Fall 2011 CSA Week 1

We know that a lot of folks have a hard time sometimes distinguishing between, say tat soi and bok choy, so we like to take pictures of our CSA share items and label them, so our members have a reference once they bring their shares home. I took these pictures at market on Saturday, since I won't be home on Tuesday when Ben will harvest and then deliver your shares. We usually like to put all the CSA items together for one picture, but since we did this at market, it wasn't really conducive to our situation. Anyway, the single picture items should be somewhat helpful for identifying your CSA share items. So, as I stated in the email, you will receive the following items in your shares:

SCALLIONS                           ARUGULA

BOK CHOY                           PEPPERS

DAIKON RADISH                RADISHES/

NAPA CABBAGE                  HAKUREI

LETTUCE                              TURNIPS

KALE

Note: scallions, lettuce, and hakurei turnips not pictured

bok choy great for stir-fry

tat soi also great for stir fry, but also salad

daikon radish

you can cook the greens and stir fry the root or eat it sliced, raw with salt

it's also good in kimchi

red Russian kale (aka ragged Jack)

this is good every which way

you can also save and eat the stems (they require a longer cooking time than the leaves)

arugula

great raw and cooked

French breakfast radishes

you can eat the greens cooked

the roots are great as a snack, in salad, or in a stir fry

sweet gypsy peppers

raw and cooked - either way, they're tasty!

marconis

these are my favorite sweet peppers, by far

Well, that's all folks! We'll try to post more share pictures as the season progresses. Definitely feel free to email us if you have any questions about your share items or what to do with them. We've got TONS of ideas :). Thanks for stopping by!

- Patricia

Happy Autumn!

Hi folks! It's been a LONG time since I've posted on this ol' blog - again - but what can I say? We're busy farmin it up out here and that leaves little time for blog posts. As the weather turns colder, you can expect more posts. Until then, I'm posting one of our write ups from the first Fall CSA newsletter. It's all about greens - and I figured lots of folks might be interested in how to deal with the plethora of greens to come this season. I've been taking pictures on the farm - some of them are outdated already, but expect a picture blog in the near future. 

As usual, thanks for stopping by! 

 - Patricia 

Greens Galore

By Patricia Parker

Even for greens lovers like us, it can be a challenge to keep up with all the greens (but we like challenge) and root veggies of the fall. I’d like to share a bit of our greens wisdom with the hopes that you find some of our strategies helpful.

First and foremost, it is important to get acquainted with your greens. You’ll be receiving numerous types and varieties, each with their own unique flavors and textures. Additionally, their flavors will change as the weather grows colder (they’ll get sweeter – this goes for the root veggies too!). I recommend trying your greens every which way – starting by trying them raw. I find some greens less palatable raw than others – for instance, turnip, radish, and mustard greens are a bit too pungent raw for my taste. But, when they’re cooked, they’re delectable. And some greens are great raw – like arugula and spinach – and others that might surprise you, like kale and swiss chard (all of them are great cooked). As a general rule of thumb, the more tender the green, the better it tastes raw (and the less time you will need to cook them).

Now, there are countless ways to prepare your greens – you can steam them, sauté them, stir fry them, put them in soups, chilis and stews, eat them with eggs (e.g., as a side, in an omelet or frittata), etc. We’ll provide you with recipes for your greens throughout the season to help spur along your greens creativity. We’ll also give you basic cooking instructions and storage information. If your greens ever start to feel like they’re piling up on you, remember how few greens there are in the summer. You can blanch and then freeze your greens to use them any other time you like. You can also use up lots of greens if you make them the primary course on your plate (e.g., dinner salad or beans and greens with meat on the side). Of course, you can also share with your friends, family and neighbors – and if you don’t have any takers, you can leave them with us and we’ll donate them to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle for you.

Keeping up with your greens can be a daunting task in the beginning, but before you know it, you’ll turn pro!

Note: If anyone would like to share their own methods for keeping up with your CSA share, please send a write-up our way. We would LOVE for CSA members to contribute to weekly newsletters. You can send your write up in an email, as a word file, or as a pdf file. We’ll be sure to place it in the next newsletter.

Week 3, May 9-15 CSA Share Contents

Howdy do, folks? It seems I'm communicating with all of y'all via the blog and newsletters these days. I'm sad to say that I still haven't met everyone in the CSA yet, since I've been staying home studying for my prelim exam - but that's only going to be the case for another week and a half and then I'll be right there with Ben at the drop sites!

So, I did a little something different this week with the pictures of the share contents. I know a lot of CSAs use boxes and that's something we haven't really been doing. We don't use the boxes for a few reasons. The most important reason is because we prefer to keep the produce nice and cool so when you come to pick it up it's in great condition. Heat works wonders on these veggies and once they wilt, it's all over. Another reason, which will become pretty apparent once you check out these pictures, is that the produce just won't fit in one box - at least not a box with a lid on it. I took pictures of each of the items in the box and I also tried to include everything in the box, so y'all could get a nice view of what it would look like if you did get a box of your share.

