Share Notes June 3 & 5, 2021
CSA Share Notes:
Once again as I type this early on Wednesday morning, we’ve got some rays of sunshine for the first time in a whole week and boy, are we grateful. We’re going to soak in this vitamin D and hustle to get the harvest complete.
But there is still rain forecasted every day for the next 11 days. Luckily the past week we’ve received a bit less water than was predicted, but right now the crops really need about a week or 10 days to dry out and allow the soil microbes to recalibrate themselves after all this rain. Has a farmer ever instructed you to specifically pray for it to NOT rain? Well its time, friends!
On a happier note, your farmers celebrated 12 years of marriage this week! We spent time reflecting on how lucky we are to be able to do life together, both in our home and in our vocation. There is nothing we would rather be doing, even in seasons where weather makes the work so much harder. We find ourselves grateful for one another, for our dozen years of growth, and for all of you who we’ve nourished by our hands and our partnership over the years.
Here’s this week’s vegetable line up:
- Potatoes—between 1-2# of our new red potatoes (the weight you received depends on your share size). These potatoes are so good! They’ve been making it into our morning breakfasts a lot this week.
- Turnip roots—Beautiful Scarlet Queen turnips. These are a little spicy and so tasty. The greens were no longer edible after so much standing water in the field, but the roots didn’t seem to mind! The extra water and corresponding cooler temps we’ve enjoyed attracts certain pests who simply love to munch on the turnip and mustard family- flea beetles, cucumber beetles, and the infamous harlequin bugs. But the roots are delicious on their own, too. Try roasting them, or steaming and mashing them in with your mashed potatoes at about 1/3 to 1/2 turnip (they’re higher in moisture than potatoes, so try to accommodate for that in your recipe)
- Carrots—For the Large and Regular shares. These are sweet and crunchy but they were in some pretty boggy areas of the garden so they may not store a long time. Use them up this week.
- Leeks—2 to the large shares, 1 to the others. Potato and leek soup this week!
- Radishes— Daikon to everyone. Pungent and long-storing. These are excellent in an Asian slaw.
- Broccoli—Just for the regular shares. As I mentioned last week, the plants are really stressed from the extra water, and are producing pretty petite broccoli crowns all at once, though we had timed out planting to have them spread out over at least a month. This week could be the last week for broccoli. We shall see!
- Swiss Chard—For the Large and Mini shares. This crop is delicious in a veggie egg scramble with lots of garlic. It’s fantastic in a green smoothie, too. It can also stand on its own as a side item cooked with some caramelized onion.
- Pac Choi—Pretty little Asian cabbages, excellent for a stir fry or curry, or great in an Asian slaw with your diakon, a bit of turnip, and a gingery dressing.
- Snow peas—For all the large shares. This could be the end of them! We will see what we get from them next week.
Veggie Storage tips:
Everything you get this week will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags. All root crops should be severed from their tops to keep the roots from getting rubbery, and the greens stored separately, sealed up to stay fresh. 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
Regular Share
Regular Share top left to right: Scarlet Queen turnips, broccoli crowns, red potatoes, (2nd row) leek, daikon, and carrots below.
