Share Notes Dec 8, 2022
CSA Share Notes:
A quick note: Some pests have moved in!
You may find a good number of teeny tiny pests called aphids on the broccoli and on the stems of the Scarlet Queen turnip greens. Give them a vigorous shake under a sink-full of cold water and you’ll knock them off. Or a strong blast of water from a sprayer nozzle will do the trick, too. ….but if you were to ingest any, they won’t harm you.
Ladybugs are the predator insect that eats aphids, and we’ve seen tons of them in the garden the past few weeks, so we hope they’ll be able to restore balance soon. Some years aphids are a huge problem in the fall and early spring, and some years they aren’t. And there’s not a whole lot you can do to get rid of them that won’t also harm your plants. Our approach has become to wait for nature’s natural cycles to put things back into equilibrium. The ladybugs come in droves this time of year and if we’re lucky, will handle the problem for us. Sadly, the aphids have nearly killed the kale and chard so we don’t have any of that for you. We’re replanting it to have a crop of them ready in time for some of the later winter shares.
Here’s this week’s beautiful vegetable line up:
Lettuce — huge bags of tender-crisp mixed greens for all, including 6 different varieties of lettuce and 2 types of dandelion greens. This mix is packed with vitamins and flavor, and we’ve got plenty of it for you! Reminder: we single wash your greens (whereas what you find at the store is usually triple washed) so expect them to be a little bit dirty. The less we handle them, the longer they last for you, so we don’t try to get them triple-washed and ready to eat, or they’d get damaged and spoil much faster. Our greens last at least a solid week in the fridge if you follow our advice to wash them right before you’re ready to eat them, and wash only what you’re ready to use.
Broccoli — Large and Regular shares received the broccoli harvest this week. It’s delicious!
Cauliflower — Everyone received cauliflower this week, and these heads are gorgeous! Have I told you yet how hard this crop is to grow in this warm climate? I hope you will dance a jig of joy with us that we had such a great crop of it this fall. We made a lovely chick pea, cauliflower and carrot curry last week that was heavenly. We simplified our lives this time by using a little jar of thai red curry paste, which you can find at most good grocery stores, and served it over rice. It was fantastic.
Cabbage — Large received Tendersweet (slightly flattened and round), and Alcosa (the savoy/crinkly leaved cabbage). The regular shares received Caraflex (conical). These would be excellent roasted in a dutch oven with your turnips, some smoked sausage, and lots of grass fed butter. Or you could use them with your daikon and make a nice batch of Korean kimchee
Daikon — Everyone received these long, tapered root radishes that typically pack a lot of spicy, radishy heat. This is the radish for making kimchee if you’d like to take a stab at that this week.
Turnip — Hakurei turnips for all the Large and Regular shares. Scarlet Queen turnips for Mini shares. The Hakurei turnips are a salad turnip and they’re fantastic raw, with a mild, slightly sweet, slightly nutty flavor. The Scarlet Queen are perfect for roasting or boiling and mashing. The tops are fantastic right now, too. Make sure not to waste them! Saute greens with butter, onion, and garlic, a bit of ham or bacon if you have it. Dress with some red pepper flakes or a dash of tobasco.
Carrots — Large shares only. beautiful crunchy orange and yellow roots, excellent roasted alongside your broccoli.
Fennel — A little for everyone. This crunchy tasty bulb is excellent shaved thin and used in a salad or slaw. The leafy fronds are wonderful with fish.
Veggie Storage tips:
All your various greens and roots will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags or other airtight containers. For best storage life, sever your roots from their greens and store separately. This will help keep the roots from getting rubbery and the greens from going limp. Everything will need a thorough washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent 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
