Share Notes – Nov 16, 2023
CSA Share Notes:
Leafy greens abound! We’re feeling so nourished in our house with all these vitamin-packed veggies. We’ve taken up the habit of having a side-salad with every dinner and that’s helping us enjoy all the greens before they spoil. The kids are trying new veggies too- both girls ate hakurei turnips last night – victory!
Remember we won’t be harvesting next week during the Thanksgiving holiday, but then we’ll pick right back up after that- hopefully with a box going out to the full hundred member CSA! This week, we’re sending boxes just to our DFW and Tyler members.
Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:
- Winter Squash! – I cannot adequately convey our delight that this harvest survived the frost. Only about 30% of our expected yield survived, but it means you all get to enjoy at least one acorn squash this season. If you want to make it into a meal, these are wonderful stuffed with sausage, celery, and mushrooms and topped with parmesan. They’re also heavenly sliced into thick rounds and roasted and topped with butter. Use a very sharp knife when cutting through the tough skin, and be extra careful as these babies are a bit tricky.
- Radish – Easter Egg for the large and regular shares, with their assortment of pink, red, purple, and white globes, all with a slightly different flavor. French Breakfast radishes for the Mini shares- an heirloom variety with long slender roots, pink with white tips. Pretty and tasty. This time of year radishes are usually quite mild, bordering on sweet. They’re great dipped in melted salted butter, on a slice of avocado toast, or if you’ve got some good Jewish Rye, make a salted butter and radish sandwich on Rye. You won’t be disappointed.
- Arugula – Just enough to share amongst the Large and Regular shares this week. This peppery green is fantastic in a fresh salad with nuts, fruit, and good cheese. I like pear-walnut-parmesan, or apple-pecan-chevre. Definitely toss in some sliced radishes!
- Spring Mix – Large and Mini shares received this crop. This is a flavorful and colorful array of Asian greens, mustards, mizuna, tatsoi, etc. It’s wonderful as a peppery salad, or great as a braised or sauteed green, too.
- Kale/collard – We’ve got gorgeous bunching greens this week. The kale is so good right now. Tender enough for a raw salad, for sure. We like to make really simple “massaged kale” salads with a bit of strawberry or fresh mango, red onion, and dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.Large shares received curly kale, and regular shares received Red Russian kale. Mini shares received collard, which is great in a pot of ham and peas, or you can sub it in for kale in any recipe that calls for it.
- Chard – This went only to the Regular shares this week. One of the prettiest crops there is. This variety is called Bright Lights. It’s closely related to spinach, so feel free to swap it in to a recipe that needs cooked spinach. Make a beef roast in your crock pot and toss in large-torn chard leaves for the last 30 min. to braise. It’s delicious. We also use ours in veggie egg scrambles, in quiches and frittatas, or sauteed and topped with parmesan and pine nuts.
Below are all the items we’re sharing with you today that were not grown by Red Moon Farm:
- Lettuce from Salt Marsh Farm, Saltillo, TX. Red and Green heads of crunchy, delicious lettuce, perfect for burgers and salads all week long. These are “Salanova” lettuces and they’re wonderful!
- Sweet Potatoes from Tony Philips, Grand Saline, TX. We’ve got the same wonderful sweet potato producer just a couple of miles from Red Moon Farm, Tony Phillips. He’s been in Sweet Potato cultivation for decades and uses no synthetic herbicides or pesticides. Additionally, he never uses post-harvest growth-inhibitors (endocrine disruptors) which you’ll find in regular grocery store tubers. They’re excellent quality and delicious.
Veggie Storage tips:
- Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
- Sever roots from their tops -this keeps the roots from turning rubbery- and either discard the greens or save for your braising pot or next batch of home-made stock.
- Leafy greens and bunched root crops want to be stored fairly dry and sealed up in a container/bag in the fridge.
- Sweet potatoes and winter squash should be stored at room temperature.
We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook, showing us how you’ve used your CSA share.
Your farmers, Jess & Justin
