CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to your first harvest of the Red Moon Farm spring CSA! This weather has been absolutely incredible for working outdoors, remaining cool and breezy for us, we’ve hardly broken a sweat. With all the cool and cloudy weather, the crops aren’t growing nearly as quickly as we normally expect. Send our garden some warmth and sunshine vibes this week so our crops will grow a bit faster!

We’ve still got a really lovely line-up for you this week, and more good things are coming your way!  We hope you love what the garden has provided for you. Don’t forget to show us how you use your harvest! Tag us on Instagram and Facebook with your culinary creativity.

Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:

• Radish—French Breakfast radish. This heirloom variety is long and slender with lovely pink tips.  Slice with lemon and salt for a refreshing snack. Did you know that radish tops are edible? Chop ’em up and cook them with other greens for a treat.
• Arugula—A peppery, delectable salad green. We LOVE this year’s tiny, tender arugula leaves. Enjoy in a salad with feta, walnuts, and in-season strawberries.
• Kale—Large shares received Red Russian kale, my favorite variety. it’s the most delicate and tender and is great in our Massaged Kale Salad. I made it this week with goat cheese, roasted strawberries (yes! try it!), and pine nuts. It was wonderful. Small shares received the lovely lacinato kale, sometimes called dinosaur kale.
• Turnips—Small shares received Hakurei turnips, a mild, almost sweet Japanese salad turnip, great for fresh eating. The large shares received scarlet queen turnips. These red beauties are more like traditional purple top turnips and should be treated the same. Chop up the roots, and slice up the leaves, some onion, garlic, maybe a bit of bacon, and sauté it all, throwing the leaves in nearest to the end to soften up. This is a perfect way to cook any greens, actually: kale, collard, mustard, radish greens, chard….
• Spring mix— This flavorful mix of Asian greens makes a fantastic salad, and is also great braised or sautéed. Each green was carefully selected for color, texture, and flavor.
• Win-Win Pac Choi—With this slightly cooler weather we’ve been craving yellow curry with onion, potato, and pac choi. Give it a try! Or go for one of our favorites from our website: Sesame noodles with bok choy (pac choi and bok choy are the same plant, just two slightly different translations from Chinese)
• Tatsoi—Large shares received these large, dark green Chinese cabbages, closely related to pac choi.  This crop may be new to you, but don’t be intimidated! This green is perfect in a slaw, a curry, fried rice, or kim chee. Its’ stems are crunchy and juicy, and the leaves tender like spinach.
• Swiss Chard—Small shares received a lovely bunch of our “Bright Lights” variety of chard, a beautiful rainbow of colors.  We used this in a salad recently with roasted beets and it was excellent.

Veggie Storage tips:

The many leafy greens will all last longest stored in the refrigerator, sealed up in bags or containers to retain their moisture. A suggestion: buy some “PEAK fresh USA” bags from Natural Grocer. They’re roomy, and re-usable (we just wash them with a bit of dish soap and hang to dry) and help keep your produce fresher, far longer. The root crops should be severed from their tops to keep the roots nice and firm and crisp. The tops can be stored like the other greens. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them. We wait to wash any veggies until we’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.  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 row) Spring mix, tatsoi, pac choi, arugula. (bottom row) scarlet queen turnips, French breakfast radishes, Red Russian kale.

Small Share

Small share: (top row) Swiss chard, win-win pac choi, lacinato kale. (bottom row) Hakurei turnip, spring mix, arugula, and French Breakfast radishes.