Share Notes 5-25-17

Share Notes 5-25-17

CSA Share Notes:

We’ve got a great line up for you this week, and spring season is still going strong for a few weeks longer. We also announced this week that the summer CSA season is open for registration. Hooray! If you want your shares to continue into summer, just head over here to get yourself signed up.

We’re also thrilled to host many of you at the Farm Dinner with Twin Pines Beef this Saturday. Can’t wait to see you.

So with that update, here’s your box.

  • Radicchio—This crop is a european green sometimes found in high-end salad mixes, that resembles a cross between a lettuce and a red cabbage. It is excellent chopped into a salad, or you can quarter and grill it, brushed with olive oil and some spices. It’s a rare treat.
  • Fennel—This frilly plant provides you with these nice little bulbs that are great thinly sliced, roasted, or caramelized. The fronds are excellent with fish. It would be excellent added to our fresh and crisp winter root salad.  You want to use up half of your share in one large, amazing dish?? Use this recipe for Roasted Spring Salad with fennel and raddichio (also includes carrot, broccoli, and more!) top it with big tasty globs of chèvre cheese and a sprinkling of pine nuts and you have a vegetarian meal.
  • Lettuce—Large shares received a skyphos lettuce, which is a bit like a Boston or bibb lettuce, and a green romaine, small shares received a skyphos lettuce and a red Lolla Rosa lettuce, nice and crisp.
  • Dandelion—a fresh bunch for each share.
  • Hakurei turnip—These fresh, crisp white salad turnips are best eaten raw, with a little lemon and salt. They are the sweetest, tastiest turnips you’ll ever eat!
  • Kale—Lacinato variety. This type of kale is highly prized by chefs and is sometimes called “dinosaur kale” because of the prehistoric look of the leaves. This variety is fantastic as kale chips. the tiny grooves hold in any seasonings perfectly.
  • Broccoli—It’s beginning to wane, but we still have a fresh bunch for you!
  • Napa cabbage—This crop is an Asian cabbage similar to pac choi. It’s the traditional ingredient in Korean kimchee and I highly suggest you take a stab at making a batch to preserve this harvest. I see kimchee tacos and kimchee burgers in your future!
  • Carrots—Rainbow variety. This planting of carrots includes bright orange, pale yellow, and white carrots in an array of carroty flavors. The carrots, despite the heat, are incredibly sweet, which is rare for late May! I hope you are thrilled to see your first bunch of carrots. There will be more to come!

Veggie Storage tips:

The napa cabbage needs just a few outer leaves removed to get to the meat of the cabbage. Same with the raddichio-you’re looking for the small, cabbage-like center of the raddichio. For the fennel, remove the fronds, bunch with a bit of twine, and place in a glass of water on the counter, to use in cooking throughout the week.  The bulbs should be sealed up in the fridge. The many (many!) leafy greens will last longest stored in the refrigerator, sealed up in bags to retain their moisture. They’re so huge, we often just place them into a few large grocery sacks, and tie them up to seal them. Don’t forget your carrot and turnip roots need to be removed from their tops to keep the roots from getting rubbery. They can then also go sealed up in the fridge to stay crisp and the tops can be stored like other greens. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them.

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-csa-share-organic-red-moon-farm
Large Share:  (top row) Fennel, Broccoli, carrot, (2nd row) Napa cabbage, Lacinato kale, raddichio, (3rd row) skyphos lettuce, romaine lettuce, Hakurei turnips, and dandelion greens along the bottom.

Small Sharesmall-csa-share-organic-red-moon-farm
Small share: (from top left, going down) dandelion greens next to lacinato kale, Napa cabbade, and broccoli. (back up to the top) carrots, then fennel (the ferny one) Hakurei turnips, (and last, the far right column) skyphos lettuce, lolla rosa lettuce, and raddichio.