Share Notes Oct 27 & 29, 2022
CSA Share Notes:
Yay for cooler temperatures! As we mentioned in our previous email update, the first frost came a few weeks early and wiped out our summer crops, but of course this happens every year. It’s why we plant a huge array of crops for fall season so you’ll have plenty of other items once the frost knocks out the heat-loving crops. If we have a hundred eggplants and cucumbers to harvest this week your boxes would have been EPIC, but alas. We still managed to piece together a really good share.
Time means nothing this year: frost came super early. Broccoli and beets- typically ready in December- are ready now. Radishes, always ready by now, are still not ready. Nothing is “on time” so we’re totally thrown off, but we’re rolling with it, and grateful every day for how much our garden has been able to produce in very odd conditions. There’s a lot of food aaaalmost ready out there. We’re looking forward to the next few boxes!
Now on to your vegetable line up:
- Beets— We’re so excited about these beauties! 2 large beets for the Large shares, 2 small beets for the Regular shares. If you’re not familiar with beets, let me give you a tip: Don’t boil them! Scrub the root clean, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in foil to roast in a hot oven 400ish? for 45 min to 1 hr until tender when pierced with a fork. Then peel with the edge of a butter knife or a spoon (the peel comes off easily by gently scraping) and then chop up into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile wash and chop up the greens and sautee with onion and garlic on the stovetop. Lastly, toss in the chopped up roots, and a splash each of olive oil (or butter), maple syrup, and orange juice to form a light glaze. We love to garnish with a little orange zest. So tasty.
- Kale/Collard— For all the shares this week, Collards for the large shares, Lacinato for the regular shares, and Winterbor for the Mini. (A few large shares received Red Russian Kale, as we ran out of collards) 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. It’s excellent in soups this time of year. Italian kale and white bean soup is a favorite around here.
- Broccoli— Hip Hip Hooray! The very first broccoli harvest. It’s a small yield this first week but there is more coming. Enjoy!
- Pak Choi (or bok choy) — For the Regular shares. 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 — A few bulbs for everyone.
- 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!) As the potatoes are really small this year, we’ve loaded you down with quite a few. Hopefully it’s plenty for 2 meals for your share size (Mini for 1 person, Regular for 2-3 ppl. and Larges for 4+ ppl)
- Kohlrabi — 1 or 2 per share, based on bulb size. This funky 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. We’ll have a couple weeks without kohlrabi, then the next round will be mature for harvest.
- Arugula — We love a good arugula salad with parmesan, fruit like apples or dried cranberries, and walnuts, pine nuts, or pecans. For the mini and regular 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 the large shares only this week.
Veggie Storage tips:
All your various greens and roots will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags or other airtight containers. For best storage life, sever your beet roots from their greens and store seperately. This will help keep the roots from getting rubbery and the greens from going limp. 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
