CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to your FIRST share of the Fall CSA!  Thank you guys so much for partnering with us this growing season.  We have loads of great crops in store for you over the next couple of months.

The first several weeks (until frost) we should be harvesting everything that’s held out from the summer garden (peppers, jalapeños, onions, garlic and possibly even a few straggling summer tomatoes… plus we planted late season zucchini and squash for you) Gradually over the next month, more and more of the fall crops will ripen and your shares will look less like summer and more like fall. Already the quickest growing fall crops are just beginning to mature, like winter squash.

The beginning and ending shares of each season are typically a bit smaller than the rest, as crops are either coming in or waning. Expect each week to be a bit different in quantity, and in diversity.

Each week come back to this blog to see the share notes and learn all about the contents of your share.  Should be a great season. We hope you enjoy every bit!

Here’s the vegetable line up this week:

• Bell Peppers—Regular shares received these. We grow a huge array of colors, and each color has a slightly different flavor. Red and orange will be the sweetest, purple, or green will all taste more like your standard green bell pepper.
• Italian Peppers—Large shares received these. Also a sweet pepper, with thinner walls, these are great to slice into small rings for a fresh salad or to top a pizza, or just to snack with some hummus or pesto.
• Cayenne—Large shares received a handful of small, super spicy cayenne peppers. These should be one or two ticks hotter than a jalapeño, but not as hot as habaneros. They’re long and slender, a little like the Italian peppers, but smaller, so be careful not to confuse them!
• Jalapeño —Regular shares received these. We put them in everything. If we want less heat, we remove the seeds and skeleton, or if we want to really heat up a meal, we leave them in.
• Kale—Everyone received our super tender and healthy Red Russian Kale variety. This type grows really well in our soil, so you should see lots of it. It’s great in a fresh salad this young and tender, or perfect for soups, sautes, veggie-egg-scrambles, etc.
• Zucchini—Tigris variety is so lovely, tender, and flavorful.
• Squash—Everyone received our super interesting Zephyr variety, which is green on one end, yellow on the other. Super unique! Let us know what you think.
• Squash Blossoms—This vegetable is a super delicate and delicious treat.  Traditionally you would stuff and fry the blossoms, but you can also just bake them into the top of a casserole, flat bread, or frittata for a super lovely display. We made several of these squash blossom recipes this summer. They’ll only last a couple of days so make a plan soon!
• Winter Squash—Our earliest variety to mature is the Acorn squash, with spaghetti squash and butternut soon to follow. These acorn squash store a good long while, but we hope you don’t wait to cut into yours.
• Onions—A great staple yellow onion, still lasting from our big June harvest!
• Garlic—Heirloom Red Hardneck garlic, bred in Louisiana so it’s perfect to withstand our humid conditions. There are three different varieties, but they’re all mixed together so there’s no telling which one you received today! They’re flavorful and so, so delicious. Enjoy. We keep the largest bulbs as seed stock, which we will be planting in a week or two, and the rest we give out to you until we run out. We hope to have it for you all fall.

Veggie Storage tips:

The squash, zucchini, hot peppers, and sweet peppers can be stored at room temp for a few days, or they’ll last at least a week in the fridge. The squash blossoms and the leafy greens like kale will want to be kept really cold. Make sure they’re sealed up so they don’t get wilty. Onions, garlic, and winter squash prefer to stay at room temp.  Everything will need a significant washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent faster spoilage.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share.

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

Large Share:  (top left to right)  Kale, Acorn squash, squash blossoms. Garlic and onion in the middle of the photo. (Bottom row:) Italian peppers, cayenne peppers, Zephyr squash, zucchini,

Regular Share

Regular share: (top left to right) Kale, zucchini, acorn squash, squash blossoms. Garlic and onion in the middle of the photo, (bottom row:) Jalapeños, bell peppers,  Zephyr squash.