Welcome to week two of your CSA share! As you can see, there are plenty of amazing things included in everyone’s box this week, and we are particularly excited about featuring Roselle and Yucca.

Roselle, also known as Cranberry Hibiscus or Jamaican Sorrel, is a beautiful, red colored annual shrub that grows exceptionally well in South Florida’s humid weather. Roselle is planted in the late Spring and allowed to grow big and bushy over the Summer.  In the Fall it begins to bloom big beautiful hibiscus flowers, which later develop a fleshy calyx, which is a red seed covering protecting its seedpod. These are peeled off of the seed pod and can be used fresh (as pictured above) or dried for teas and toppings. With the holidays upon us, we have included a recipe for Jamaican Christmas Sorrel Punch, a traditional drink that may add a twist to your holiday menu.

In a large crock, combine the roselle petals, cinnamon stick, orange peel, cloves, allspice and sugar.  Pour boiling water on top, cover, steep at room temp for 2-3 days.

Strain the liquid add the rum. Cover and refrigerate for another 2 days. Serve over crushed ice in pre-chilled glasses. Garnish with cloves and orange peel.

Yuca, also known as cassava, is another delicious shrub. But unlike Roselle, the root is what is being consumed. These roots have a similar taste and texture to potatoes, with an even better carbohydrate content, giving the consumer a burst of energy. They are more commonly grown in tropical and subtropical climates because of their heat tolerance, and can be used to substitute the potato in almost any dish. Below we have listed Miami’s favorite way to consume yuca root, enjoy!

In a large pot, cover yuca with lightly-salted water by about two inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook uncovered.

Cook until yuca becomes tender, but NOT mushy - about 15-20 minutes. Remove yuca and drain thoroughly. Let cool.

Important: Remove the "woody" or fibrous core from the center of the yuca.

Cut the yuca in thick slices or strips - like a french fry. The easiest way to do this is to cut each half of the yuca into halves, then quarters, and so on - until you get the size you want.

Heat the oil to 320 degrees F. Drop the yuca fries in the oil in small batches and let cook for just a minute or two.

Remove each batch to a paper towel to drain off excess oil.

Complete the frying process by turning up the flame on the oil until it reaches a temperature of 375 degrees F.

Use this hotter oil to crisp up and fully brown the yuca fries in small batches. Two to three minutes frying at most!

When they are golden brown, you need to retrieve them from the hot oil immediately, set the fries aside to drain while you cook the remaining batches.

Season to taste with salt.

October is when our growing season really picks up speed.  We began planting at the nursery in September, focusing on crops that are good for transplanting like tomatoes, kale, fennel and frisee, all of which have already been transplanted and are growing strong.  In October we've started direct seeding crops like arugula, bush beans and carrots right into the soil.  Almost every space at the farm is planted so now it's a matter of weeding them while they are small and making sure they are well irrigated.  We are thankful for the consistent rain lately which has helped all of our crops become well established. 

It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes on the farm this time of year.  The cover crops were tall and green when we mowed them down and they quickly turned golden as they dried on the surface of the soil.  Just as the weeds threatened to take over, turning the field into a green carpet, we hoed it all up and turned the field into a brown canvas.  Little green plants were neatly transplanted one after each other and seeds were sown into long straight rows.  Slowly they are growing and drawing green patterns on the brown canvas. 

Soon we'll be harvesting bunches of greens, colorful radishes and crates of purple yellow and green beans.  This is my absolute favorite time of year!

Join us for our annual
Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale
The first event at our new nursery in Little Haiti
115 ne 76th street Miami FL 33138
Saturday and Sunday October 11th and 12th
10am-3pm

Just a couple of weeks ago we started over 1,000 heirloom tomato seeds, not to mention hundreds of peppers, eggplants and other transplanting veggies like rainbow kale, scarlet frills mustard and new zealand spinach.  We've also been stocking up on unique things like Florida friendly strawberries, red veined french sorrel and a bunch of edible perennials including moringa, miami spinach and lemongrass. 

Our plants are sold in biodegradable peat pots, which is awesome not only because we're not using plastic, but also because you can plant them right in the ground without disturbing plant roots, ensuring a more successful transplant.  We're using our tried and true recipe of homemade compost, peat, perlite and organic kelp meal for potting mix and feeding seedlings daily with organic fish emulsion to produce robust plants that will hit the ground running!  We'll be accepting cash, check or square payments.  All peat pots are $4 each or buy 5 get one free!  Some plants, especially perennials and herbs, are in 5" pots and prices vary.