So, without further adieu...

Here's the box with the contents of this week's share all together (minus the dill and cilantro - it seems I forget to take a picture of something every time!)

Broccoli

Dandelion greens

Rainbow chard

Strawberries (one quart for small and regular shares; 2 for large shares)

Berry close up

Snow peas

Close up

Baby leeks

Bok choy

Kale

Kale close up

Red bibb lettuce

Green romaine lettuce

Tatsoi

Scallions

The baby leeks are on top, scallions on the bottom here.

My, that sure is pretty!

Alrighty. That's all folks! See you in a week or two. Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Week 2, May 2-8 Share Contents

Hi folks! I have pictures of the share contents for Week 2. To avoid forgetting to take the pictures, I photographed the produce pre-wash, so you'll notice soil on the veggies. They'll be nice and clean when you pick them up, of course. But it's always good to give them another cleaning before you use them. The only thing we don't wash at the farm are the strawberries, as they should only be washed right before eating them (to maintain their "shelf" life).

I also just printed out this week's newsletter. You can expect more in this newsletter compared with last week. This week we've included Michele McKinley's description of Farm It Forward, an idea Ben and I approached AHA (Advocates for Health in Action) in February. We're having our first fundraiser this Sunday at Market Restaurant. For more info on that, please see the preceding post. We've also include some basic information (storage and cooking instructions) to help members make good use of your weekly shares. We've highlighted bok choy, rainbow chard, lettuce and dill. And finally, Ben wrote a little segment we're calling "Farmer Musings" to let members know what's going on here on the farm. We hope you find the newsletters helpful.

Okay, now, for the pictures!

Here's a regular/small sized share. Everything is pictured here but the chard and the herbs.

Items in this weeks share include: strawberries, bok choy, tatsoi, beets, dill and cilantro, lettuce, spinach and scallions.

This is a green bib, called Nancy.

This is a red romaine, called Marvel the Four Seasons.

A recipe for tofu stuffed lettuce rolls is in the newsletter.

Tatsoi

Bok Choy. The newsletter includes a recipe for Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Cashew Sauce.

Spinach. We like to steam it all and eat it with eggs for breakfast.

These are scallions. The difference between scallions and green onions, is that green onions are basically baby (bulbing) onions, while scallions will not bulb.

Detroit Red Beets (for full shares only - but many more are on the way for all share sizes)

You can steam or saute the beet greens too!

Cilantro and Dill (a recipe for dill and horseradish biscuits is included in the newsletter)

Yummy, yummy strawberries! This variety is called Chandler. 

Here's Ben about to wash all of the produce. This week I completely forgot to get a picture of the Rainbow Chard, but I think y'all know what it looks like. And if you forgot, you can always check the Week 1 CSA Share post. We included a recipe for Swiss Chard Gratin in the newsletter.

Washing the spinach.

Well, I suppose that's it for now! If you have any questions or suggestions for how we can make your membership experience better, please feel free to send us email or give us a call.

Also, we would really love it if members would contribute some recipes of your own so we can share them with everyone.

Thanks for stopping by! Ben will see you at the pick ups and at market. I'm MIA for the time being, working on my doctoral exam (prelim) for global sociology. I take the exam Monday, May 16th. After that, you'll be seeing my face around a whole lot more! Ben told me a lot of folks from market wished me luck - thank you! I can certainly use it!

P.S. If you know folks that are interested in joining a CSA and you are happy with us, please let them know we are still accepting CSA members. We will prorate new members to account for missed pick ups.

Week 1, April 24-30 CSA Share Contents

Hi again folks! Last year, particularly at the beginning of the CSA season, a lot of the newbies were unfamiliar with some of our CSA share items. So, this year, we're going to try our best to post pictures of all of the items in the shares each week. We'll see how long that lasts! With all of the other happenings on the farm, photographs are definitely a low priority. But, we will do our best, because I think they are helpful.

And, just to reiterate one more time, it is not too late to sign up for the Summer 2011 CSA with us. We will pro-rate your share if you come on board late.

So, you will notice one MAJOR thing missing from these pictures - strawberries! They're in the shares, but we forgot to take the pictures in time. We'll be sure to include them in the photos next week.

Here's a shot of the regular share box.

And here's another.

Tat Soi

Arugula

(for large shares only - large shares will also receive twice as many berries, spinach and lettuce, compared with regular and small shares)

Dill and Cilantro (just a little for now, but much more to come!)

Red Russian Kale

Swiss Chard

Bok Choy

Spinach

Red Salad Bowl (an Oak Leaf Lettuce)

And here's Bocephus. He's not included but he wanted to say, "Hi!"