Summer's Bounty!

A head of a fresh cabbage – this variety is called Early Green.  Nice compact heads full of taste.  If you don’t want to use it all at once – they store really well if you cut them in half and store the unused half wrapped in plastic in your crisper [...]]]>

In this week’s share:

Summer's Bounty!

A head of a fresh cabbage – this variety is called Early Green.  Nice compact heads full of taste.  If you don’t want to use it all at once – they store really well if you cut them in half and store the unused half wrapped in plastic in your crisper drawer.
Onions – so, this summer the risk/reward of the CSA has mostly been all reward…  well – for some reason the onions we planted this year have pretty much just stared at us.  no matter how much we talk nicely to them (or threaten removal) they have just kinda sat there.  So – not huge…  but tasty!  These are a classic Spanish yellow.
Green Bell Peppers – this is are the variety Ace.  A very classic green pepper – there’s a few of them in here… don’t confuse them with the other green pepper!

Kale – a leafy veggie that some people think is too tough to use (nonsense!).  The reality is kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard.  You can saute it with garlic and olive oil (say “EVOO” with a nasal sound to it) as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat .  It is truly a vitamin-rich green so give it a try.  It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while.  One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found HERE.  Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!
Lettuce – this is a bibb lettuce – Buttercrunch to be true to the variety.  Very good for the classic summer BLT or a salad!
Cucumber – fresh and burpless.  Really.  Did you know that some people really do get the burps from cukes because of an enzyme in the skin?  This cultivar was bred to NOT have the enzyme in the skin.  If you are worried – you can still peel it – but you don’t have to!
Yellow Squash – this lone summer squash is all that has been producing in the field following the really high heat over the last week or so.  The fact is most plants need a certain range of temperatures to produce flowers, be pollinated and set fruits.  The other summer squash plants have not been reproducing too well with these higher temps…  the good news is – they are back at it now that things have cooled off!
Tomatoes – cherry tomatoes and regular (New Girl, Big Boy and Taxi)  The cherry tomatoes are the variety BHN or Super Sweet 100 – we think you can tell them apart – find the really sweet ones – those are the Super Sweet!  As for the bigger tomatoes – how do you tell them apart?  Well – contrary to what you have learned about telling boys and girls apart…  the New Girl hybrids have a small “point” on the bottom of the fruit and the Big Boy hybrid has a perfectly smooth and round bottom.  You might even notice the colors are a little different if you have two of them next to each other.  The Big Boy is new in the share this week because they take a little longer to mature (boy and gil jokes go here).  Taxi – that’s the yellow one.  A little less acidic of a tomato.
Cilantro – this is the smelly, leafy stuff.  (If you are like Andy, who wrote this post, you have the genetics that makes this the most foul green on the planet so don’t feel bad if there’s something in this share you want to throw away – learn why some folks just can’t stand the stuff here)
Hot Peppers – Ancho’s are the short and squat, dark green guys with a gradual taper to the end.  They are mild and hot – a certain south of the border flair added to your food. The Anaheim pepper is the longer skinny one – they are usually a little more mild than the Ancho pepper but have less complexity in their taste.

So what can you do this week with all these veggies?
-Our featured recipe this week: Marinated Fresh Cabbage Slaw.  Even if you think you aren’t a fan of cabbage – try this!  A sweet and sour mixture that is great to bring to summer picnics too!

-Use your freshly picked lettuce and tomatoes to make BLT’s! Yum! (get some local grass fed bacon and real mayo to really make this a summer treat!)

-Obviously, you have the makings of great salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers.  Go crazy and add some farm fresh free range hard boiled eggs too!

-Kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard.  You can saute it with garlic and oil as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat .  It is truly avitamin-rich green so give it a try.  It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while.  One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found on epicurious.com.  Check out the link to that simple recipe HERE.  Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!

-And finally – consider using your tomatoes, hot peppers and cilantro to make a batch of salsa!  Nothing compares to freshly made salsa.  Find your favorite recipe online or in your cookbooks and tell us how it turns out on Facebook.

