fava beans

One of the decidedly short-lived pleasures in Kentucky is fava beans. They love cool weather and drop their flowers as soon as it gets hot. What that means in practice is that I can harvest piles of them for one or two weeks … and then it’s over for the year. This is the week. I will have loads of them at the market this Saturday, I think I’ll still have a few next week, and then it will be all over until next year. So time to hunt up a fava bean recipe or two!

Another new item this week, though this one will stick around longer: new Red Gold potatoes. This variety isn’t so great on productivity but is widely regarded as the best-tasting variety around for new potatoes. Come to think of it, I bet one could come up with a great dish using both new potatoes and fava beans. — Sydney

This week’s items

Items we plan to have at the market this week (an asterisk indicates unusually limited quantities):

• Beets*
• Bok choy
• Broccoli*
• Broccolini*
• Carrots*
• Chard
• Collards
• Dry beans and cowpeas (assorted varieties, including Tiger’s Eye beans, Peregion beans, Red Kidney beans, Pinto beans, and Black Crowder peas)
• Fava beans
• Granola, Pecan Cushaw Granola
• Herb plants
• Kale
• Kohlrabi*
• Lettuce
• Mustard greens
• Potatoes, new Red Golds
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Turnips, Japanese salad and Purple-Top