Share Notes May 26, 2022

May 26, 2022 · by Red Moon Farm · in Farm News

CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to another CSA share! You’ll notice the boxes really start to change significantly as we near the last few weeks of the Spring season, with fewer leafy greens and more of the heavy crops of late spring and early summer.

Speaking of, if you haven’t snatched a spot in our Summer season yet, we’re about 3/4 filled. You can head here to register: https://csa.farmigo.com/join/redmoonfarm/summer2022

Now on to your vegetable line up.

Carrots—crunchy and sweet and plenty of them. Roast, grill, or crunch into them raw.
Beets—These grew so much better that any out-door beets we’ve ever grown. We used a special plot that has received lots of extra attention the past few years, and the soil texture and fertility has improved enough that our beets really did well. The tops were not a fan of the heat, however, so that part of the plant isn’t too much to speak of…but the roots! Try them in my favorite dish to bring to a potluck: Beet Spread with Pine Nuts and Fennel. My recipe has changed a bit over the years. I now add lots of walnuts to the hummus-like-spread and usually don’t have fennel available. If you like heat, you gotta keep in the cayenne, as it really makes it swell.
Broccoli—Large shares get to enjoy a bit of this crop. Not a lot to go around right now. It really hated the heat.
Leeks—We’re so happy to have a nice crop of lovely leeks this year. Enjoy!
Potatoes— Red Lasota new potatoes, freshly dug. These have not been cured so go ahead and use them up pretty quick. They’ll be perfect for a holiday potato salad at your Memorial Day BBQ
Collard—Because we’ve got those lovely red potatoes for you this week, we suggest you use up both your collards (or beet greens or dandelion greens!) and your potatoes in this truly spectacular pesto potato salad. Since we don’t have any snow peas on hand, some thin sliced radishes, kohlrabi, or hakurei turnip (if you have any leftover from last week) will provide the same wonderful crunchy brightness to the recipe.
Dandelion— This jagged leaved crop is super nutritious. We chopped ours up with the summer crisp lettuce yesterday for a wonderful dinner salad with feta, olives, and red onion. It was wonderful. You can also cook it like you would collards or turnip greens, or you can roast it to reduce the bitterness and bring out the sugars.
Escarole—This european green is in the chicory family, like dandelion or endives. It has a stronger flavor, and is excellent grilled or roasted. A acidic dressing with plenty of lemon juice cuts through the bitterness and brightens up this flavorful green.
Cabbage—Each share got a different type to try, our smooth round ones, our savoy leaved (crinkly) and our conical cabbages. All tasty and perfect for a BBQ slaw. We also love to make a big pot of “stew” with potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and andouille sausage or kielbasa. This dish is perfect in a crock pot or a big dutch oven
Head Lettuce— Summer crisp. For the Large and regular shares. We’re so lucky we still have some quality lettuce for you after 3 weeks of intense heat! This really is delicious.

Veggie Storage tips:

Most everything will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags. Potatoes prefer room temperature. If stored in the dark, they will begin to sprout, but don’t give them too much light, either, or their skin will begin to green. 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