CSA Share Notes:

The Spring CSA is more than half over and the garden’s doing great! Here’s this week’s vegetable line up:

• Swiss Chard—For the Large and Regular shares. This is some of the healthiest, most delicious chard we’ve grown.  I like it in a massaged greens salad (where you rub the leaves with oil and kosher salt until they’re silky smooth and the cellulose is broken down) with toasted pine nuts, dried cranberries, parmesan, and a good citrus vinaigrette.
• Broccoli—This crop is about to hit it’s prime! It’s super abundant and nutritious right now. Enjoy!
• Head Lettuce—Large shares and Regular shares all received a Green Fusion lettuce and either a New Red Fire or a Cherokee lettuce. Mini shares received dense and beautiful Green Forrest romaine.  If you’re having a hard time getting through all the lettuce, we will only be sending it to another week or two so the end is in sight! Also, it can store really well in a produce bag in your fridge for 2 weeks or more.
• Beets—Large shares received Chioggia. Regular shares received Red Ace. These are so delicious. We like to roast the roots in a hot oven, wrapped in foil, (then peel and dice) then sauté the greens with some onion and garlic. Toss the roots back in the pan and top it all with a home made citrus balsamic glaze. This recipe is a good guide-though we like to include the sautéed greens- and the results are phenomenal, even for folks who “don’t like beets”.
• Kohlrabi—For the Large and Regular shares. This is the crunchy, nutty, sweet bulb of the brassica family (related to broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprout). Think of them as broccoli stems but more delicious. We dished up our excellent kohlrabi cole slaw with poppyseed dressing this week to our parents, neither of whom had ever tried kohlrabi, and they loved it!
• Cabbage—For the Large and Regular shares. These are young and sweet and will be excellent quality, however you like to prepare cabbage. We like ours with smoked sausages.
• Turnips—for the Mini shares only. These are Purple Top White Globe, a southern heirloom.  The greens are pretty well eaten up by spring pests, so you’ll want to discard those, but the roots are in perfect condition. We like them roasted or boiled and mashed with butter.
• Spinach—for the Mini shares only.
• Kale—for the Mini shares only. Our kitchen blog has about a half dozen great kale recipes if you’re needing some inspiration!

Veggie Storage tips:

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.  Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent spoilage.

Things to look forward to:  cauliflower, fennel bulb, and carrots! Just about 2 weeks away. 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:  Red Ace Beets, New Red Fire Lettuce, Green Fusion Lettuce and Swiss Chard (2nd row) Cabbage, kohlrabi, and broccoli.

Large Share

Large Share top left to right:  Chioggia Beets, New Red Fire Lettuce, Fusion Lettuce, Swiss Chard,  2nd row: Kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli.

 Mini Share

Mini share: Green Forrest Romaine, broccoli, spinach, 2nd row: Red Russian Kale, and Purple Top Turnips.