Sept 4 CSA

Small shares:  1 bunch mustard and tatsoi greens, 1 head of lettuce, 1 bunch radishes, 1 garlic, 2-3 yellow onions, 1 pint tomatoes, 1/2 lb. okra, 1 lb. summer squash, 2 peppers.
Regular shares:  all the above plus 1/2 lb. more okra, another garlic, another pepper, 1 lb. pickling cucumbers.

The mustard greens are the green curly leaves and the red tinted leaves and the tatsoi is the smooth leaf green.  The mustards are spicy and the tatsoi sweet and mild.  They are delicious lightly sauteed together.  They also make a good pesto by themselves or in combination with basil or parsley (and the garlic, salt, olive oil, lemon etc.).
This is THE END of the tomatoes.
There is a bell pepper and an antohi romania pepper in your box.  They are both sweet; the antohi very sweet.  The regular boxes also have a yellow bell that will ripen all the way yellow if left out on the counter for a few days.

Check this link for a vegetarian gumbo recipe.  I made some a few nights ago using yellow squash instead of zucchini and I added some oyster mushrooms I bought at market last weekend.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/veggumbo.htm

August 28 CSA (14th week)

  This is the 14th box of the 22 week season.  We started 2 weeks later than anticipated so the season will go 2 weeks later.  That puts the last regular season box at October 23rd.  For those of you who purchased an extended season share, that was slated to start Oct 23 but will now be Oct 30, Nov. 6, 13, and 20th. 

Small shares this week contain:  2 fresh garlic bulbs, 1/2 lb. yellow onions, 1 head of romaine, 1 bunch bok choy, 1 bunch multi-color carrots, 1 pint edamame, 1/2 lb. okra, 1 bell pepper.
Regular shares contain:  the above plus more onions, 2 lbs. german butterball potatoes, 1 lb. summer squash, 1 quart cherry tomatoes.

This is the last of the fresh garlic.  Next week it will be cured garlic and can be kept out of the refrigerator.  Everything should be refrigerated this week.

Peas and radishes in the field

Anne using the 1954 cultivating tractor to weed the fall broccoli

Tiny carrot seedlings in the field

Try this recipe for Bok Choy salad!
http://www.marthastewart.com/924977/citrus-bok-choy-salad-crisp-ramen

Try roasting your okra.  You wash it and pat it dry then toss it with some olive oil, salt and pepper and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in a 425 degree oven until a bit browned and sizzling (about 20 mins.  You can add whole garlic cloves and carrots halved lengthwise if you'd like.

August 21 boxes of healthful veggies

Small shares:  1 bok choi, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 bunch of arugula, 1 bunch of french breakfast radishes, 1 garlic head, sweet and torpedo onions, 1 italian eggplant, 1 bell pepper, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 1 pint of edamame.
Regular shares: 2 bok choi, 1 head of romaine, 1 bunch of arugula, 1 bunch of radish, 1 garlic, sweet and torpedo onions, 2 italian eggplant, 1 bell pepper, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 1 pint edamame, 1 bunch of carrots.
Everything except the cherry tomatoes needs to be stored in the fridge.  Remove the radish tops if you don't think you'll use them within 3 days (you can eat them!  see recipe below).

French breakfast radishes are crisp and refreshing and a bit milder than round radishes.  They are delicious dipped in a little butter and eaten with bread.  They are also great in salads and great in a salad composed of themselves. 

Anne's Radish Salad

1 bunch radish (any small variety)

1 small red or sweet onion

1T fresh orange juice

1T ume-plum vinegar

1T extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. separate radish tops from the roots.  wash and chop radish tops and place in a bowl with the ume plum vinegar; bruise greens slightly while mixing with vinegar; let sit.

2. thinly slice radishes and red onion; place in a bowl with other ingredients; add radish tops and combine everything well.  let sit 10 minutes before eating.

The bok choi is an excellent stir fry addition added near the end so it stays crispy.  It makes great slaw too!  Use it instead of cabbage or combined with cabbage.  We are having a stir fry tonight with eggplant, peppers, edamame beans, black bean tempeh, and bok choi over rice I suppose because we are out of quinoa.

truck full of vegetables today heading back to the wash-shed

I hope you enjoy the new things in your box this week.  Everyone will get carrots next week.  The squash and cucumbers are blooming so we'll be harvesting them again soon.  Have a great week!

box of yellow onions

August 14 CSA

Small shares:  1 bunch arugula, 1/2lb. okra, 1lb. tomatillos, 1 jalapeno, 1 bell pepper, 1lb. yellow onions, 1 garlic, 1 pint edamame, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 1lb. heirloom tomatoes.
Regular shares:  in addition to the above, 1 bunch french breakfast radishes, another 1/2 lb okra, 1 lb. heirloom tomatoes and pint of edamame.

Everything should be stored in your refrigerator except the yellow onions and tomatoes.  The tomatoes need to be eaten within 3 days.  The arugula will be best today or tomorrow.  If you're going to keep it longer, you can put it root down in a glass with a little water inside the fridge.

