New-Crop Baby Spinach
Spring is a funny time of year with both overwintered and new-crop spinach available at the same time. This baby spinach is crispy and light, perfect for a rich vinaigrette.
Season: Spring
Red Rover Radishes
We love radishes, but know they aren’t for everyone. The french thing to do is to eat them raw with a liberal smear of butter (so tasty). If you don’t like radishes, try roasting or sautéing them until soft and translucent (but not too long). The spiciness mellows and allows their sweetness to shine.
Nichols’ World Famous Celery
To be honest, I didn’t realize Nichols’ celery was so renowned (although, a friend did mention it the other week). You can usually tell how sweet celery will be from how light it is. A lot of times farmer’s market celery will be dark green and bitter. These are a light bright green, crispy and […]
Covington Sweet Potatoes
Believe it or not, these sweet potatoes were harvested last fall, likely in November. After being cured, sweet potatoes keep extremely well when stored in the right conditions (potatoes similarly store well). Nichols harvested over 30,000 lbs of sweet potato last year so that we can still be enjoying some this week.
Sakura Cherry Tomatoes
Over the winter, Nichols Farm added a couple greenhouses to their already impressive amount. In these greenhouses, they plant directly into the earth giving them the both the protection of a greenhouse and the amazing soil they have cultivated over many seasons. With this, they are able to perform the magic act of having tomatoes […]
Green Garlic
Green garlic is regular garlic harvested in the spring before the scape has begun to show. It’s bright and garlic-y. The stems can be used just like you would a clove and pack a similar punch.
Baby Head Lettuce
Baby head-lettuce, not baby-head lettuce. This lettuce is surprisingly flavorful, in the best way. Salads sound great for this upcoming heat wave they’re forecasting.
Pickling Cucumbers
These are some cute little cukes. Crisp and refreshing, although maybe not quite as sweet out of the greenhouse as they will be from the field come summer.
Heirloom tomatoes
Similar to the cucumbers, the slicing tomatoes we’ll see later in the season from the field will have a little more oomph than these from the greenhouse (not cherry tomatoes though, the greenhouse ones are pretty dang close). Still, definitely not bad.
Celery Leaf
Celery leaves can be used as an herb, playing the same role that parsley typically does. The darker leaves (like these ones) tend to be a little bitter but bring a depth of celery earthy, herbaceous aroma.
Golden Globe Potatoes
Believe it or not, these potatoes were harvested last fall. While 6-month old potatoes might not initially seem appetizing, I promise they still taste great. With the right storage conditions, potatoes keep extremely well over the winter which allows us to enjoy them this time of year before new potatoes begin to be harvested.
Overwintered Bloomsdale Spinach
Spinach benefits from cold temperatures to develop sweetness. By overwintering (planting in the fall and covering), this spinach has had plenty of time and cold weather to sweeten up. It’s some of the tastiest spinach of the year.
Red Spring Onions
When you can’t wait until fall for onions, you get spring onions. These are the exact same thing as the red onions we’ll see later in the season, just harvested early and small. You can use them the same way you would green onion or scallion or just the white/red part like you would any […]
Asparagus
Asparagus is the spring veggie. At the peak of the season, the asparagus is so sweet that I like to eat it raw. Simply diced and tossed with a zesty vinaigrette, something pickled and thinly sliced radishes makes for a great salad (look out for a full recipe to be posted next week).
Greenhouse Swiss Chard
Chard is a nice mild green. You can use it pretty much any way you would spinach; in a salad, on a sandwich, or quickly sautéed.
English Cucumber
Over the winter, Nichols Farm added a couple greenhouses to their already impressive amount. In these greenhouses, they plant directly into the earth giving them the both the protection of a greenhouse and the amazing soil they have cultivated over many seasons. With this, they are able to perform the magic act of having cucumbers […]
Greenhouse Cherry Tomatoes
Nichols also does a slicing tomato in the greenhouse that I find to be a little lacking compared to field tomatoes that come in season. These cherry tomatoes though…they’re pretty close to the real deal.