CSA Week Three
Hopefully you saw our email on Monday announcing the farm open house on Sunday December 11th. We're particularly excited to share the farm with our CSA members so we really really hope you can join us! Bring kids, invite friends, pack a picnic or drinks and come sit on the lawn near the veggie fields. We'll both be there all day to give farm tours and chat about plants and growing food. Check out our recent blog post about it for more details.
Week two of the CSA was a bit on the small side, partly by chance, but also to give you a chance to catch up on Thanksgiving leftovers. This week we're putting together a bulkier share to make up for it!
You'll be seeing some repeats this week. Repeating the same crop is actually pretty common in a CSA that's growing food on a farm specifically for it's members because some plant varieties keep fruiting for a long period of time. For example, cucumber and summer squash plants are planted in large quantities in order to have the volume necessary to harvest enough for everyone, but they don't just make cucumbers and squash for one week, in fact they are harvested almost every two days for a matter of weeks if the weather is right (which it has been). We try to change things up for you, but we're pretty confident there are some items you don't mind repeating! This week you'll be seeing those awesome little cucumbers grown by French Farms as well as our home grown spicy salad mix.
Our salad mix is usually composed of arugula, mizuna and mustard. This week it will likely also include baby red choi. You'll notice that the leaf size of our salad mix is a bit on the large side and that's not entirely intentional, but also not entirely terrible. These greens grow so fast, especially when the weather is great, that it becomes very tricky to get them just the right size. When they get big like you've seen them, they either need to be chopped up for a salad or you can embrace the large leaves and make your salads wild and natural looking. A few years back chef Bradley Heron from Michael's Genuine Food & Drink was part of a video project at our farm called The Fare Field; he prepared a kale salad and left the leaves large and whole, explaining that he often chooses to leave vegetables whole so that the person eating it can connect with where the vegetable came from and how fresh it is. Check out the video for general cooking inspiration and to see what the farm looked like 3 years ago!
Small Shares:
Salad greens from our fields
Tat soi from Verde Farm
Acorn squash from C&B Farm
Yellow and green bush beans from Verde Farm
Kohlrabi from our fields
Cucumbers from French Farms
Ginger from LNB Groves
Citrus yet to be selected!
Large Shares:
Salad greens from our fields
Tat soi from Verde Farm
Acorn squash from C&B Farm
Yellow and green bush beans from Verde Farm
Kohlrabi from our fields
Cucumbers from French Farms
Ginger from LNB Groves
Citrus yet to be selected!
Pea shoots from our fields
Mizuna from our fields
Cubanelle peppers from C&B Farm
Extra cucumbers from French Farms
When you get your share home consider preparing the leafy greens, the tat soi and the pea shoots soon. Peppers, cucumbers, ginger and acorn squash will keep for a while in the fridge; acorn squash can stay out of the fridge and will keep for about a month. Citrus will also keep outside of the fridge, but just about a week. The kohlrabi is sort of the wild card this week because most people are not familiar with this veg. It is related to the kale family so the leaves can be eaten much like collard greens or kale, but they are a bit tougher so it's usually best to cook them. The bulb is the best part; you need to peel it to reveal the crispy white interior which can be eaten raw in salads, made into spears for dipping or cooked in many different ways as suggested in this recipe blog. We love growing kohlrabi so it's likely you'll see it again this season.