THE GRINNING BELLY

Ifirst met Aaron and Alia from Morning Moon Farm when they worked at Roots to Harvest, and they are the cutest (see for yourself at morningmoonfarm.ca). Now they have their own farm named in honour of The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie. Renting space from Corbett Creek Farm & Creative Centre in Murillo, Morning Moon has about an acre of veggies in production, which they’ll sell this summer at the Thunder Bay Country Market and through their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. This makes me incredibly happy, as it’s no secret that I am a terrible gardener and all-around plant person. I’ve signed our family up for Morning Moon’s Veggie CSA, which will provide us with bi-weekly boxes of fresh goodness: greens, herbs, salad veggies, root veggies, squash, and extra treats like fruit preserves and flower bouquets—I can’t wait! (There’s also an omnivore option that includes meat from Corbett Creek, too.)

Our first pick-up in July should have lots of greens and some garlic scapes (the curly green stalks that grow from the bulb of hardneck garlic), so immediately I thought of how good spinach-kale-garlic scape pesto would be. Beyond the traditional basil/pine nut combo, pesto can really be made with any herbs or greens, and different nuts or seeds, depending on what you have on hand: