We are very excited. We've sold a few greens to a local restaurant and did a pop-up farm stand over the weekend, and the feedback is amazing. It's really easy to forget how wonderful fresh and diverse greens are: our crew, the restaurant and customers are gushing.

"I can't stop eating these straight out of the bag."

"Those greens we just so good"

I made a late supper for myself and Kevin on Saturday after a long day. I love great food, but I work long hours and I have a 5 year old, so usually I rely on the fact that the veg I grow is delicious, and lean on that instead of being too creative. But on Saturday I chopped up left over tender kale, claytonia and mizuna from market, sprinkled on a few micro greens and topped it with raisins, chopped almonds, goat cheese and balsamic. It was amazing.

I realize putting cheese, nuts and fruit on a salad is actually not complicated cooking - but that's good news for you. You don't have to go a long way to make these fresh farm veggies taste great.

Besides lots of greens, we're also including some over wintered vegetables in the share this week: scallions and parsnips. Our crew, it turns out, is a bunch of poets, because listening to them talk about parsnips, I wish they were writing these emails.

Kerry said that overwintered parsnips tasted like the smell of melting snow in the forest, and Hayden called them "the essence of spring in New England". We roasted some with a rutabaga and celery root we had in the fridge for Easter dinner last night - I know, it doesn't sound fancy, and maybe it's not, but I love eating food I grew, and I love roasting vegetables. Roasted parsnips are sweet, with not too strong a flavor. Roast them with a few of the shallots in the share this week!

We are very excited to start the spring share and to see everyone this week. As many of you know, these last few years have been quite the trail for Kevin, myself and Upswing Farm. After losing our lease in Holliston/Ashland we moved our farm twice during a pandemic, and took a major risk purchasing this farm in Pepperell. It requires so much work and determination to make it through the challenges of farm start up and last year was, without a doubt, the hardest year of farming I have ever experienced for so many reasons. It took a toll on me to the point of asking myself things like, "what is this all for?" and "does this even matter?". After a long, cold winter with very little rest I wondered if I was going to make it through this year, or if I was finally running out of steam - a terrible place to be mentally when you're only in the beginning of year two of starting your farm.

But then the sun came out. A few things started to go our way. Systems started to align. And I feel, rising in me just like the seeds of our spring greens sprouting in the greenhouse, a renewed hope and sense of purpose.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for being with us on this journey.

The crew has been busy growing our spring share vegetables and getting ready for distribution! From left to right: Kerry and Lindsay planting the first field spinach for later in the share, Lindsay, Claire and Kerry hoeing lettuce we will be picking in a few weeks, and Kevin, cutting away old stanchion bars from a rough transition in our wash and pack. He filled the transition with concrete last week so we can more easily maneuver pallets! It's a dream come true!

Tat-soi bunch: this tender green has leaves, stems and flower buds. They are all edible. It's flavor is mild and sweet. You could just chop it into a salad or steam it or lightly braise/sautee it with a few scallions or shallots. I chopped it and put it in our ramen soup last week. It's basically like an extra tender bok choy.

Scallions: These flavorful stalks are overwintered, and might take a touch more cleaning up that our regular season scallions, but we think it's worth it for the fresh zip of scallion flavor in spring!

Mizuna (mild green great in salad or lightly braised)

Claytonia (sweet salad green, not for cooking)

Bunched Tender Kale (you can eat the whole bunch, stems and all)

Mixed mustard greens: These are my favorite - in spring they aren't too spicy and the flavor is just so good - don't be afraid of the name.

Pea Tendrils: sweet, mild and great in salads or stir fry (lots of people tell me they like to eat them with eggs). These are Harvey's (my son) 3rd favorite vegetable after carrots and cucumbers

Micro Greens (mildly spicy, excellent on salads and sandwiches

Jess Girotti here, with your recipes for this week. I'm SO excited to be starting up our Spring shares again! I don't know about you, but I've been slacking on my greens the last few weeks and am very much looking forward to the amazing varieties that are in our shares this week! I'll definitely be making a few salads but, just in case your family is like mine and grows weary of too many salads for dinner, I've included some non-salad options here as well. If you need more ideas, head on over to the new recipe pages on the Upswing website. I've added recipes that highlight each vegetable along with information on storing and preparing produce!

Claytonia, also known as miner's lettuce, is a mild and vaguely sweet tasting lettuce that is loaded with Vitamin C. This salad is the perfect blend of winter and spring with claytonia pairing with the end of the season citrus fruits.

Any spring green will work well in this salad. It's hard not to get excited about this spring salads with fresh peas, mint, walnuts and parmesan.

Tatsoi has a sweet and earthy/mustardy flavor and is closely related to bok choy. It's delicious raw in salads, sauteed as a side or added into a pasta dish like this one.

Who doesn't love grilled cheese?? This will be one of those times when I tell my kids we're having grilled cheese for dinner and leave out the part about how there's an entire head of kale in it. By the time they get to the dinner table the smell will have won them over. The kale is sauteed with apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and a pinch of red pepper flakes and grilled up with melty Swiss cheese on parmesan crusted bread. YUM!

The name says it all! Blood orange, avocado, daikon radish and a bright lemon-garlic vinaigrette. I'll be having this for breakfast with an egg on top.

Ginger pairs perfectly with carrots and parsnips and this easy glaze will take your roasted veggies to the next level.

Pick Up Details:

34 Rogers Rd, Holliston

Tuesday, 1pm-6pm

Park beyond the farm stand (up the hill, past the yellow house)

65 Brookline St, Pepperell (parking is more like 50 Brookline on maps)

Wednesday 2pm-6pm

Park in the lot near the greenhouses with the white 'Upswing Farm' sign

93 E Main St Hopkinton (but don't pull into the main entrance!, see parking info below)

Thursday, 1pm-6pm

Just west of the nursery is a traffic light. Turn up the hill onto Legacy Farm Rd North and then take your first right into the back gravel parking lot to park. You will see our truck and tents from the street.

Call 508-215-8378 with questions. If you text, please make sure to include your first and last name in the text.

Email brittany@upswingfarm.com with any planned schedule changes

Greens: In a plastic bag in the fridge, not near the freezer. (Ideally between 34 and 40 degrees with 98% humidity.) If they don't come in a bag, undo the twist tie when you get them home and put them in a bag. They will wilt without one.

Root veggies: All roots (even potatoes) want to be in the fridge. Onions, shallots will also want to go in the fridge (in paper bags, not plastic) since spring is sprouting season and they will want to grow if left on the counter. If they do sprout, you can still eat them! The whole green stalk is edible and delicious. Think "green onion". Potatoes should go in the fridge in a paper bag. If they sprout you can knock off the sprouts and still eat them.

Herbs and scallions: Unless you are drying them, they can go in a plastic bag in the fridge.