Share Notes Oct 24th, 2024

Share Notes Oct 24th, 2024

CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to Fall, y’all! We’ll really begin to see the harvest change with the season, as we had our first frost last week.  This means no more okra, squash, zucchini, eggplant, or hot peppers. The sweet peppers and basil survived really well because they are planted in our large greenhouse (yay!). So we’ll have those a tad longer.   The leafy greens, brassicas, and root crops are coming along just splendidly, but most of them are not quite ready yet. This week and possibly next week, the harvest might be a little bit lean now that most of the warm season crops are over as we await the next plantings to mature. .

 

Here’s your vegetable line-up:

  • Basil — Probably your final bunch. Time to make pesto to enjoy the harvest for longer! DO NOT REFRIGERATE your basil.   Store it bouquet style, in a glass of cool water on the counter. If yours is wilty, you may be able to refresh it submerged in a sink of cold water, let it soak for an hour. If it doesn’t revive, use it up soon, or simply hang it to dry.
  • Radish – Large and Regular shares received Easter Egg radishes, a colorful, delicious mix. Mini shares received French Breakfast radishes, an heirloom variety with long slender roots, which are pink with white tips.  This time of year radishes are usually quite mild. They’re great for snacking and in salads, on sandwiches, and my fave: on a thickly buttered and salted slice of sourdough.
  • Pac Choi – This beautiful Asian cabbage is excellent in a Thai yellow curry with potatoes and coconut milk. Comfort food at its’ best. Also great in a slaw, or a kimchee, ramen, or stir fry
  • Arugula – For the 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!
  • Spinach – Large shares this week. Vibrant, and full of vitamins. I like mine cooked in soups and stews or sauteed into my morning veggie egg scramble.
  • Kale/collard – We’ve got gorgeous bunching greens this week. Large shares received both Red Russian and Lacinato kale. Regular shares received Winterbor, and Mini shares received collard greens. We like to make really simple “massaged kale” salads with a bit of fresh mango, red onion, and dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. We’ve also gotten into the habit of tossing a big handful of chopped leafy greens onto just about every dinner meal, making it so easy to incorporate more leafy greens into our diet. This method of simply adding a handful works great on a chili, soup, taco salad or burrito bowl, pot of ham and peas, etc. Not getting through all your kale/collards fast enough?  They freeze WONDERFULLY. Simply rough-chop and toss in a gallon ziploc and freeze. We use them up all year this way.
  • Bell Peppers — Everyone is receiving just a couple of bell peppers. They slowed down a lot after the frost!
  • Italian Peppers — A few for everyone. These long, slender peppers are so delicious, with no hint of spice. They’re great for fresh-eating, using with dips, making rings for homemade pizza, or cutting into long strips for a batch of fajitas.
  • Tony Philips Sweet Potatoes — Our friend and neighbor Tony Philips grows the regions best sweet potatoes, just a couple of miles from Red Moon Farm. These are fantastic, sweet, with a long storage life. Enjoy them on the regular. You’ll get lots more throughout the fall!
    • A few notes about Tony’s Practices: He is not aiming to be organic, so some years the above-ground parts of the plants have non-organic products used on them, however, the roots never have anything applied to them.
    • Usual standard practice in commercial sweet potato production is to use sprout-inhibitors on the crop post-harvest, and these chemical compounds are known to be extremely harmful to the thyroid and other hormonal systems in the human body.** (It’s why, when we can’t get them from a local grower and have to rely on a grocery store some parts of the year, our family chooses to only buy organic root crops) Well, Lucky us: Tony Philips never, ever uses sprout-inhibitors. His potatoes simply get a clean water bath to rinse the ETX sand off of them, so we eat them with confidence.

Veggie Storage tips:

  • Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
  • Basil must not be stored in the fridge. Keep it in a glass of water in a cool place, and out of direct light.
  • Peppers, okra, and all the leafy greens and roots all want to be in your fridge. Seal them up in a bag or container to retain moisture for longest storage life.

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

 

Regular Share

 

 

Regular Share top left to right: Curly kale, bell peppers, arugula, basil. (2nd row) Pac choi, Italian peppers, radishes, and Sweet potatoes across the bottom.

Large Share

Large Share top left to right: Lacinato kale, Red Russian kale, pac choi, basil. (2nd row) spinach, bell peppers, Italian peppers, radishes, and Sweet potatoes across the bottom

Mini Share

 

 

Mini Share top left to right: collards, bell peppers, pac choi, basil. (2nd row) radishes, Italian peppers, and Sweet potatoes.