Welcome to week 9 of the CSA!  We hope you're enjoying your veggies at the peak of the growing season. 

Grove Pick-up small:
starfruit
lettuce
kale
cabbage
carrots
dandelion greens
cherry tomatoes

Grove Pick-up large:
starfruit
lettuce
kale
tatsoi
carrots
dandelion greens
cherry tomatoes
baby arugula
lemongrass


Upper East Side Pick-up large:
starfruit
lettuce
kale
tatsoi
carrots
dandelion greens
cherry tomatoes
baby arugula
lemongrass

Upper East Side Pick-up small:
starfruit
lettuce
kale
cabbage
carrots
dandelion greens
cherry tomatoes

Rainbow Kale is one of the varieties of kale we love most.  It's a hardy plant that produces beautiful medium to large leaves for bunching.  This week you'll be receiving either Rainbow or Lacionato kale aka Dino kale.  We include this crop in the shares often because we know it's a staple in home cooking plus it's a super food full of nutrients, vitamins and fiber.

French Farms continues to impress us with the lettuces they are producing.  The variety pictured here is called Natasha and it's literally the size of my hat!  So beautiful it's hard not to want a fresh salad right away. 

Carrots are in season!  We'll be including them in the shares as often as possible before the weather warms up too much and it becomes impossible to continue growing them.  Carrots, like most root veggies, taste much better when the weather is mild or chilly.  The colder it is the sweeter the carrots.  If you ever have a chance to pull a carrot out of the ground in the snow, do it!  That will be the sweetest carrot you'll ever eat.  When you get your share home, cut the tops off your carrots and store the roots in a fridge drawer.  The tops can be used for pesto or soup stock, but if you're short on time this week, they make a great addition to the compost pile ;) 

Starfruit is a local treasure.  These fruit trees are common in urban South Florida yards as well as in small farms in agricultural areas.  It was featured in Tiffany's book, Forager which came out last year and is now itself a local treasure.  Starfruit are sweet and tangy, very juicy and so cool because they are shaped like stars.  Kids love them.  They make great garnishes for drinks.  Add star shaped slices to your green salads or fruit salads.  Enjoy!

Savoy Cabbage in the shares this week are coming from French Farms.  They are just like a regular green cabbage except for their texture, which is ruffled.  The term savoy refers to it's texture.  In the future when you come across another plant or vegetable that includes the word savoy in it's name, you'll find that it has a similar texture.  Cabbage lasts a very long time in the fridge if you keep it in a drawer or a bag.  It's crunchy and refreshing flavor is good raw in either a salad or a slaw, but it's good stir fried or roasted.  Try pairing it with curry powder and butter for a quick stir fried side dish.  Also worth while is a recipe I used a lot last season for a roasted cabbage wedge salad.  Here's what you do: quarter the head of cabbage, rub with a little oil and roast the pieces until they are tender and toasty on the outside.  Serve warm, drizzled with vinaigrette (olive oil, sherry vinegar, dijon mustard, salt) and freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese.  So easy and so comforting.  Try it!

Last but not least we'd like to talk about Dandelion Greens.  Although dandelion is common as a wild foraged weed, it is also cultivated in farms.  The cultivated varieties are a tad more tender and less bitter although be prepared for a bitter taste.  They are super nutritious, almost to the point of being medicinal.  We recommend you do your own research about this crop because there is so much interesting information about it on the internet.