Summer CSA Newsletter Week #21, Oct. 15-21, 2023 “A” week
One of Clementine's errant piglets realizing the error of her way quickly heads back to the safety of the barn away from our dogs!
Newsletter Table of Contents:
This Week’s Shares with Guides & Recipes- VEG, MES, EGG, APPLE
Recipes
Field News & Photos from the Week
(see FULL and HALF list for which share has what, how much, along with info, guides, recipes)
FULL SHARE:
LETTUCE MIX (¼ lb) - Store in a plastic bag in your fridge. We consider it a “1st Priority Vegetable” and recommend you use it within the first 3 days, as it has a short shelf life. (Although our freshly harvested lettuce will often last a week or sometimes even more!) Guide & Recipes
TOMATOES (1lb mix of slicers, heirlooms, and romas) - Store on your countertop for best flavor. If the tomato is not fully red, wait a couple of days for it to ripen completely or make Fried Green Tomatoes! Our favorite recipe for this dish is below.
RED RUSSIAN KALE (1 bunch) - Sweet, tender and mild, Red Russian kale is often liked by those that are averse to the more traditional curly kale varieties. The stem is edible but most discard it as it doesn’t soften much with cooking. Store in a plastic bag (a Debbie Meyer Green bag if you have one) and keep it in the fridge. This crop technically falls into the category of “1st Priority veggies” to be used in the next week or so. If you can’t use it up by your next share, some good exit strategies are to put it in smoothies, make pesto, or make green cubes! DINOSAUR KALE (1 bunch) - (Also known as Lacinto or Toscano.) Dino kale has an earthy, nutty flavor. It doesn't have the same strong bitterness as other varieties of kale, though it is still there. The sweetness helps offset that and makes it more approachable.This green can be used just like any other kale.Every part of the leaf is edible, though really thick ribs take longer to cook, so they're often discarded. The kale can be cooked whole, cut into thin strips, or chopped, depending on your recipe and use. Store in a plastic bag (a Debbie Meyer Green bag if you have one) keep it in the fridge. Use within a week. This crop technically falls into the category of “1st Priority veggies” to be used in the next week. If you can’t use it in the next few days, consider freezing it. Guide & Recipes
SALAD TURNIPS (1 bunch) - These popular white golf-ball or smaller size roots are juicy, sweet and less starchy than an average turnip, with a texture that deserves to be eaten raw or barely cooked. Hakurei turnips have the tender, almost creamy texture of a spring radish, but without the sharp heat of a radish, their more mellow turnip flavor shines through.They are crisp and tender. Use them in salads, sandwiches, stir frys, sautes, scrambled eggs or sauces. Remove the edible tops (use in salads or lightly sauteed) and store them separately in a plastic bag in the fridge (or the root will get soft). Best used within 3-4 weeks but will keep a long time! Guide & Recipes
BELL PEPPERS (2 green or color) - Store these in the fridge in a plastic bag. Stuff, add to stir fries, egg dishes, soups, tacos & burritos, pizza, etc. Peppers can also be flash frozen. Just throw them in a Ziploc bag (whole or chopped) and freeze!
BEETS with TOPS (1 bunch) - Remove tops from roots and store separately in the crisper drawer of your fridge in plastic bags. Use the tops within a week, (don't waste your beet greens and stems! They taste delicious and can be quickly and easily pan-fried - see recipes below!) but the roots are hardy keepers and will last for months! Guide & Recipes
GERMAN BUTTERBALL POTATOES (1 lb) With a brown peel and flesh that's a vibrant yellow to gold and is firm, waxy, and dense. German Butterball Potatoes are most commonly used as baking potatoes but can also be fried or roasted. When cooked, they're creamy with a smooth consistency and offer a rich, buttery flavor. Guide & Recipes
GREEN ONIONS (1 bunch) - Store in a plastic bag in the fridge OR in a glass of water, about an inch deep on the countertop or fridge. Cover tops with a plastic baggie. Change the 2 water periodically. These will store for about 3 weeks. You can use the tops for cooking too — you can even chop them and freeze them for later!
