Share Notes- May 12, 2022
CSA Share Notes:
Welcome to your fifth CSA share of the season, which means we’re at half-way, or a little past it. This is **peak season** time when your boxes will be at their fullest, and then it’ll taper down from there. Make a plan to get through all these veggies, (your body will thank you!) or share them with others who will enjoy them.
If you haven’t snatched a spot in our Summer season yet, we’re about 2/3 filled. You can head here to register: https://csa.farmigo.com/join/redmoonfarm/summer2022 (harvests start at the end of June or early July and run till mid-August, most years.) Remember, once your spring shares come to an end (in the ballpark of 3-5 more weeks? ish?), that’ll be curtains for your access to our weekly boxes, unless you are signed up for the next season!
Now on to your vegetable line up.
- Garlic Scapes—These are the long-stemmed flowering tops of the garlic plant. We pull them so that the plant’s energy and recources focus on developing a strong bulb, rather than giving any energy towards flower production. This helps increase the bulb size. It also gives us a delectable crop to send you that you will never find in a grocery store. Garlic Scape Pesto is a favorite. Roasted or grilled, even bacon wrapped like you might do with bundles of asparagus, they’re nice. We’ll be using them in a farm-t0-table quiche this week.
- Broccoli—Hip Hip Hooray! We’re so excited for the arrival of the broccoli. It will not like all this heat, so we don’t know how long we’ll have it. ENJOY IT fully while it lasts. Cauliflower should be ready soon, too but really hates heat, so we shall see how it grows.
- Kale/Collard—Lacinato for the Mini shares, collard for the Regular, and Red Russian for the large shares. These crops can be used interchangeably. For the lacinato and collards, I suggest slicing them all into very, very thin ribbons. Sautee a little onion and garlic, then add a splash of chicken stock and red pepper flakes to the pan, next toss in your ribbons of greens to braise. Let them cook down to a good tenderness in that nice liquid and enjoy.
- Pak Choi— Everyone received some this week. This lovely little plant is an Asian cabbage, and it’s fantastic in a crunchy slaw, or a Thai green, red, or yellow curry, or a Japanese soup, or in a bowl of Vietnamese pho, or on top of Korean BBQ sandwiches… YUM! Of course you’re not limited to Asian cuisine with this crop, but the options therein are so fabulous, you should definitely try one of the above mentioned dishes!
- Radishes— Easter egg for the regular shares, French breakfast for the large and mini shares. fantastic on avocado toast or on rye bread with butter and salt.
- Snow peas—So happy to offer these to the Large shares this week.
- Head Lettuce—Romaine, and summer crisp. Take advantage of this abundance of leafy greens, because the greens do not last. As soon as it gets really hot, they’ll be done until late October, and you’ll be missing them!
- Turnips— Hakurei for Regular shares, Scarlet Queen for Large shares, and Purple Top for mini shares. The Hakurei are a Japanese, fresh-eating salad turnip. You’ll eat these raw, either sliced, or just crunch right in. They’re more like a mild, delicious, creamy radish, and they’re super yummy. The Scarlet Queen or purple top would be fantastic roasted and slathered with butter, or turned into a nice brunch potato hash brown. Try our turnip and grain salad, served warm. Super delicious.
Veggie Storage tips:
Most everything 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 gentle 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: 3 lovely lettuces, (middle row) garlic scapes and broccoli (bottom row) pac choi, scarlet queen turnips, Easter Egg radishes, and collards.
