CSA Share Notes:

• Leaf lettuce—everyone got a lovely bag of tender lettuce, of all different colors and textures.
• Spinach— For the Regular shares this week. A bit sandy, so wash really well, but super tasty.
• Arugula—For the Mini shares this week. Super flavorful and delicious in a fresh salad.
• Broccoli— Large shares received a nice handful of broccoli heads. These would be excellent steamed and then used in your broccoli cheese casserole.
• Pac Choi— Same as Bok Choy, just a different spelling. This Chinese cabbage is so wonderful in a curry, stir fry, fried rice, or ramen soup.  We love Asian cuisine so it’s easy for us to find great ways of using up our pac choi. It can also substitute for English cabbage in a slaw or cabbage salad. I love a good pomegranate cabbage salad. I have modified this recipe to my liking or to what I have in my garden (I use mostly cabbage for greens rather than the suggested brussels sprouts) many times and may post my own version of it soon on the kitchen blog when we have more cabbage ready for you.
• Mixed Turnips— Large and Regular shares received a small sampling of our red turnips and our heirloom purple top turnips. Mini shares received a sampling of all three turnip varieties, Red, Purple Top and Hakurei.  Here’s how we prepare them:  cook 1 strip of cut up bacon until soft-chewy. Add in chopped turnip roots along with a handful of onion and couple of cloves of garlic. Cook until turnips are nearly soft, and then add the chopped turnip greens. add a half cup of chicken broth and red pepper flakes and cook until greens are as tender as you like, checking for doneness. Serve with cornbread for a real southern experience.
• Mixed Beets— Large shares received a small sampling of our red and golden beets.  After two more weeks of growth between now and our next harvest, we should have lots more ready. We like to roast our beets in the oven wrapped in foil, then top with a citrus maple reduction or glaze. They’re wonderful. The greens can be sauteed with a little butter and then dressed with the glaze as well.
• Persimmons—These are the very last of all the persimmons we grew this year, and they are petite, and most of them are blemished to varying degrees- some downright ugly! Don’t let it fool you though, the insides are as delicious as ever. Here’s what you do: let them sit upside down on the counter until their color deepens (a day or 3) to a nice orange and the greenish hue is gone. Then with a sharp knife, cut into wedges and slice off the peel.  You can put persimmons in a salad with toasted pecans, top your yogurt, cereal, or ice cream with them, oven roast them with other fruit for an incredible fall dessert or a topping for baked Brie. They’re such a treat.
• Bell Peppers— The last of the peppers! We harvested all we could after the temps dipped a bit below 32 out at the farm this week.
• Hot Peppers— Everyone received some jalapenos, then the large shares received poblanos, the mini shares received cayennes, and the regulars lots more jalapenos.
• Japanese Eggplant— The large shares received the very last of our eggplant crop.  They have a lot of unattractive brown scarring on them, but that peels off well with a veggie peeler and the insides are still great.
• Sweet Potatoes— use these in your sweet potato casserole next week!

Veggie Storage tips:

Eggplant and peppers will last longest in the fridge, with one note: I simply LOVE how my jalapenos when stored at room temperature begin to turn red after a while, and sometimes even dehydrate into the most lovely red chipotle peppers. So experiment with that if you like. They’re great in a pot of beans or chili. Sever all roots from their greens so they don’t get rubbery.  Store all greens, roots, and broccoli sealed up in bags in the fridge. Sweet potatoes prefer to stay at room temp. Persimmons should stay at room temp until ripe, then refrigerate on a shelf (not enclosed) until ready to use.  Everything will need a significant washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent faster 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

Large Share

Large Share:  (top row left to right) Pac Choi, leaf lettuce, broccoli, beets. (2nd row) Persimmons, bell peppers above jalapenos and poblanos, Japanese eggplant, and sweet potatoes across the bottom.

Regular Share

Regular share:(top row left to right) Pac Choi, spinach, leaf lettuce, broccoli, turnips. (2nd row) Persimmons, bell peppers loads of jalapenos, and sweet potatoes across the bottom.

Mini Share

Mini share:  (top row left to right) Pac Choi, arugula, leaf lettuce. (2nd row) Persimmons, bell peppers, jalapenos, cayenne peppers, and sweet potatoes across the bottom.