Tomatillos are in the purple mesh bag.  They taste like a sour green apple on their own.  Most commonly they are used to make salsa verde or green chili sauce.  You must first remove the husk before preparing.
Salsa Verde Recipe

I have had a lot of questions about the garlic so I'll address Garlic again here.  The bulbs you are getting in your box right now are "uncured" garlic which means they have not been hung in the barn to dry or "cure".  When we harvested the crop during all that crazy rain in early July, it was too wet and conditions were perfect for disease to spread throughout the crop.  For this reason, any questionable bulbs had their tops removed immediately and we are storing them in our walk in cooler.  This garlic is called "fresh" or "uncured" and is perfect for eating NOW.  It has a slightly less strong flavor because it has more water in it than garlic that has been air dried or "cured".  There is the added benefit of it being easy to peel.
The garlic we deemed worth trying to cure is in the old tobacco drying barn with fans on it and looks like it is doing well.  Eventually you'll see that in your box and it will look more like what you're used to seeing in the store.  It will not need to be refrigerated.

Speaking of garlic, try caramelizing some and adding it to tomato sauce.
To caramelize garlic, peel as many cloves as you want to caramelize.
Over medium heat, warm enough olive oil in a skillet to half way cover the cloves you are preparing.
When oil is hot enough to sizzle when you add the garlic (try adding 1 clove to see) add it all and let it do its thing.  The cloves will start to brown and blister a little.  Be sure to flip them (carefully!) so that all sides get in the oil.  It takes about 20 minutes.  You can add a little salt and fresh herbs too!  I like oregano.  You can take 1 clove out and cut into it to see if its soft.
When it done caramelizing, I add it to my tomato sauce and eat!

I hope you all have a good week.  Lettuce will be back in your boxes in 2 to 3 weeks.  Also beans, cucumbers, squash, radishes, bok choi.

August 7 CSA

Small shares this week get:  1 lb. of slicing tomatoes, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 3 bulbs of garlic, 1 lb. of sweet onions, 1 italian eggplant, 1 celery, 1 pint of edamame (green soybeans).
Regular shares get:  all the above plus 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 bunch of red beets, 1 purple bell pepper, 1 lb. of roma tomatoes.

To prepare the edamame, wash it.  Bring 1 quart of water to a boil, add the beans, return to a boil and let boil for 5 mins.  Strain, salt lightly, and eat by breaking the pod open in your teeth and getting the beans out.  (do not eat the pod)

Store everything in your refrigerator except the tomatoes.  Those keep on your counter out of the sun and eat within 3 days.  The roma tomatoes are great for eating raw, in salads, in sauce, in salsa.

If you haven't tried roasting garlic yet, give it a try.  Wash the bulb then cut the very tip off of the entire bulb.  Put in an oven proof pan, drizzle a little olive oil over, sprinkle with salt, add some herbs (oregano, marjoram, thyme) and black pepper.  Cover the pan and roast at 400 degrees until soft (about45 mins).  To eat, pop the cloves out of their skin and spread on bread, put whole in tacos, add to hummus...

We hope to have enough tomatillos next week to put them in all the boxes.  Sweet peppers are 2 weeks away.  I think there will be arugula next week.  Hope you are all well!

July 31 CSA

Justin, Anne, Aaron, Ellen, Cate, Catherine

Your box this week:
Smalls:  3 lbs. red maria potatoes, 1 bunch of leeks, 2 lbs heirloom tomatoes, 1 each of garlic, torpedo onion and sweet onion, 1/4lb basil.
Regulars: 3 lbs. red potatoes, 1 bunch leeks, 3 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, garlic and onions, 1 italian eggplant, 1 lb. tomatillos and 1 jalapeno, 1 bunch beets, 1/4 lb. basil.

Some of the tomatoes in your box are black krim which is purplish-brownish-pinkish when ripe.  The shoulders usually stay green.  There are some brandy wines  which are pink when ripe, and some small round red ones.  Not all boxes got the same because we didn't have enough of any one variety.  Keep the tomatoes out of the fridge and eat within 3 days.  We store them with stem end down on the counter.

The basil should be used within 2 days.  I make a simple pesto using garlic, olive oil, salt, a tiny bit of lemon juice to keep green color, and of course the basil!  I blend it together in a food processor and put in a mason jar.  I pour a little olive oil on top to keep air out and store in our fridge for a month or so using as we want it.  You can also freeze it.  I add nuts and cheese when we are about to eat it.

We are transplanting cucumbers and squash today.  We planted lettuces, radicchio, leeks, and bok choi yesterday.  And the beat goes on...

Vichyssoise Soup recipe
If you look at the soup recipe, also check out their heirloom tomato salad recipe!

July 24 CSA

This weeks' small share:  1/4lb basil, 1 1/2lbs lemon cucumbers, 2 lbs red maria potatoes, 1 lb summer squash, 2 to 3 yellow onions, 2 heads garlic.
Regular shares get all the above plus: 1 pint of cherry or roma tomatoes, 2lbs fingerling potatoes, 1/4 lb more basil, 4 torpedo onions.
 The yellow onions can be kept out of the fridge but everything else needs to be refrigerated.  This is the last summer squash you'll get for awhile.  We will be planting more on Monday so in late August we'll have it again.  We hope to have enough tomatoes next week that everyone will get some.  Eggplant is starting to make fruit and the okra is blooming.
  Last Thursday we were able to make beds and I seeded all kinds of things including salad mix, arugula, and radishes that will hopefully be ready to harvest in 4 weeks.  I planted more beans, beets, carrots, and spinach.  So there will be more to eat in a few weeks but the next 2 to 3 weeks will be slim as we feel the effects of the crazy rain of early July.  We transplanted a lot of leeks and parsnips and lettuces.

Catherine getting ready to harvest squash

 Anne cleaning basil

Check out this potato soup recipe!