French Farms

We hope everyone had a great holiday season. Special shout out to New Years! Happy 2015!

We are so lucky to start the year with a farm full of veggies. Thank you for being a part of this project, we couldn’t do it without each of our CSA members.

Week 7 of the shares includes some great things, like the first carrots of the season and our signature three colored bush beans. We’re also harvesting beautiful fennel and kohlrabi for you this week, both of which are pretty unique veggies. The lettuce and cilantro in the shares come from our friend Chris at French Farms in Redland. He’s working hard and doing a great job producing top quality produce almost exclusively for our CSA.

You’re probably used to making salads with lettuce, but frisee might be a new thing for some. Frisee is in the endive family which also includes lettuce, but endives are more bitter. Of all the endives, we like to grow frisee in particular because of its super curly texture. Mix half lettuce half frisee for a light and fluffy salad that holds dressing really well. To cut the bitterness try a sweet dressing like honey mustard or raspberry vinaigrette.

Carrots at French Farms

  Fennel

There are a lot of good roasting veggies in the share this week, which is perfect because we should be getting a little cold front soon; what's better on a cold day than lighting the oven? Rather than cutting up veggies into small squares I like to keep them as whole as possible to reduce prep time, but also for aesthetic reasons. Carrots and fennel can be halved or quartered and beans can be roasted whole. They can all go in the oven in a big baking dish together, coated with a little oil (try sesame oil for a change of scenery), salt and pepper to taste. Roast until the carrots are tender.

Burgundy Bush Beans

Here’s an idea for a rainbow slaw. Grate carrots, radishes and kohlrabi (it works without the kohlrabi too) and dress with olive oil, vinegar and salt to taste. Done. It’s a beautiful, fresh and crunchy side dish.

 Enjoy the harvest this first week of the year.