Sign up for 2013 CSA!

828-545-2362 contact Anne

CSA SHARE OPTIONS
Full Season Share:
There are 2 share sizes:  "regular" shares are intended to feed a small family (2 to 4 people).  The "small" share is great for individuals and couples. 
The full season share is 22 weeks starting May 15 and ending October 9.
Full season Regular: $525.  Full season Small: $325

Peak Season Share:
This share is great if you want to try the CSA out or if you're planning to be gone early summer.  It is less of a commitment in time and finance.  This share runs for 8 weeks from July 24 thru September 11.  Available in regular or small.
Peak season Regular: $250.  Peak season Small: $175

Extended Fall Share:
This share provides 4 boxes from October 23 thru November 20 (you choose 4 out of 5 dates).  Fall crops include carrots, beets, leeks, cauliflower, greens, sweet potatoes, shallots, winter squash, Irish potatoes.  Most of the veggies in these boxes will store into the holiday season. 
One size only: $120

Eggs:
In the past we have sold egg shares but had difficulty toward the end of the season providing them in 2012.  What we'd like to do this year is take "reservations" and you can pay weekly or monthly for your eggs rather than for the full 22 weeks at once.

Payment can be made by check to: Gaining Ground Farm, 298 Sluder Branch Rd. Leicester NC 28748
Down payment of 1/2 the total is due upon registration.  If you pay in full by March 15, receive a $20 discount for regular shares and a $15 discount for small shares.  Please include a contact number, an email address, and which share you're signing up for with your payment.

Boxes can be picked up at the Wednesday Montford Market between 2 and 6 pm.

You can look thru our blog entries to see what the boxes were like last year.

     Down payment of 1/2 the total is due upon registration. If you pay in full by March 15, receive a $20 discount for regular shares and a $15 discount for small shares.  If paying with paypal the early discount will be paid back in cash at the first pick-up.  Please include a contact number, an email address, and which share you're signing up for with your payment.
    
     Payment can be made by check to: Gaining Ground Farm, 298 Sluder Branch Rd. Leicester NC 28748

     Feel free to email or call with any questions

The new hoophouse is up!

October 24 the first extended share box

So we begin the "extended season" with the weather gone back to being quite mild.  We are working on getting the garlic planted this week for next year's harvest.  All the fallow ground is planted in a cover crop of crimson clover and wheat.  We are almost ready to slow down a bit.

planting garlic

Boxes today have:  1 bunch beets, 1 head radicchio, 1 head lettuce, 1 bunch leeks, 3lbs. fingerling potatoes, 3lbs. small orange sweet potatoes, 2 lbs red onions, garlic and shallots.

Radicchio Salad

1 head radicchio, cut into bite-size chunks
1or 2 ripe pears, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup walnuts
blue cheese
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt

1. toast walnuts over medium heat, flipping periodically until they smell good. ( we use a dry cast iron skillet and it takes about 5 mins.. be careful because they're easy to burn.)
2. combine in a bowl the radicchio, pears, walnuts, and blue cheese.  drizzle vinegar and olive oil over and a light sprinkle of salt and toss.

its good to make the salad about 10 minutes before you'll eat it.

we love this salad!  it has it all; the bitter radicchio, the salty and creamy blue cheese, the sweet pear, the earthy walnut and the tangy vinegar!  yum!

We also really enjoy the combination of sweet potatoes and fingerlings roasted in the oven with some olive oil and salt at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or so.

October 3 CSA

I meant to write last week that the winter squash you got in your box 2 weeks ago is a buttercup squash.  The flesh is sweeter and a little drier than butternut and is delicious roasted.

Your box this week contains:  1 head buttercrunch lettuce, 1 bunch swiss chard, 1 bunch radishes, 2 lbs orange sweet potatoes, 1 lb. japanese sweet potato ( purple skin, yellow flesh), some sweet onions.   Regular shares also get: 1 head romaine, 1 bunch leeks, 1 lb. zucchini, 1 bunch fresh dill.

Remember to get your onions and garlic from our market stand.

Also, please return any extra wax boxes you have; we are running low again.

Addiebelle inspecting sweet potatoes

The sweet onions in your box need to be refrigerated.  The sweet potatoes this week need to sit for another week atleast before they'll be sweet.  Just keep them on your counter or in a cabinet, unwashed until you're ready to eat them.  The japanese sweet potatoes are more dense and starchy and less sweet in flavor than the orange ones.

Next week is the last regular season CSA box.  The extended shares start Oct 24th and you'll get a box 4 out of 5 weeks until Nov. 21st.  Its your choice which of the weeks you don't want a box.  We did it this way so that if you're out of town Thanksgiving week, you won't miss a box but if you're in town and want a bunch of fresh veggies for your Thanksgiving dinner, you can get a box the day before Thanksgiving.  You'll just need to let us know at some point which date you're missing.