This week’s share contains a bunch of the mid-summer bounty.  In here you will find:

Although this might be giving away a little bit of future CSA shares – that’s OK.  Last fall, before we had fully decided on going the CSA route this year for produce production, we decided to make our garlic plantings smaller than in the past – but to try several [...]]]>

Fresh picked garlic starting to dry

Although this might be giving away a little bit of future CSA shares – that’s OK.  Last fall, before we had fully decided on going the CSA route this year for produce production, we decided to make our garlic plantings smaller than in the past – but to try several new varieties.  We ended up with 5 different ones  and the very first – NY White – came out of the ground Sunday.

It’s not THAT exciting to many people – but to us it’s a clear indication that the season is well underway and it’s time to start thinking about fall crops already.  Sure, we have plenty of hot days ahead (yea – the hotter and more humid it is – the happier Andy is) but it still means we are somewhere around the half way mark for the summer growing season.  And that means more seeds to be started for yummy cool weather crops.

Once we get all the garlic pulled we will make a decision on which ones we like the best…  which is painful the first year…  because that means less in the root cellar because the cloves that just came out of the ground this year are what we plant in October to become the full bulbs of next summer.

With that thought – here’s a great sustainability tip:  One of the coolest things with garlic though, for anyone growing it…  it’s really one of the most sustainable vegetables you can grow.  From a single clove you get a bulb of many cloves after one year…  from that bulb you get many bulbs – and it can all be raised from that single clove you started with – year after year.  It takes very little maintenance in the garden (weeding is about all) and it’s a staple spice for all sorts of great dishes.  Even better – it stores well and is easy to dry and turn into your very own powder.  Go garlic!

What’s in the box this week?

Let’s start with the obvious in the upper left corner of the picture.  That would be a field grown – fresh – just picked ripe red tomato!  The variety is New Girl and it’s the earliest tomato we grew this year.  Now don’t think this is it [...]]]>

What’s in the box this week?

Let’s start with the obvious in the upper left corner of the picture.  That would be a field grown – fresh – just picked ripe red tomato!  The variety is New Girl and it’s the earliest tomato we grew this year.  Now don’t think this is it – with over 60 plants in the ground this is the proverbial tip of the iceberg in both quantity and taste.  That said – savor an enjoy!

On to the summer squash (very much the tip of the iceberg).  We have three different varieties in this box – 4 different in the ground.  The all yellow one is called Yellow Dixie.  The Yellow one with the green tip is Zephyr. And the green variety with ridges is an heirloom called Costa Romanesco.  Each one has a slightly different taste.  So far we have been VERY impressed with the Costa Romanesco’s flavor and texture.

Nestled in the box you will find another hottish Hungarian Wax Pepper (long and yellowish) but there’s also a couple fresh picked green bell peppers in there as well.  Much like the fresh tomato – you can’t match the flavor here with something that travels across the country!

There are some of the last radishes for a while – the heat has basically ended that run.  Enjoy them – but don’t worry – they will be back before you know it as days are getting shorter!

Then there’s the lettuce.  Three varieties this week with different tastes and textures.  A red leaf, a fancy green leaf and romaine (the big flat leaves).  For a special treat – make yourself some homemade green goddess dressing using some of the parsley plant you got in the first share, mix the greens together and live the good life!

So what’s in the share box this week?

This share offers some freshly grown spinach.  The ziploc bag contains a mix of several varieties of spinach that were planted at our CSA planting party in May.  [...]]]>

With two pre-season deliveries out of the way it’s time for the CSA season to officially get underway.  Here’s what to expect in your first official share:

This share offers some freshly grown spinach.  The ziploc bag contains a mix of several varieties of spinach that were planted at our CSA planting party in May.  Thanks to Hannah, Joseph and Tavi for getting these spinach plants going!  Please rinse and dry the plastic bag and return it with your box next week.  You can make a fresh spinach salad, steam it and serve with balsamic vinegar or sautee it with garlic and olive oil (if you want to be “food” naughty – make a fresh bacon dressing like Andy likes).

There’s a few more of the Champion radishes hidden in the box.  If you think you aren’t a radish person, give them a chance by trying something other than just munching on them fresh with salt – that can often be too much bite for the average person.  Try out the radish sandwiches mentioned in last week’s post or try sautéing them or putting them thinly sliced in a salad.   Radishes are a good source of vitamin C and so are their greens which you can also sauté.

