Share Notes Sept 1 & 3, 2022
CSA Share Notes:
Welcome to you first CSA share of the fall season! Thank you so much for partnering with us this growing season. Each week of the harvest will look a little different, with the first few harvests largely resembling summer shares, as the cool weather crops have yet to mature. Then those hot season crops will phase out throughout October and November, leaving all the hearty and leafy cold crops. We’re talking loads of roots, bunches of nutritious leafy greens, salad greens, and more. But you’ll have to be patient! We hope to deliver every other week for the next 3 harvests, then hoping for weekly harvests all the way until Christmas. Hope you enjoy the season!
Here’s your vegetable line up:
- Basil — Treat your basil like fresh cut flowers, rather than a vegetable. Do NOT store it in the refrigerator or it will turn black. Just trim the stems and place in fresh water, changing the water daily. If they’re pretty wilted, you can first submerge it in a sink-full of cold water for a couple of hours to help it perk back up. If it doesn’t perk up?? Hang it to dry in a dark, well-ventilated area and you’ll have tasty dried basil to use this winter.
- Potaotes — A mixed bag of our many types of heirloom, delicious potatoes.
- Squash — A few for everyone. You’ll notice one of our varieties is half yellow, half green. That’s called Zephyr and we love it! Hope you enjoy it too. The mini’s also get to try Pattipan squash this week, the space-ship-like squash is perfect for slicing into star-shaped rounds and tossing on the grill.
- Zucchini — Enough for the large and regular shares this week.
- Onion — A couple for everyone, both red and yellow. These are reaching the end of their storage life, so we’ll give out quite a lot of them until we use them all up. You may notice a little black dusty mildew under the skin. It’s a specific onion mildew that is totally harmless and rinses off super easily. Don’t fret! Just peel off the outer layer and the rest of your onion will be delicious.
- Bell Peppers— Colorful and crisp, a few for the mini shares this week.
- Jalapenos— A nice handful for both the Large and Regular shares this week. Stuff with polenta, jam-spiked cream cheese, or grill, bacon wrapped.
- Okra— Large shares this week. This mix of lovely colors are our two heirloom varieties of okra. Similar to our eggplant tip below, this crop craves super high heat. Grill it, or roast in a hot oven. Eat them as soon as you can to make sure they’re fresh and tender. They don’t stay tender off the plant for more than 2 or 3 days so if you wait longer than that to enjoy them, some of the larger pods will be woody. Everything was very tender when picked and if eaten as fresh as possible will be tender for you.
- Eggplant— Large and Regular shares received Italian eggplant (either the Caliope heirloom or Black Beauty). Mini shares received a bit of our Japanese eggplant and our fairytale mini eggplants. All of these are excellent in anything Italian, or in a Thai curry, or as a side dish
- Cooking tip 1: If they’re super fresh off the plant, no need to sweat them. If they’re more than 3 or 4 days post harvest, they can start to get a little bitter, and sweating them removes bitterness. Cut them into the size you want to cook (cubes, slices, whatever) and toss with a little salt. Place in a colander to drain for 30 min-1 hour then pat them dry before cooking them.
- Cooking tip 2: use really high heat. Roast in a 400+ degree oven, use a grill, or sear in a smokin’ hot cast iron. You want to get a little char on them and just barely cook the insides. This will give you sweet, creamy eggplant, not mushy, chewy, or squeaky eggplant.
- Garlic— This is some of the best garlic we’ve grown! Enjoy a nice big share of this year’s harvest.
Veggie Storage tips:
All your eggplant, peppers, squash, zucchini, and okra and will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags or other airtight containers. Regarding basil, we’ve got a thorough run-down above on storing it properly, make sure you read that! 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
Just picked up our first ever share and it looks awesome! Thank you for being so organized and thorough with the whole process.