TOMATILLOS (½ lb) - These areless juicy and more richly flavored than a tomato. Raw tomatillos have a zesty, tart flavor that develops an herbal lemon flavor when cooked. You can store on your counter if you’ll be using within a couple days, (this will also ripen any that may seem not quite ripe) otherwise, store in a paper bag in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. Don’t remove husks until just before using. If fruits are sticky underneath the wrappers, rinse with cool water. Guide & Recipes
OPTIONAL ITEMS:
JALAPENOS, RED BEETS, SALAD TURNIPS, TOMATOES
HALF SHARE: (see Full VEG Shares above⬆ for info on each item)
LETTUCE MIX (¼ lb)
GREEN BELL PEPPERS (2 green or color)
SALAD TURNIPS (1 bunch)
BELL PEPPERS (3 color)
BEETS with TOPS (1 bunch)
ACORN WINTER SQUASH
MES SHARE -
Honey for those with shares this week!
EGG SHARE
Weekly Shares = 1 Dozen Biweekly Shares = 1 Dozen
APPLE SHARE -
4.5 lbs mix of FLORINA & SUNCRISP
FLORINA - Combined traits of Jonathan, Golden Delicious, and Rome varieties, medium firm and a blend of sweet and tart with a slight banana flavor, this sweet, aromatic, crisp and juicy variety is good for all purposes, especially for fresh eating. And it stores well - - even for 3 months!
SUNCRISP - Yellow-green hue, this varieties flesh resists browning when sliced and is dense, firm, and crisp and has high sugar and acidity, creating a sharp, subtly sweet, and tart flavor with floral nuances - even notes of pear and honey. It's taste will mellow and sweeten over time. Suncrisp can be stored for up to 6 months.
RECIPES:
Click the link to go to a printable pdf of the recipe.
Field News & Photos:
Dash & io's latest litter is growing fast. At five weeks, they're still nursing but are eating raw food - beef & chicken - like champs. They especially love crunching the bones with their sharp puppy teeth, and we'd much rather they bite on those than us!
I'm enjoying providing socialization opportunities for them.
Hard to believe that in a few short weeks Finly will be going to California and Bonnie to Illinois.
Marlee and my challenge now is to not get too attached to them. It's a tall order. (Wish us luck!)
Bonnie to the left & Finly to the right. Looks like it might be 2 blue eyes for her and 1.5 for him. But it's still a little early to tell for sure.
Marlee counted out the rubber bands for all the kale shares needed Wednesday and adorned herself with them.
It looked as though she was sporting an ace bandage of sorts.
Then she got busy harvesting them all herself!
Over the years as the youngest, Marlee got quite comfortable tagging along as others did work around the farm while not really concerning herself with the job needing to be completed.
I knew someday she'd feel a responsibility to pitch in, but I never knew WHEN that would actually happen! (And somedays I started to doubt myself on this one! LOL) But I sometimes have to remind her, this year she's really stepped up and pulled her weight, so to speak, in many areas of the farm.
In fact, most of the bunches of kale you've eaten this year where picked by her. As where many of the cherry tomatoes, Swiss chard, raspberries, and asparagus in the spring.
That's actually when I realized her effort was different this year - in the spring - with the asparagus.
Bill threw out his back with the first harvest May 8. At the time, we didn't know it'd take almost 3 months until he'd be able to fully contribute physically again. He did what he could, and while what he did was very important, it was a fraction of what we count on him for.
As the weeks went by, and he was still struggling, I worried how we'd hold up. Could the kids and I keep up? Should we scramble and try to hire someone? How could we even swing that? But then it became apparent to me that Marlee was consistently up for doing more. I mean she let me know harvesting and doing chores was NOT on the list of how she wished to spend her time, but she showed up to help. Often asking if there was Anything else? before hightailing it to go read or walk or call a friend - all things she'd rather do.
Looking back as the season draws to a close, her willingness to help more couldn't have been better timed.
How ironic that I was starting to doubt her and our team, she stepped up and the season worked out as it was supposed to. How do I know that? Because that's exactly how it did!
This winter is looking great with Marlee's maturing effort and the rest of our team firing on all cylinders now that Bill and his back are 100% again.
Your great farm team packing shares before Madison deliveries today.
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