CSA Share Notes:

Thanks for your support through the tornado that struck our town last week.  Please check out our message regarding the disaster here.

We are excited to bring you some great new items in this week’s Harvest.

• New Potato—these are young, red, tender skinned new potatoes. New potatoes are freshly dug potatoes that haven’t been cured, which means that these roots will not store as long. Use them up within a week or so.  Try them in a fresh and light potato salad, or just boiled and eaten with a high quality salted butter, or maybe some herb butter. Keep the recipes simple on these potatoes so you can enjoy their unique flavor.
• Radish—All shares received Easter Egg radishes this week. Some of them are huge from all the water we’ve received and are still juicy and crisp and not too spicy. Some of the tops have a few bug holes, but most are tender and great quality. They would be great eaten raw in fresh fridge-pickle style. Though this recipe calls for cucumbers, a similar method would work wonderfully for radishes. And if you haven’t eaten radish tops yet, this would be a good week to give them a try!
• Lettuce—Red Flame. A great late-spring standard from Red Moon Farm. This variety is delicate and beautiful at the edges with a good crunch at the heart.
• Endive—We are loving this endive! Frisee Endive is often sold as lettuce, but it’s actually more closely related to the daisy than it is to any lettuce varieties. This salad green is perfect in a salad with lots of diverse flavors. Try it this week with pears and candied pecans to balance the endive’s bitterness.
• Baby Kale—Small shares received Lacinato and large shares received Red Russian. If you have a hard time figuring out what to do with your kale, try to incorporate it into something simple like scrambled eggs or mashed potatoes, or toss the chopped leaved into a soup about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.  There are also several recipes from our Kitchen that give you good pointers for kale.

Veggie Storage tips:

The greens will last longest stored in the refrigerator, sealed up to retain their moisture. The radish roots should be severed from their tops to keep them firm and crisp. If you’d like to eat the tops, they can be stored sealed in a bag in the fridge. The new potatoes can be kept at room temperature (out of their bag) for a few days, or stored in the fridge if you can’t use them quickly. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them. As a general rule, wait to wash any veggies until you’re ready to use them to help retain nutrients and prevent spoilage from excess moisture.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share, or tag us in your facebook and instagram posts! We’d love to see how you’re using your share of the harvest.

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

Large share from left to right: Frisee Endive, new potato, red lettuce, Easter egg radishes, and Red Russian Kale.

Small Share

Small share from left to right, starting at the top: Red lettuce, frisee endive, new potato, Easter egg radish, and Lacinato kale.