Sept 26 CSA

Sorry we haven't been keeping up with the blog.  As it turns out, life with 2 children is more than twice as much work as with just one. There are 2 weeks left in the CSA after today.  Anyone with an egg share who didn't get your reimbursement or credit, please be sure to!  We have gotten cover crop sown in most of the fields we are finished with and we are preparing ground for strawberries to get planted as well as garlic, onions, and leeks that will live winter outdoors.  We got a much needed rain last week and hope for more.

boxes this week contain:  1 long island cheese pumpkin, 1 lb. german butterball potatoes, 1 lb. eggplant, 1 head romaine lettuce, 1 lb. summer squash.  We didn't have enough of either okra or braising greens to put them in every box so your box will either have 1 bag of braising greens (young and tender kale and collards) or 1 lb.of okra.  We will do the same next week so if you tell Ally which you want, you'll get the other next week. 
regular shares also have:  1 bunch beets, 1 red bell pepper, 2 lbs. potatoes.

*remember to get your onions and garlic from the stand at market*
we've been noticing some bad spots in 1 layer within the red onions.  as your picking your onions out, gently press on the stem end and make sure its firm and no juice is coming out of the stem

Cyril and Addiebelle

Long Island Cheese Pumpkins curing in barn loft

The long island cheese pumpkins are excellent for soups and pies.  They have a creamy texture and will keep for a few months, getting sweeter as time wears on.  They're best stored in your kitchen in a cool spot out of direct sunlight.  If you notice the skin starting to develop spots, it needs to be cooked.

PUMPKIN SOUP

cut the pumpkin in half or quarters and roast in 400degree oven til soft; scoop out the seeds

2T butter
2 onions or 4 shallots
2T sherry or dry vermouth
1 roasted pumpkin
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 to 1 c milk; maybe more

1. saute onion in butter until soft
2. remove seeds from squash; for a thicker soup, use skins.  for a thinner, more delicate flavored soup, remove skins
3. combine onion, squash, vermouth, broth, salt, pepper, ginger
4. puree in food processor.  add milk as needed to get desired consistency.  ( you can use water instead)
5. return to pot and heat thouroughly.

Hope you have a great week!

Sept.12 CSA

This week's box:  1 lb. sweet potatoes (2 orange/ 2 white), 1 butternut squash, 1 bell pepper, 2 pints edamame, 1 lb. okra, 1 large or 2 medium summer squash.  Regular shares get: 2 lbs. sweet potatoes, 2 lbs. okra, jimmy nardello peppers instead of bell pepper, regular potatoes.

Remember to get garlic and onions from the stand.

Things are going great with the new baby.  He sleeps a lot which is a complete switch from our first and he is intigrating into the family with ease so far.  I will work on getting pictures and spicing up the blog again next week...

The sweet potatoes and butternut have been harvested for 10 days atleast and will be sweet.  They will get sweeter though, if you wait another week or 2 to eat them.  They are best stored at room temperature.

Pickled Okra
1 lb. okra
1 garlic clove
1 small hot pepper
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups water
1  tsp. dill seed
1 Tblspn salt

Wash okra and pack firmly in a hot, sterilized quart jar.  Add garlic and hot pepper if desired.  Make a brine with the vinegar, water, dill seed, and salt (taste to see if salty enough for you).  Boil. Pour boiling brine over okra leaving 1/4 inch headspace at top. Let cool before putting lid on.  Refrigerate for several weeks before eating.

Have a great week!

August 29 CSA

This week's box:  2 bell peppers, 1/2 lb. okra, 1 pint edamame, 1 1/2 lbs. summer squash, 2lbs. golden delicious apples.  Regular shares also have: 2 pints cherry tomatoes, 1 1/2 lbs. cucumbers.

Also, please get your onions, garlic, shallots, and hot pepppers at the market stand.

To prepare the edamame, wash it and then steam for 5 minutes; toss with salt if you like and pop the beans out of the pod with your teeth.

We like to eat okra lots of different ways.  If you want it to be less slimy, cut it into 1/2 inch wide pieces and soak in salt water for 10 minutes before cooking.  It is an excellent thickener for soups and gumbo.  It is delicious sauteed with onions and sweet peppers and served with rice or quinoa. 

In the coming weeks of the CSA (there are 6 left after today),  you'll get winter squash, sweet potatoes, leeks, celeriac, more edamame, lettuce.
We are working on getting the winter squash harvested.  We'll have butternut, long island cheese pumpkins, and buttercup.
The sweet potato harvest will probably begin next week with the O'Henry variety which is white.  We will also have purple, orange, and japanese (purple skin with white flesh).