Share Notes 7-5-18
CSA Share Notes:
Welcome to another abundant CSA share! Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:
- Cucumbers—Our first picking of cucumbers! We should soon have them coming out of our ears, though right now they are just coming on. You might have received a pickling variety, a larger slicing variety, or possibly the long, curvy english cucumbers, my personal favorite!
- Squash Blossoms—these lovely little flowers are a coveted delicacy by our chefs. Traditionally you would stuff them with goat cheese or ricotta, batter and fry. If you don’t want to go to all that fuss, they’d be great with your yellow squash either on top of a baked squash frittata, or in a summer veggie lasagna.(I’d use squash and eggplant if you still have it, rather than the called for zucchini and peas- veggie lasagnas are very forgiving recipes to adjust) Leave them whole to enjoy their beauty and let them just get wilted into the top of whatever dish you serve them.
- Yellow squash—Everyone received a really nice share of squash, but no zucchini yet! The squash and zucchini plants are maturing a little later than we had hoped and have been struggling the past few weeks. We’ve fed them with extra compost and hope they pick up in production for you soon.
- Onion—Crisp, sweet yellow onions for everyone.
- Sweet bell peppers—Have you eaten bell peppers on the grill? They’re fantastic with a little bit of char on them. These crops have also seemed a little bit anemic so we boosted them last week with a hefty load of compost. Come on, microbes, let’s grow!!
- Hot peppers— Cayenne peppers for the small shares: long and skinny with a wonderful flavor and nice amount of heat, though not much beyond a jalapeño. Large shares received jalapeños and poblanos. The Poblanos would add a delicious heat to the baked squash frittata linked to above.
- Blueberries—one last time this season we’re bringing you the deliciousness of Winona Orchards this summer! This is the tail end of their blueberry harvest and boy are they good. Rinse and enjoy.
- Sungold cherry tomatoes—Small shares are receiving these beauties this week- the very best cherry tomato we’ve ever grown. We hope you like them!
- Beans—Large shares received a small helping of mixed beans. The Dragons Tongue turn yellow when cooked and burgundy beans turn green when cooked, so enjoy them raw if you want to them to keep all their pretty colors.
Veggie Storage tips:
Squash blossoms spoil quickly, so store them in the fridge and use within 2 or 3 days. Onions and cherry tomatoes, will prefer to stay at room temp. Tomatoes especially will begin to get mealy if stored any colder than 55 degrees. The squash, cucumbers, and bell peppers like to be cool but not cold. They can be stored at room temp if you’ll be eating them soon, otherwise put them sealed up in the fridge if you won’t be getting to them for a few days. The blueberries and green beans should be kept in the fridge. Everything will need a good washing before cooking. Because the rain splashed dirt up on everything they’re especially dirty. It’s best to 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
