We trialed another sprout mix, (all certified organic seed: clover, alfalfa, broccoli, fenugreek, sesame and garlic chives) but goofed on the timing as this mix takes longer than last week’s trial mix. So only large shares will receive these amazing sprouts unless between today and tomorrow half our trays demonstrate miraculous growth. Barring that, our chickens will be dining on a week’s worth of amazing sprouts in a couple days.
Because we harvest on Tuesdays for San Diego/Temecula and Wednesdays for OC, we split our sprouting start days in half, with the first half ready on Tuesday and the 2nd half on Wednesday. Unfortunately only the first half will be ready at all this week. Uggr!
The good news, is that we are moving beyond radish sprouts and have sourced organic sprout seeds from a trusted provider that has some very nice mixes that I think we’ll all enjoy. We just need to get the timing down right! And of course, as it gets colder, the timing will change, but hopefully we’ll keep on top of that as well.
New this week is a clamshell of the baby Asian green, mizuna. We’ve bunched it from time to time, but never mowed a row down at the baby stage. Often quickly sauteed with a little garlic, it can also be enjoyed raw in your salad. Funny story: I had an intern plant the 40 feet or so of Mizuna, and a week later when I was out in “garden two” checking on something else, I noticed that someone had planted “radish” seed waaaay to close together. The first leaves of Mizuna look EXACTLY like a radish sprout, and even have the same mild, spicy flavor. I had told Jabin, our head farmer dude, that he’d need to plow it under, as radishes planted that closely will never bulb up, but the rains prevented him from getting to it. So this weekend I was out touring the farm, after returning from a few (much needed) days away, to discover the “radish” planting had miraculously sprouted into Mizuna. Sure enough, the tag at the end of the row was labeled “Mizuna.” I hadn’t bothered to look, because the first leaves sure did look like radish sprouts; which we grow a lot of.
