In season: green onions

FOR SALE

Vegetables: arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, collards, endive, frisee, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, peanuts, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, spring onions, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash

From local reports

Kenneth and Patti Cook are the owners of Spreading Oaks Farm in the southwest corner of Paulding County. Their son Jason is the farm’s operations manager.

All year, Saturday mornings find the Cooks at the Marietta Square Farmers Market. Come April, they’ll also be at the Paulding County Farm Bureau Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons, and come May, they’ll be at the Kennesaw Farmers Market on Tuesday mornings. They also offer a community-supported agriculture program with pick-ups at the farm and at the farmers markets they attend.

Spreading Oaks Farm is 17 years old, and this is their fifth season selling at local farmers markets. “We always had a large garden, putting a lot of it up. Now we grow enough for our 25 community-supported agriculture customers and carry what’s extra to the markets,” said Kenneth Cook.

They enjoy growing a range of produce because they like providing a lot of variety for their customers. Their six high tunnels allow them to stretch the season, and the addition of a seventh will soon help them reach their goal of offering produce year round.

One of the vegetables they like to offer are green onions, which they seed in both the spring and the fall. Plants they seeded in January grow to a harvestable size in about 55 days, or in late February and into March.

The seeds are planted in flats and the flats stay in the greenhouse until each plant is about the size of a small pencil. At that point, they’re transplanted into the fields. “In spring, we plant White Spears, which we find is more heat resistant than some others but still has a mild flavor. We can keep growing green onions until about the end of June and then it just gets too hot,” said Cook.

In August, they’ll start planting green onions for fall harvest. Succession planting every two to three weeks keeps the harvest going until it’s time to plant again for spring. The only months they’re without green onions are July and August.

Cook says they grow on average about 60 bunches of green onions a week.

With onions on hand for much of the year, the Cooks enjoy them in a variety of ways. “We use them a lot in our cooking. We cook them with our greens like collards and kale, and saute them with our Asian greens. The spring’s small mild onions we use in green salads and potato salads.”

Green onions fresh from the farmer will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, wrapped to keep in the humidity, but not air tight. Rinse them when you’re ready to use.

Pasta with Green Onions

This recipe is adapted from one that Joe Truex, former chef at Watershed, demonstrated at the Morningside Farmers Market. The sweet taste of green onions is a nice complement to whole grain pasta, and the sauce comes together in the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta.

12 ounces whole grain pasta such as linguine

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cups chopped green onions (white and green parts) (about 28 green onions)

2 minced cloves garlic

Zest of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Cook pasta according to package directions just until al dente.

While pasta is cooking, make sauce: In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add green onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until green onions are softened and garlic begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and taste for seasoning.

When pasta is ready, drain, divide between serving plates and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serves: 4

Per serving: 511 calories (percent of calories from fat, 35), 16 grams protein, 72 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fiber, 21 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 4 milligrams cholesterol, 116 milligrams sodium.