Not spinach, yes from New Zealand

Not spinach, yes from New Zealand,

Messages:

1. We are pleased to get out cartons back if they are in good shape. We reuse them. Please leave them outside and we will take them.
2. As usual I am attaching the file where you can order honey, olive oil, beans, and produce from Bat-Sheva (cheese and bread). I know it's a little confusing, but the attached form is only for these additions.
To order vegetables, sprouts and fruits please use our online ordering system at http://maggiesgarden.co.il If you need any supplements it is worthwhile to log on and see what more is available. You can receive them with your regular box.
Please Feel free to ask for help.
 3. The list of veggies that will be in this week's boxes is at the end of this post. Please read all the way to the end. The end means the very last thing that is written - after announcements, recipes, jokes, etc.( When you get to a link that says, "click here to continue", click it, and keep reading all the way to the end.)

And now to the garden and vegetables:
What is between spinach and sprouts ..?
The very last box really " shouted Summer ". This is what Elisheva said, a long time eater from our garden. And boy, she was right!
Today I will introduce you to a summer green, one of very few, called tetragon, which also has many other names.
So here, what does this look like?

 
You probably know it by it's popular name in Israel - "New Zealand Spinach". The variety of names tell the story and also what it is not! - so first of all, let's start with the not - it is not a spinach, it is not even from the spinach family. It belongs to an entirely different family called Aizoaceae. It's botanical name is Tetragonia tettetragonioides.

The Aizoaceae are leafy succulents that manage in sandy soils and beaches, in salty and non-salty water. Another name for it is "sea spinach."
And it is even quite common in our country.

But it is indeed from New Zealand. The natives in Australia and New Zealand used to gather it and serve it as a vegetable dish. Another name for it is "Cook's cabbage". When Captain Cook arrived in New Zealand in the 18th century the natives honored him with their local knowledge and taught him about the vegetables of their island. Captain Cook was very pleased to learn of this, because as a captain that crosses the ocean he was very worried that his crew would get scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C) that is often caused from a lack of vegetables during sea voyages. Scurvy was very common among mariners at that time. Of course, this was true only until they discovered sprouts and sauerkraut. You should read to your children or grandchildren the story of my great great grandfather that was a pirate and was saved from the disease because of sprouts ...

Even in Australia they found the green to be a tasty vegetable (there are chefs that to this day gather it in the woods) Another name is " Botany Bay Spinach " - a known bay in Australia, and also "Dingo Leaves" - referring to the Australian wild dog.

From there it was brought back to England where it immediately caught on in the vegetable gardens. It was the only cultivated vegetable that originated in New Zealand and Australia for many years. In South Africa it is called "dune grass."
It is a summer crop, and I believe that it is one of few greens that are resistant to heat. Tetragon is not at all spoiled and we grow it here in several plots with several different conditions. However, in Israel it is named after another green - the spinach, which is very different from it. After all, spinach is a winter crop. If we tried to grow real spinach now, it would grow small leaves because it will invest its efforts to bloom ... it too hot for it right now, so it knows it should make seeds quickly before it succumbs to the heat - it knows that it cannot survive the summer... So the "New Zealand spinach" is indeed used in the summer to replace the spinach and chard, and is a good replacement in their recipes.

When cooking it is best to separate the stalks from the leaves as the stem tends to be quite thick and takes a little longer to cook. Also the leaves should be scalded in boiling water, because when they are raw they are hard to digest because of the abundance of carotenoid antioxidants in it. These antioxidants are great for us, but when raw they are a bit hard to digest.

Good week, hot and green
Yours
Maggie
 
P.S - there are a ton of recipes I found on the web....
This weeks expectation list

Please remember that you may always make changes to your boxes by adding or subtracting vegetables, sprouts, fruit, dry beans, dates, olive oil, breads and cheeses. Please notify me of such changes by Tuesday at 11:00 (breads and cheeses one week in advance).

Our expectation list for this week follows. You may read about any of the listed vegetables by clicking its name on the list on the left side of the web page. If there are any changes (nature being nature), you may find out about them via this link on the day of delivery.

Regular boxes
beets or celery root
tomatoes
cucumbers
lettuce or celery root
New Zealand spinach or Swiss chard
sprouted seeds or sprouted legumes
mini watermelons
carrots
potatoes
parsley
eggplant

Large boxes also get:
בגדולים גםSquash
green onion
and something more, but we don't yet know shat
Fruit boxes also get:

תפוחי אנה apples
bananas