CSA Share Notes 6-20-20

CSA Share Notes 6-20-20

CSA Share Notes:

Thank you for coming alongside us this season and enjoying the fresh, juiciness of summer.  We hope you have fun and make some new veggie friends along the way.

We’re easing into summer this week with a soft-start of our CSA. Only a few of our delivery locations are receiving a CSA share this week while we await the full-force of our garden to arrive soon.

Here’s this week’s vegetable line up:

  • Sungolds!— These are the first of all of our tomatoes to ripen and they indicate the rest are about 2 weeks away from being ready!  These are an incredibly sweet and tasty cherry tomato. We envision basil, sungold, and onion salads with some fresh mozzarella and a bit of balsamic.
  • Eggplant—The Large shares received our Japanese eggplant, excellent sliced long-ways down the center and grilled. The Regular shares are receiving the lovely Fairy Tale eggplant, my favorite for use in a Thai curry. And Mini shares are receiving the trusty Italian eggplant, and enough to do a small pan of veggie lasagna, or eggplant parm for 2.  All three varieties are super versatile so don’t be afraid to swap the the you received into your favorite recipes. Eggplant performs best with really high heat and a bit of char on it to bring out the sugars, so roast, grill, or griddle it.
  • Beets—Mostly small little petite beets, the last of what our beet crop gave us this spring.  These small beets would be great for roasting whole and using in a salad, or enough for a small pint jar of pickled beets if you’re into fermenting! Most of you received Chioggia, a bright red beet with pink and white centers, and a few received Red Ace, a nice deep purple beet.
  • Cabbage—Some for everyone this week. A mixture of smooth and savoy leaved cabbages. Give a batch of fermented saurkraut a try, or make up a yummy dish of sweet slaw, or use them to top some tacos.
  • Basil—Everyone received a nice big bunch of large leaved, fragrant Genovese basil. Here’s the most important thing to remember about basil: It does not want to be below 50 degrees. Storing it in the fridge will ruin your basil! Quickly get it out of your box and into a shallow glass of water and leave it on the counter away from direct sunlight.  Just change out the water and trim the stems whenever it needs freshening up and it’ll last you a week or more.
  • Onions—Large and Regular shares received this crop.
  • Potatoes—Red new potatoes, freshly dug this morning! This potato harvest is really a nice one this year, with lovely large potatoes. We’re excited to dig up the other varieties soon.
  • Blackberries—Large shares received a pint of beautiful, and organically grown blackberries grown right here at Red Moon Farm by Jessica’s parents. We hope you enjoy them!

Veggie Storage tips:

The eggplant, cabbage, and beets will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags.  The potatoes, tomatoes, onions and basil will all prefer to stay at room temperature  Basil should NOT be kept below 50 degrees. Keep it in a glass of water on your counter and change out the water and trim the stems as needed to keep it fresh. If you’re not able to use it all up, hang it upside down to dry in a dark cabinet. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent spoilage.

Your farmers, Jess & Justin

Regular Share

Regular Share top row, left to right: Basil, onions, Fairy Tale Eggplant, potatoes, (2nd row) Cabbage, beets, sungolds.

Large Share

Large Share top row, left to right: Basil, blackberries onions, Japanese Eggplant, potatoes, (2nd row) Cabbage, beets, sungolds.

 Mini Share

Mini share  top row, left to right: Basil, Italian Eggplant, potatoes, (2nd row) Cabbage, beets, sungolds.