Share Notes December 17 & 19, 2020
CSA Share Notes:
Welcome to your final week of the Fall 2020 season, and the last harvest of the year. Whew! We all made it to the end, and you cared for your body with loads of our organic veggies all along the way. Great job, guys. I made it a personal nutrition goal this fall to eat vegetables with every single meal, every day, and I mostly succeeded! I hope you will join us in continuing to nourish ourselves and our families next year.
Our winter CSA season (ETX only, sorry DFW friends!) is full, and we’ve begun a waiting list for anyone who didn’t get signed up in time. And our Spring 2021 season, delivering to ETX and the metroplex will open for registration at the first of the year. We’ve been selling out of CSA memberships pretty quickly this year, and that trend may continue, so if you know you want to join next year, keep your eyes peeled for those emails in 2 weeks.
We are so grateful for your support in this crazy year. We struggled in numerous ways- with employee loss, summer crop failures, and loss of our two in-person farmers markets for extra sales, but we had your constant presence there for us in our CSA, and for that we’re forever grateful. The CSA partnership model (where you’ve committed to buy from us every week for a set time) saved our hides this year. Thank you, thank you for supporting our CSA.
Now on to your vegetable line up:
- Baby lettuce mix— All shares received this super tender, vibrant lettuce mix.
- Spinach— Regular and Mini shares received this item. Use yours in our Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Greens recipe this week! If you’ve got a backlog of sweet potatoes, the soup freezes perfectly to save for another dreary day.
- Arugula—For the Large and Regular shares. Super flavorful and delicious in a fresh salad. We often do feta or parmesan, loads of toasted nuts like walnut, pecan, or pine nut, and some fresh apples or dried fruit. Simple and so good.
- Broccoli— Regular shares received a nice handful of broccoli heads or several stalks of flowering broccoli.
- Winter Squash—Mini shares received a couple of delicata squash, perfect for topping an arugula salad. Slice into rings, scoop out the innards, and roast in a hot oven thill golden
- Fennel—This crop is such a wonderful winter treat. I suggest this week you try it in the wonderful winter vegetable chowder we’ve made several times this fall. Kohlrabi would be an excellent addition. Just about any hearty veggie will fit into this recipe, it’s so versatile. You could easily use half of your CSA share on one big pot of tasty chowder if you were so inclined this week. In the past we’ve topped it with toasted nuts, and at other times with crumbled crispy bacon. It’s really a winner, but it does take a bit of time with all the chopping and roasting, so great for a weekend rather than a week-night meal.
- Baby Kale— Large shares received petite bags of fresh, tender baby kale, perfect for a salad, or toss it into the Sweet potato soup I mentioned above.
- Turnips— Large shares received mixed bunches of turnips. Roast them all up, or cook them up southern style, with a bunch of garlic and a slice of bacon. So delicious!
- Radishes—Regular and Mini shares received a mix of watermelon radish and easter egg radish. Slice thin, and crunch away with a bit of lemon juice and salt. If you wanna get fancy, these are great atop a piece of avocado toast.
- Potato—Large shares received several lovely white kennebec or yukon gold potatoes, great to go into a chowder.
- Cabbage—Regular shares received one nice small cabbage, which you can use fresh or cooked like any normal cabbage, and mini shares received about 4 super tiny mini cabbages. Treat these tiny guys like they’re jumbo Brussel sprouts: either halve or quarter them, and roast. They’ll be great topped with dried cranberries, toasted sesame seeds, browned butter, parmesan, you name it. We love Brussel spouts and cabbage!
- Radicchio—Large shares received s petite red head that looks a bit like lettuce, and a bit like cabbage, but it’s a radicchio! This European green is often in high end salads. Peel away the loose outer layers and chop up the inner leaves. It’s great!
- Sweet Potatoes— all shares received these hearty staples. These cold nights are so perfect for our warming Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Greens. It’s a frequent dish in our kitchen.
- Kohlrabi— Large shares received a couple of these small, crunchy treats. This is a super unique and incredible vegetable. We love to use it raw in salads and slaws. Peel, slice, and add to salads, or roast and then puree into a roasted veggie soup. They taste a lot like a broccoli stem, but sweeter and crunchier. This week we’ll be using them in our winter slaw with pomegranate, fennel, and toasted walnuts, topped with a poppyseed dressing.
Veggie Storage tips:
Sever all roots from their greens so they don’t get rubbery. Store all greens, roots, fennel, kohlrabi, and broccoli sealed up in bags in the fridge. Sweet potatoes and winter squash prefer to stay at room temp. Everything will need a significant washing before cooking, but 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
