Share Notes March 16, 2023
CSA Share Notes:
This week we are likely to get a frost here at Red Moon Farm. We’re quite cautious when it comes to our planting schedule. We know better than to put our summer crops out until past Easter, so the only crops we have in the ground right now are cold hearty and don’t mind a light frost. All the summer season crops are safe within our small heated greenhouse and we had the propane tank refilled this week to ensure we keep them safe and cozy all weekend long.
We do have to worry a bit about the orchard crops, though. Our blueberries, peaches, and strawberries have all flowered, tricked by our many warm days in January and February into an early flowering. While we can’t cover the peach trees, we can easily cover the strawberries, and we’ll do our best to cover the blueberries, in hopes for a harvest this summer. We’ve got our fingers crossed!
Now on to this week’s vegetable line up:
- Arugula — Perfect for a fresh salad with goat cheese, fresh strawberries, perhaps some local pecans, and a good balsamic and oil dressing.
- Lettuce — Bagged leaf lettuce mix, that includes 6 types of tender lettuce plus nutritious dandelion greens (an awesome boost for supporting liver health)
- Spinach — Only the large shares received this crop this week. It’s just coming on and should be in full swing in another few weeks.
- Swiss Chard — I love the rainbow colors of this crop, and the subsequent vitamin boost. These are excellent braised with chicken stock, onion, garlic, a bit of smoky ham or bacon, -and if you’re truly southern- plenty of tobasco sauce.
- Beet Thinnings — This crops of bunched greens is from a dense planting of beets- planted so to ensure a good stand. It needs to be thinned out from 3 or 4 plants per inch, down to 1 plant per 2 inches in order to allow nice large beets to grow. But lucky for us, taking the thinnings gives us a nutrient packed crop of tender beet greens. You might even have some baby beets beginning to form on some of yours, but there were only a few like that. This item would be wonderful added to your Swiss Chard, however you intend to cook that, or heavenly juiced or perhaps added to a good spring smoothie with banana and berries. We also enjoy ours chopped up into a morning veggie-egg-scramble.
- Bunched Arugula flowers — I’m so excited to give you this crop. These edible flowers are sweet and peppery and so delicious. Pop them off the stems to adorn a salad, or even to garnish a delicious steak if you’ve already entered grilling-mode.
- Hakurei Turnip — A wonderful crop we love introducing people to every year. This is an Asian salad turnip, and if you thought you didn’t like turnips, this is the turnip for you. It’s usually eaten fresh and crunchy, although it can be roasted like other root crops. A bit nutty, and sweeter than standard turnips, without the minerally-bite. We love them and eat them raw right out of the field this time of year. The greens are edible too. Excellent braised or sauteed.
- Radish — Everyone received a whole bunch of Easter Egg radishes, a mixture of the prettiest reds, pinks, and purples. Did you know the tops are also edible? They’re best when super tender in mild growing conditions- right now! You can braise or sauté them, or eat them fresh, mixed into a salad.
Veggie Storage tips:
Almost everything you received today will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags. Store Arugula flower stalks in a glass of water out of direct light, just like cut flowers, changing the water daily till you used them up. Remove roots from their tops. The leaves suck nutrients and moisture from the roots if they’re kept intact so store the greens separately, and this will keep the roots from getting rubbery. 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
