Share Notes 12-5-19

Share Notes 12-5-19

CSA Share Notes:

We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!

Here’s this week’s vegetable line up:

  • Kohlrabi—This crop comes from the broccoli/cabbage/kale family (Brassica) and tastes like a sweet, crisp broccoli stem. They’re great for munching on, peeled and sliced thin, with lemon and salt, but also excellent in a salad or roasted and pureed into a root veggie soup. The greens are edible! Add them to your kale to bulk it up, as the kale bunches are pretty petite this week.
  • Sweet Potatoes—On our meatless nights, we’ve been making “Buddha bowls”, with roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa, black beans or chick peas, toasted walnuts or pecans, a bit of fresh greens, and a tasty tahini or cashew dressing.  You can find loads of recipe ideas online.
  • Spring Mix/Arugula—I like this flavorful mix with fresh fruit like apples or pears and toasted nuts or seeds and a good creamy dressing to balance out the spice of the leaves.
  • Spinach—Just enough for each regular share.
  • Beet Greens—These are “thinnings” from our beet row, which means we should have full-sized beets coming shortly. Some of your bunches have small beet roots at the bottom. Trim off the tiny root hairs and cut the roots off of the greens, sauté them first, in butter, then toss in the chopped up greens and stems and cook till soft. Use garlic, onion, and a bit of cayenne for a super delicious addition.
  • Lettuce—Large shares received a frilly romaine and a butter type, regular shares received an iceberg type. Crisp and perfect for sandwiches.
  • Turnips—This crop went to the large shares this week. Hakurei turnips are a delicious, crisp, almost sweet salad turnip. You eat these raw, rather than cooked. The greens are also delicious when cooked with onion, garlic, maybe a tiny bit of bacon or ham. You could add these to the beet greens for more bulk.
  • Radishes—Regular shares received Easter Egg radishes, Large shares received French Breakfast radishes. The tops are edible so don’t discard!
  • Kale—Large shares received curly kale, and the regular shares received Red Russian. A few folks received collards. This crop was really hit hard by that heavy freeze 2 weeks ago and is still in recovery mode. Pray for lots of sunshine!

Veggie Storage tips:

The leafy greens will want to be kept really cold. Make sure they’re sealed up so they don’t get wilty. All your root crops will want to be in the fridge, too, but sever the roots from the tops and store separately to prevent the roots from becoming rubbery. 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:  (left to right)  Curly Kale, arugula/spring mix, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, (2nd row) lettuces, beet greens, Hakurei turnips, radishes.

Regular Share

Regular share: (top left to right) Red Russian Kale, Arugula/Spring mix, spinach, sweet potatoes, (2nd row) lettuce, radishes, beet greens, kohlrabi.