Share Notes Oct 13 & 15, 2022

Share Notes Oct 13 & 15, 2022

CSA Share Notes:

Whew, this fall drought is giving us plenty of opportunity for creative solution building (that’s me trying to put a positive spin on these terrible planting conditions!)  I mentioned before that our early plantings of spinach, carrots and beets burned up before they could get much of a start so we plowed them under and began another round for you, all of which has germinated and are doing great! The carrots might be too late now to mature in time for the fall CSA, but not to worry, you can catch them in the winter CSA if you join us for that season (registration opening soon on our new Barn2Door platform).  All the fall hearty greens and salad greens and quick roots like radishes and turnips are growing wonderfully and we’ll have lots more variety ready in another week or two.

Here’s your vegetable line up:

  • Kohlrabi — This funky bulbous crop is one of my fall favorites! It’s related to broccoli and kale. Read the link here to learn more about it and to learn how to make our kohlrabi slaw with poppyseed dressing. While this may be a new-to-you veggie, it’s become many of our CSA customer’s favorites. We have people calling us every year asking “are the kohlrabi ready yet?!” We hope you’ll really enjoy it.
  • Arugula — peppery and so delicious. We love a good arugula salad fixed up Greek style: kalamata olives, good feta, cucumber, peppers, tomato. Just for the Large shares this week.
  • Spring Mix — This mixture of Asian greens is fantastic in a flavorful salad or can work for braising too. The many textures and colors make it super visually appealing. For all the regular and mini shares this week.
  • Kale/Collard— For all the shares this week, Red Russian to the regular shares, Lacinato for the large shares, and collards greens for the mini. You can use collards in any recipe that calls for kale, and vice versa, although it’s a bit tougher than kale so I prefer it cooked over in any raw applications.
  • Cucumbers — Large shares this week. Crunchy and delish.
  • Pak Choi (or bok choy) — Plenty for everyone! This Chinese cabbage is fantastic in soups and stews, used in a slaw, tossed in a stir fry, a curry, or fried rice. It’s super versatile.
  • Garlic — This is some of the best garlic we’ve grown! Enjoy a few nice bulbs from this year’s harvest.
  • Sweet Potatoes — These lovely taters are grown right down the road by our friend and neighbor Tony Philips. He’s a fantastic sweet potato farmer, and while he’s not organic, he uses minimal inputs and never sprays the post-harvest potatoes with anti-sprouting hormones (Which are some of the worst endocrine disrupting and thyroid harming chemicals we could ingest on our food. Buying organic potatoes and sweet potatoes whenever you can helps you avoid this. Or if you know your farmer, you can ask if they use these nasty chemicals!)

Veggie Storage tips:

All your various greens as well as you cucumbers, peppers, and okra and will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags or other airtight containers. Onions, potatoes, and garlic prefer a dry, room temperature spot, out of direct light.  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 top left to right: Pak choi, Red Russian Kale, spring mix, green and red kohlrabi, garlic, and sweet potatoes

Large

 

 Large Share  top left to right: pak choi, Lacinato kale, arugula, cucumber, kohlrabis, garlic, and sweet potatoes.

Mini

 Mini share top left to right: pak choi, collards, spring mix, kohlrabi, sweet potato, and garlic.