Here's a list of plant varieties you will be able to choose from (some varieties are only available in small quantities, first come first serve):

Heirloom tomatoes:
Cherries:
Sungold
Yellow Pear
Black Cherry
Blueberries

Medium:
Green Zebra
Garden Peach
Costoluto Genovese
Black Prince
Amish Red
Red Zebra
Black Seaman
Amber Colored

Large:
Arkansa Marvel
Homestead 24
Atkinson
Chocolate Stripes
Mortgage Lifter
Gold Medal
Black Krim
Anahu

Paste/Sauce:
Jersey Devil
Amish Paste
Purple Russian

Peppers:
Hot:
Cayenne Long Red
Purple Jalapeno
Serrano

Sweet:
Shishito
Cupid
Pepperoncini

Eggplants:
Listada de Gancia
Black Beauty
Prosperosa
Cambodian Green Giant

Greens:
Rainbow Kale
Tronchuda Kale
Lacinato Kale
Southern Collards
Mustards
Frisee Endive
Arugula
Swiss Chard
Perpetual Spinach
Mizuna Mustard
Red Veined Sorrel
Green Sorrel
Lettuces
Dandelion
Broccoli Raab
Pei Tsai
Hon Tsai Tai

 Other Veggies:

Okra
Fennel
Cucumber
Patty Pan Squash
Zuchinni

Herbs:
Lemongrass
Oregano
Cuban Oregano
Citrus Basil
Corsican purple basil
Parsley
Mint
Papalo
Nasturtiums
Calendula
Spilanthes

Specialty Stuff:
Albion Strawberries
Chandler Strawberries
Pineapples
Lima Beans
Hyacinth Beans
Winged Beans
Pea Vine aka Butterfly Pea
Cranberry Hibiscus
Moringa
Surinam Spinach
Malabar Spinach
Ginger
Galangal
Turmeric
Gotu Kola
Sweet Potato
Boniato
Loofah
Papaya
 

Please remember that the sale is not at the Little River Garden like it has been the past 4 years.

It's all happening at our new nursery, located at 115 NE 76th Street in Little Haiti!

It's been about a month since we sent out our last newsletter sharing our brand new website and officially opening up CSA sign-ups.  Since then we've made progress with the CSA and we've gotten a lot of internet press, but we've also been busting our butts getting the nursery up and running.  On a day to day basis it feels like we are working so hard during the hottest part of the summer and barely making headway, but when we sit down to reflect and write about what we've accomplished in the past month we feel like champions.

The site of our new nursery was generously provided by Earth 'N' Us Farm and sits in the middle of Little Haiti, not far from the Little River.  It is small slice of earth bordered by residential backyards which was previously used as a community garden by neighbors, although it had been left to the weeds for over a year.  It was a crazy overgrown jungle when we arrived with machetes and hoes.  In one intense week we fought an array of invasive plants, some aggressive natives and a towering clump of plantains.  It was one of the hardest weeks of the year for us, but we worked happily, inspired by our vision of the perfect nursery.  We pinned down weed block fabric over an area roughly 20' by 30' for our shade structure and cover cropped the rest with a sunn hemp and buckwheat mix. 

Just last week we finally put up the structure and built our tables underneath.  We even started an inaugural set of seed trays.  Next on the agenda is a pimp irrigation system featuring misters, sprinklers, timers and different watering zones!   Our seed order for the Fall is almost finished and by next week we should be starting things like peppers, eggplants and tomatoes for our first seedling sale in October.  It's such a nice space and we can't wait to have people over for seedling sales and workshops!

Stay tuned for more updates about our progress and seedling sale dates by joining our mailing list. 

Our favorite free fruit of the year is finally in season, and its dripping like jewels off of giant trees on every street corner. Miami has so many different varieties its so fun to explore all the exotic types at neighbors and friends houses, and to trade our yard variety for others. This weekend we made an amazing salsa out of 6 different varieties mixed with red onions, cilantro and pigeon pea, and used it to top a grilled fish taco! Make sure you take as much advantage as you can of the mango bounty, but be careful as its sap is a common allergen and can irritate the skin.

We are currently looking for apprentices for the Fall-Winter growing season. Every year we welcome one or two full season apprentices onto the farm, to help 2-3 days per week with everything from propagation to harvesting. Its a great way to learn about urban farming, self sustainability, grass roots small businesses, and subtropical permaculture principles. If you are interested send us an email with a little background info about yourself, relevant work experience and what motivates you to learn about growing food on a small organic and urban scale.