jim" on the other hand, seems to forget everything he's learned whenever he sees a bargain.

Readers who share their life with a young child, of the the "outer" or "inner" variety may recognize "Chicken Jim" as a parody of "Chicken Jane" from the Children's Television program BETWEEN THE LIONS.  Chicken Jane is in turn a parody of the DICK AND JANE READER SERIES in which clueless Chicken Jane leads her human companions through a series of death defying misadventures.

So let's tune in:

Look, look, there is Chicken Jim.  Chicken Jim is mad.  The price of gas has raised the price of all his organic soil amendments.

Oh look, Chicken Jim sees the composted chicken manure.  It is much cheaper.  Look, look, it has all the soil nutrients of the other fertilizers.

See Chicken Jim, he's bought lots of composted chicken manure.  It comes in plastic bags.  Look, look, Chicken Jim drops the bags all over the farm.  There goes Diane picking up and throwing away the bags.  No,  No Diane, Chicken Jim wants to save the bags.

Now look, Chicken Jim's reading the newspaper.  Look, there's an ad for "dry chicken manure"  Look, it's much cheaper than the composted manure, and no plastic bags.

Look, look, the chicken farmer is delivering a truck load of dry chicken manure to Chicken Jim.  He says it is very old.  But smell, smell, it really stinks.

Oh look, look it's raining.  Chicken Jim's dry manure is getting wet.  Smell, smell, now it really stinks!  Look, look, Chicken Jim is buying some plastic to cover the dry chicken manure.  Chicken Jim hates to buy plastic.

Oh look, Chicken Jim is out of compost.  Look, look he is substituting chicken manure for compost in his seed starting soil mix.  No, no, Chicken Jim.  Chicken manure burns up organic matter.  Oh, look, none of  Chicken Jim's seeds are coming up.  Chicken Jim thinks its because it's so cold this spring.  No, no, Chicken Jim that's not why.

Oh no, now Chicken Jim is banding dry chicken manure under his transplants!  No Chicken Jim!  Look, Look, Chicken Jim is pointing to the composted chicken manure sack.  "Won't burn plants," it says.  No, no, Chicken Jim, the dry manure hasn't been composted.  Look, look the spinach plants are turning yellow.  Oh, no, what will the CSA customers eat.

Oh look, here comes Uncle Earthworm Jim.  He will save us.  Look , look, Earthworm Jim is chasing Chicken Jim away.  Earthworm Jim puts rotted leaves in the seed mix.  Look, look the seeds are sprouting.  Look Earthworm Jim is banding composted manure under the seedlings.  Look, look, they grow much better now.

Look, look Earthworm Jim only broadcast and tills in the dry manure into the soil.  He tills in rotted leaves too.  Let's watch the plants and see how they grow.