CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to the Red Moon Farm spring CSA. The season is rocking along and the crops are growing really well. I hope you enjoy this week’s harvest!

• Easter Egg Radish—If you’re piling up on radishes, this week try our simple pickled radish recipe that we served at our Farm Dinner with Twin Pines Beef and Meems’ Garden this weekend.
• Kohlrabi—This is a special treat that many have never tried! Leaves can be treated as kale or broccoli greens, but the bulb is the prized part of this crop. Used raw in a salad like the way you would jicama or thinly shaved radishes, or in a slaw like you would broccoli stems. Peel back any fibrous layer. A great tip from Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy– steam the sliced bulb until tender and then toss with butter, chives and lemon juice.
• Kale—Large shares received Red Russian kale, and the small shares received Lacinato kale. These two are very closely related genetically and in flavor, and can often work interchangeably in recipes.  Try one of our many kale recipes in the kitchen blog.
• Swiss Chard—Small shares received this item. The leaves are very similar in flavor and texture to mature spinach and are great raw, braised, or sauteed. This crop was used at the Farm Dinner this weekend in a wonderful massaged chard salad with arugula. We will post the recipe soon!
• Lettuce—3 types. Large shares received romaine, skyphos, and an heirloom ice burg variety. Small shared receive romaine and the heirloom ice burg variety.  A few of you might have received a head of lettuce that looks like it had the center nibbled on…well that’s because it did! The deer near our farm taste-tested some of the produce for you this week. They found the flavor delicious and luckily saved you a little to try.
• Snow Peas (or, a surprise!)—Crisp, sweet snow peas, perfect on a salad or sauteed into a stir fry.  Also, quick story: the Large shares were all supposed to receive a pint of fresh snow peas, but as the temperatures rose the past week, the pea vines eased up on their production. We thought we would have plenty of snow peas for all the large boxes, but we were short! For those few boxes, we went back out into the fields to harvest wild blackberries for you.  This is a super rare and unexpected treat. We’ve never given them out in the CSA before! I hope you enjoy it!

Veggie Storage tips:

The many leafy greens will all last longest stored in the refrigerator, sealed up in a bag or container to retain their moisture. The radish roots and kohlrabi should be severed from their tops to keep them firm and crisp, and the tops can be stored like the other greens. 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. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share!

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

 Large Share:  Red Russian kale, top row: lettuces – skyphos, heirloom ice burg, and romaine, bottom row: Easter egg radishes, snow peas, kohlrabi.

Small Share

Small share: Swiss chard, lacinato kale, heirloom ice burg lettuce, Easter egg radishes, kohlrabi, and romaine.