Share Notes - Dec 30, 2021

Share Notes – Dec 30, 2021

CSA Share Notes:

The final week of the fall season!  We’re so pleased with this last harvest, and it’s landing right before a super intense cold front arrives that could wipe out a couple of the more sensitive crops. So this is right on time.

 

If you have not signed up for the next season, this concludes your membership with us. Thank you for being with us this Fall!

Winter registration is open, and Spring registration will launch soon, so if you want to sign up for a coming season, you still can. (Although heads up, Winter only has room for about 4 more members.)

Here’s this week’s super abundant vegetable line up:

  • Lettuce—1 for the mini, 2 for the regular, and 3 for the large. All beautiful varieties
  • Endive or Escarole — Escarole for the large and regular shares, Frisee Endive for the mini shares. These are super flavorful, bordering on bitter, European greens. These can be used in a salad, or can be used in place of spinach in a soup.
  • Green Garlic— Use them like green onions to top a dish with mild garlic flavor, or cook them into any dish that calls for garlic. They’re heavenly.
  • Cauliflower — The best cauliflower crop we’ve grown! And we’re so happy to share it with you. Excellent roasted.
  • Dandelion greens — for the regular and large shares. This is a super green! Very strongly flavored, but great in small doses in a salad or braised with lots of onion and garlic. This green is incredible for the liver and in many circles is considered a medicinal herb.
  • Broccoli — enough for everyone this week!
  • Beets—Mostly dark red and chioggia (bullseye type), and a few people received some golden beets.  The tops are edible too! Use them just like you would Swiss Chard.
  • Carrots— Sweet, colorful, crunchy.
  • Chard— everyone received a bunch of lovely, colorful chard. Use this in a fresh, massaged chard salad with bits of mango, apple, or dried fruit, or roast it until crispy, or sautee it with lots of garlic. We have a Swiss Chard and Butternut Squash Lasanga we really enjoy.
  • Turnips— Purple top for the Regular and large, and Scarlet Queen for the Mini. These are both fantastic turnips. I enjoy them simply cooked in butter. Try cooking a bit of onion and garlic in some bacon fat, butter, or olive oil, then add the chopped up roots and cook till softened. Salt, pepper, and if you like, vinegar or tabasco, and you’ve got a hearty side dish.  They also roast beautifully, especially in a winter root blend with carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, kohlrabi, etc., add in a few with some rosemary or thyme sprigs.

Veggie Storage tips:

Almost everything you received today will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags. Remove all the roots from their tops, and store the greens separately, and this will keep the roots from getting rubbery. The leaves suck nutrients and moisture from the roots if they’re kept intact. Keep sweet potatoes and winter squash at room temp. Everything will need a thorough 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

Regular Share-rows, left to right:  Escarole, purple top turnips, cauliflower, Swiss Chard, broccoli, (2nd row) dandelion greens, green garlic, beets, carrots, and 2 lettuces, a red oak leaf and a green bibb.

Large

Large Share-rows, left to right:  Escarole, purple top turnips, cauliflower, and broccoli, Swiss Chard, (and a column of lettuce down the right side of the image: red summer crisp, green bib, and red bibb)  (2nd row) dandelion greens, green garlic, beets, carrots.

Mini

Mini share-rows, left to right: Frisee Endive above scarlet queen turnips, beets, Swiss Chard, cauliflower above carrots, and broccoli above red summer crisp lettuce.