You will find two different types of peas: larger flatter snow peas and thicker sugar snap peas.  As you know from last week’s share, snap peas are excellent to snack on fresh.  You will see that our recipe this week is simple: a sour cream and chives dip for the snap peas!  So to make sure you can try that if you want, in another small plastic bag, you will find some chives to make the dip for your peas.  Last week, one of our CSA members reported that she made this recipe with the snap peas only and the whole family loved it! (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Green-Peas-and-Sugar-Snap-Peas-in-Sesame-Dressing-109708.  ) Try it out yourself and share your recipes with us on our Facebook page.

The snow peas (flatter ones) can also be eaten fresh but they are excellent sautéed or blanched (1 minute in boiling water and then immediately cooled in ice water).

The last item in this weeks share was new to us this year – so this is all of it.  It’s and Asian green called bok choy.  It’s the green leaves with the white stems.  Consider sautéing together the snow peas and the bok choy with olive oil / sesame oil or one of Wegman’s stir fry sauces.  Serve over pasta to make a noodle bowl that even the kids will like.   We have found that it is best to cut the bok choy leaves from the stems.  Sauté the stems in chunks for a few minutes before adding the leaves and the snow peas, then continue cooking for just a minute or two until the leaves wilt.

This past week we made a noodle bowl with some Thai Spice Fettuccine from a local pasta maker – Flour City Pasta.  Great Stuff!

Be sure to enjoy this week share.  And remember, nothing should ever go to waste.  You can easily freeze any of these items.  To freeze, simply blanch for one minute, cool, dry and lay out on cookie sheet to freeze individually and quickly. It’s a real treat to enjoy our spring peas over the winter!

Here’s a picture of the first share of the CSA…  which isn’t supposed to start until the end of June.  BUT – this Spring has been unusually warm and dry (until this week – now it’s cold and wet!)  The unexpected temps have forced some of the cooler loving plants [...]]]>

Here’s a picture of the first share of the CSA…  which isn’t supposed to start until the end of June.  BUT – this Spring has been unusually warm and dry (until this week – now it’s cold and wet!)  The unexpected temps have forced some of the cooler loving plants to sit and stare into space while others have grown like weeds (but for some reason the weeds always win!)  If you are in the CSA – you NEED to visit the CSA Member page too – here.

Anyhow – what’s in this weeks share? (which is basically a full sized share for the season ahead)

Upper left: That’s called corn salad or mache.  It’s a sweet-ish, early season super tender green.  Great as a snack or added to a salad.  Try some fresh by itself and see what you think – tell us on Facebook!  Ohh – don’t eat the still attached dirt and roots – Rinse it first.

Upper right: Those long alien finger things – garlic scapes.  What’s a scape you ask?  Well – most folks only enjoy the bulb of garlic that grows under the soil but the stiff neck varieties (come to the farm – I’ll explain what that means) they produce these long tops that ultimately have flowers (see the wider part on it).  These “sap” the plant of energy that could be going into making the bulbs bigger…  see – reproduction IS distracting!  Think of these as super tasty giant chives – only way better!

Those red things – radishes.  But take note – you have two kinds and two parts to eat.  You can enjoy the fleshy root in a bunch of ways (I like them just cut with salt on them)…  but you can also enjoy some of the younger leaves too.  Add them to salads or sauté them in a little olive oil or butter for a great green treat.  they have a little spice like the root does.

In the photo you will notice (and in your share too) there are two sizes and shapes.  The short round “traditional” radish is the variety Champion.  The long one with the pink / purple color and white tip – that’s a French Breakfast.  Can you taste a difference?

Let us know!

The giant leafy thing – lettuce…  The variety is Grand Rapids.  It screams MAKE ME INTO A SALAD…  but you can do what every you want with it, it’s only lettuce!

Last but not least is a small black plastic pot – complete with your very own play at home version…  a little bit of parsley.  Now, sure, we will be providing some parsley in the weeks ahead…  but there’s something extra special about being able to cut some fresh and add it to dinner.  All you have to do is dig a small hole where there’s lots of sun, add a little watter to the hole, free the plant and it’s soil form the pot, plop it in the hole – and in a couple of weeks you can start harvesting your own parsley!  Heck – you can even plant this in a pot on you deck (bigger than this one) and it will be more than happy to grow green for you all summer long.

There is a recipe to go with this weeks share if you want to try your hand at a simple stir fry – here.

Ohh – and I already mentioned it but CSA Members – you need to visit the Member Page too!