Lots of beautiful produce this week.  We are getting into the swing of it now and some of the really fun crops of the season are rolling in.  Chris French is harvesting his first batch of multi colored beets and Michael Borek is harvesting his big annual corn crop.  These two already sweet crops will be even sweeter this week with the cold snap we just got.  Cold weather makes plants store more simple sugars in their cells which makes them taste sweeter (read more here).  Chill in the air is also super beneficial for farmers themselves because it relieves some physical strain while working out in the fields and it slows down many pests which in turn lessens the work load for the farmers.  It's a win win win!

In the shares this week:

Beets are a storage crop, which means they keep fresh for a long time (months even) in the fridge.  You'll be getting beets with tops attached so make sure to cut off the tops and store them separately if you will be leaving them in the fridge for more than a couple of days.  When root veggies keep their leaves attached for a long time the leaves act as if they are still planted and growing and they continue to "drink" water from the roots, causing them to get soft and shriveled.  Did you know that beets are related to chard?  If you look closely, beet tops and chard are almost identical.  They can be eaten the same way too.  Getting bunched beets is like getting two veggies at the same time!   Save your beet tops and cook them up.

Michael Borek sent me this picture on Monday along with a big announcement that he is harvesting his corn this week.  Very exciting news because fresh sweet corn is rare in these parts.  Michael harvests corn only once or twice per year and his crop has been beautiful the past few years.  We are really excited to be able to share it with you!  I suppose you all have plenty of ideas of what to do with this treasure.  Instead of sending a recipe link, maybe this time I'll ask you to share how you eat this corn with us.  Send us photos or recipes by email or tag us on instagram.

Pac choi is a variety of bok choi that is set apart by it's extra large and crisp white petioles.  What are petioles?  The petiole is the part of the plant that attaches the leaf to the base or stem of the plant.  Usually people cut the petiole or "stalk" off of large leafy greens, but when it comes to bok choi the petiole is one of the yummiest parts.  The bok choi plant is harvested whole at the base and the whole plant is consumed, stalks leaves and even the core.  In fact, it is commonly prepared by cutting it into wedges lengthwise so that part of the leaves stay attached to a section of the core.  You'd start by cutting it in half as shown in the picture above, then cut each half in half and each of those quarters in half.  This youtube video is actually pretty great at showing how to make the most basic, but probably the best recipe for sauteed "Chinese style" pac choi. 

This will be your first time getting Salanova this season.  Salanova is a very unique type of lettuce that recently revolutionized the salad mix farm scene.  Salanova lettuces (there are a bunch of different varieites within the Salanova umbrella, including green butterhead, red butterhead, green oakleaf, red oakleaf, etc...) are unique because they don't grow full sized leaves, instead they grow really compact heads of small leaves.  Instead of growing true baby lettuce leaves for salad mix, a farmer can grow Salanova to full maturity, harvest the whole head of lettuce and get perfectly sized "baby" leaves for salad mix.  Not only is it "easier", but because the leaves of Salanova are more mature they are sturdier and less delicate than true baby lettuce leaves which tend to go bad much faster.  Salanova leaves are soft and tender, but don't go bad as fast.  See the magic?!!!  Anyway... We also want to rant about the new salad bags that Chris started using this season.  Have you noticed them?  They are super cool because they are sturdy enough to keep the greens from bruising, they are perforated for perfect moisture control, they have handles for convenient carrying and best of all, they are easily REUSABLE!!!  We can't take them back from you to use later, but you can clean them out and resuse them.  If you pick up at Legion Park, bring your cleaned out bag to the farmers market to refill them yourself!  We'll have loose salad mix on hand for you to refill your bag.  Very exciting news right?  Now let's see how many people actually do it...

CSA members will be getting either kohlrabi or Hakurei salad turnips this week.  Kohlrabi is in the cole family, a family of veggies which includes cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and broccoli; Can start to get a sense for it's flavor profile?  This odd veg is pretty popular in other cultures, mostly European.  It's an old world vegetable, like turnips.  The part you eat is the stem; in the case of the kholrabi the stem swells into a round ball with leaves sticking out in every direction.  The inside of the stem is like a glorified broccoli stem, much sweeter and tender than broccoli stem, think juicy and crisp as an apple, but with a broccoli taste.  Anyhow, after peeling the round stem you can simply eat it raw in salads, or cut it into sticks for a crudite.  There are some cooked kohlrabi recipe out there so feel free to google around and try something warm too.  Keep in mind that the leaves of your kohlrabi are also edible and can be used pretty much like kale.  Another 2 for 1 like bunched beets ;)

ENJOY!