It’s our fifth anniversary! We’re open 2-4pm this Sunday. Find us at St Kew Highway, near Wadebridge.

Come and take part in family fun and games, making bee nests and bird scarers, nature quizzes, supervised pond dipping, and guided tours of our two-acre veg plot and polytunnels. There’ll be hot and cold drinks, home-made cake, and the chance to win one of our fresh, seasonal, local veg boxes.

Another lucky dip – we’re all getting mangetout peas or broad beans from the polytunnel. Not both!

All boxes have:
* bunched carrots (Camel CSA)
* broad beans or mangetout peas(Camel CSA)
* salad bag (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* chard (Camel CSA / Mark Norman)
* new potatoes (Mark Norman)
* onions (Mark Norman)
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)

Standard boxes also have:
extra new potatoes
* turnip bunches (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
* spring onions (Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles

This is from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s book Jerusalem.  It is crunchy and refreshing. I added some chopped celery to make the salad go further but it would also be easy to scale down the dressing ingredients to suit the amount of kohlrabi you have.  For those of you who live local to Wadebridge, sumac can be bought at Elixir Health Foods at the top of Molesworth Street.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
750g kohlrabi
80g Greek yoghurt
70g soured cream
50g thick double cream
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely shredded fresh mint
1 tsp dried mint
20 g baby watercress
1/4 tsp sumac
salt and pepper

Method
Peel the kohlrabi, cut into 1.5 cm dice and put in a large mixing bowl.  Put the yoghurt, soured cream, double cream, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil in a medium bowl.  Add 1/4 tsp salt and a healthy grind of pepper and whisk well.  Add the dressing to the kohlrabi, followed by the fresh and dried mint and half the watercress.  Gently stir and place on a serving dish.  Dot the remaining watercress on top and sprinkle with the sumac.

All boxes have:
* kohl rabi (Camel CSA)
* peas or broad beans or mange tout (Camel CSA)
* turnips (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
Cornish strawberries (Mitchell Fruit Garden)
* new potatoes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)

Standard boxes also have:
extra new potatoes
* salad bag ** (Camel CSA)
extra punnet of strawberries
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

* = grown to organic principles
** = mixed lettuce, baby leaf beet

We’ve had a fun visit from Class 1 at St Mabyn School. The children named the vegetables and soft fruit in the field and spotted lots of minibugs. They also searched for worms, slugs and snails (plenty of those!) They all tasted peas from the polytunnel and planted a red onion to carry on growing at home.

This is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day! and is a perfect summer risotto.  I often use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
1 tbs olive or rapeseed oil
40 g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
800ml hot vegetable stock
200g risotto rice
100ml white wine
250-300g baby carrots, scrubbed and halved or quartered lengthways
150g baby broad beans
20g parmesan cheese, finely grated
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive or rapeseed oil to serve

Method
Heat the oil and 25 g butter in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add the onion and fry gently for 8-10 minutes, until softened.  Stir the rice into the onion and cook for a minute or two, then stir again.  Add the wine and bring to a simmer.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until the wine is absorbed.

Start adding the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and add more stock as it is absorbed.  It should take about 20-25 minutes for the stock to be absorbed and for the rice to be cooked but still al dente. Add the carrots when the rice has been cooking for about 12 minutes; put the broad beans in about 5 minutes from the end of the cooking time.

When the rice and vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat.  Add the cheese and the remaining butter, cover and leave for a couple of minutes.  Add most of the parsley and season to taste.  Serve in bowls with the remaining parsley scattered over and trickle over a little oil.

Not good timing when Camel CSA’s growing team have so much more sowing and planting to do!

Cornish strawberries and Cornish asparagus plus peas and broad beans – what more could you wish for?!

All boxes have:
* peas (Camel CSA)
* broad beans (Camel CSA)
* sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
Cornish strawberries (Mitchell Fruit Garden)
new potatoes (Total Produce, Cornwall)
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Standard boxes also have:
750g “old” potatoes
* salad bag ** (Camel CSA)
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
extra punnet of strawberries

* = grown to organic principles
** = mixed lettuce, baby leaf beet, rocket

Sunny days… It’s such wonderful sowing, growing and weeding weather in Cornwall this week!

This makes a lovely dish for a special occasion. It’s from chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s weekly series in the Guardian. You’ll need thick asparagus stems – like the Cornish asparagus we all had in last week’s vegetable boxes.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 18 minutes

Ingredients
2 large (24cm x 48cm) sheets filo pastry
2-3 tbsp olive oil
16 thick stemmed asparagus spears, woody stems trimmed
1 egg, whisked
30g parmesan, finely grated
1½ tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp coarse sea salt

Method
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put both sheets of filo on top of each other and cut widthways across the middle. Arrange the filo into one pile, then cut the pile into four squares so you end up with 16 filo pastry squares in total.

You will now need to work fast, otherwise the filo will dry out. Lay one filo square on a work surface and brush with plenty of olive oil. Place one asparagus spear at the bottom edge of each square, with the florets exposed, then roll in the pastry to wrap up securely – you’re aiming for a cigar shape with the asparagus head sticking out. Brush each asparagus parcel with egg and sprinkle over some parmesan, poppy seeds and salt. Place the parcel on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and repeat with the remaining filo and asparagus.

Bake for 18 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the asparagus cooked through. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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