Winter CSA Newsletter Week #8, Dec 17- 23, 2023 “B” week
Newsletter Table of Contents:
This Week’s Shares with Guides & Recipes- VEG, MES, EGG, APPLE
Recipes - Rutabaga Puff Casserole, Tender Squash Rutabaga Gratin, !6 Delicious Ways to use Daikons, Apple Bread Pudding
Field News & Photos from the Week - Microgreens!
VEG SHARES (see FULL and HALF list for which share has what, how much, along with info, guides, recipes)
FULL SHARE:
BEETS (2 lb) - Store in the fridge in a plastic bag for up to 2 months. (see the info sheets at the end of this newsletter to help you get your “non-beet eater to try this underrated vegetable again!) Guide & Recipes
CARROTS (1 lb, roots) - Store the roots dry and unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. from our Red Door Farm Guide & Recipes
DARK RED NORLAND POTATOES (1 lb) - Excellent flavor. With red skin and white flesh, this variety is good for baking or boiling. Store in a paper bag, or out of the light, in your pantry or on the counter away from onions. from Mythic Farm Guide & Recipes
YELLOW ONION (1 lb) - Ready to be used now or later, this almost “cured” or dried onion should be stored on your counter or in your pantry out of direct sunlight. If you don’t use it in the next week, it’ll cure more and store longer. from Gwenyn Hill Farm
DAIKON RADISHES (1 lb) - Daikons are generally milder than regular table radishes. Store dry in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for weeks - these are long keepers!. Radishes are also delicious roasted - our favorite way to eat them - because it takes out their heat and makes them sweeter! Try also sliced in rounds or matchsticks with your favorite dip or hummus. Adds crunch and great flavor to any stir fry recipe. Guide & Recipes
GOLDRUSH APPLES (1 lb) - Flesh is yellow, firm, and crisp. Described as - flavor has the honeyed sweetness of a Golden Delicious, wedded to a pleasing tartness with a touch of acidity. The tension between these flavors is just right and there are fleeting hints of pear, citrus, and spice to keep things interesting. Plus a little metalic fizz on the tip of the tongue. Tartness sweetens over time.
from Two Onion Farm
OPTIONAL ITEMS: for FULL & HALF Shares - choose 1 or 2 of the following:
PEA SHOOTS
WINTER SQUASH - Carnival, Spaghetti, Autumn Frost, Long Pie Pumpkin, North Georgia Candy Roaster
HALF SHARE: (see Full VEG Shares above⬆ for info on each item)
BEETS (1 lb)
CARROTS (1 lb)
YELLOW ONION (1 lb)
DAIKON RADISHES (1 lb)
GOLDRUSH APPLES (1 lb)
MES SHARES
This week is at Big Sky. (Next week is at LEUCC)
FULL : 1 chicken, 1 ground beef, 2 doz eggs, 1 vanilla, 1 honey
HALF: 1 chicken, 1 ground beef, 1 doz, 1 vanilla, 1 honey
EGG SHARE Weekly Shares = 1 Dozen Biweekly Shares = 1 Dozen
PREPARED FOOD & RECIPES:
Click the link to go to a printable pdf of the recipe.
Field News & Photos:
Upleveling our Microgreen Growing.
We've grown sunflower and pea shoot microgreens for years now, but that's about it for microgreens.
Well, this winter we're adding other varieties to the mix, and tweaking some of our practices with the goal of offering a consistent supply year round.
Our "microgreen station" is in a corner of our dining room area.
Since we have a concrete floor that won't be harmed by spilled water or dirt and seed hulls, we shove our dining room table over to the far side of the room and roll in several shelving units to fill with trays of growing greens.
(I often say farming for us is not what we do but how we live. Our dining room becoming a garden of sorts, is just one example of how it that passion for growing food bleeds over into our personal life!)
We got the shelves back when Bill worked off-farm at a cheese factory when they got new ones for their cave-aged wheels and was discarding these ones.
They're a little rusty and sometimes the wheels stick but they've certainly come in handy in many ways on the farm not the least of which is holding flats of seedlings AND microgreens.
In the foreground are stacked trays of pea seeds waiting for Bill to put them on the shelves.
(I wonder what my Grandma Feiner would think of him using her dining room chair to hold them.? Actually, I already know. She'd shake her head and wonder what was wrong with us, for sure!)
Below is a peak at a tray of sunflowers shoots just sprouting.
Bill puts the trays in stacks of 4 or 5 with a weight on top. This practice promotes good seed to soil contact which ensures healthy even growth of the shoots.
After 3 to 4 days stacked, the growing shoots lift and push the trays up. That's our signal to unstack them before they tip over!
Who ever thought such tiny plants would have the power to lift all that weight?
It makes me think of videos I've seen of Amish farmers moving a barn by hand.
And I suppose the power of the multitude shouldn't be so surprising to those of us living in a democracy with the power of the people, but I'm still always amazed by it!
Here recently uncovered sprouts are yellow from being in the dark of the stack.
It takes about a day for the sprouts to green up.
And then they grow fast and crazy!
The tray above and to the left is a gourmet greens mix that will grace next week's shares.
In January we'll add a lettuce mix and who knows what else!?!
Here Bill adds water to the tray under the tiny plants.
After about a week under the lights and some watering , they turn into a lush tray of microgreens!
And then, after cutting,
VOILA!
Pea Shoot Salad. -- mmmmm good.
~ ~ ~
