Winter - Week 12 (Dec 27/28)

A couple of days late, and no pics... sorry.  Nothing new anyway, but after getting off the plane, it was all I could do to get the veggies in the fridge.  I know I'm getting a minor backlog of winter squash, and even though it keeps great, we want to use it up.  I will post some tested recipes for winter squash tomorrow.

Beets
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Red Pontiac Potatoes
Yellow Onions
Turnips
Parsnip
Shallots
Garlic
Hubbard Squash
Spinach
Fresh Frozen Peaches
Honey

David says this week was a little light (volume-wise) because of the honey.  It retails for $15 a jar.  He wanted to change it up a little as the waves of greens and salad stuff come and go.  Expect it to increase a little in variety and volume again as the weeks progress.

MEAT UPDATE!  The lamb will be done today, the beef will be done Friday or Monday.  There will be meat in the boxes starting with your next pickup.

no post today

Hey all,

I'm on the road traveling and won't be there to pick up my box.  The share list will go up tomorrow (Wednesday).

Of meat and frozen fruit...

The meat processor is finally accepting the animals today, and they should be traveling on to the butcher's this week.  David is really sorry for the delay, and has been repeatedly frustrated.  The number of small processors and butchers available to local growers has continued to shrink as big-agra has consolidated animal operations.  You'll get your money's worth in the end, but when you're expecting a little meat each week, a long dry spell followed by a huge pile is less than satisfying.  Apologies from the farm.

How are you all enjoying the fresh frozen fruit?  I say fresh because David's wife spent hours in the late summer / early fall blanching, peeling, cutting, and packing the fruits.  They're generally stuff that was picked faster than could sell at the market (usually ahead of storms) or that was picked all at once after the end of market (ahead of the first hard frosts).  I think the taste and texture has been way better than canned, plus it is local.  We've enjoyed them in yogurt, over ice cream, and in cobblers so far.

BOXES!  David isn't getting boxes back from some folks.  Please return the boxes to your pickup sites.  They are expensive, hard to get hold of, and incredibly reuseable.

Winter - Week 11 (Dec 20/21)

Spinach
Yellow onion
Beets
Turnips
Fuji apples
Golden Delicious apples
Gala apples
Macintosh apples
Fresh frozen pears
Banana squash
Collard greens
Mixed greens
Red pontiac potatoes
Yukon gold potatoes

Spaghetti Squash

I'm crying uncle.  I'll eat any vegetable.  I'll munch on turnips raw.  I've even grown to like brussel sprouts and lima beans.  I've been staring at the spaghetti squash in the basket for weeks.  I have never been a fan of them, not since low-fat "healthy" experiments by my mother as a child.  Does anyone have a killer spaghetti squash recipe to share with the group?

Winter - Week 10 (Dec 13/14)

Nothing new this week.  What do you think of the "frozen fresh fruits"?  I really enjoyed the peaches with vanilla ice cream and cinnamon.  The raspberries can go right back into the freezer for pancakes or ice cream.  The spinach and winter squash can go right into the recipe from last week with barley etc.  Try that cabbage sauteed with apples, or maybe made into soup with the radish and some miso.

Spinach
Hubbard squash
Spaghetti squash
Beets
Turnips
Yukon gold potatoes
Pontiac red potatoes
Yellow onions
Garlic
Shallots
Cabbage
Fuji apples
Macintosh apples
Golden delicious apples
Black radish
Frozen fresh raspberries

Meat processor is due to deliver next week.  Don't worry -- you'll be compensated for the weeks that haven't happened.

No labels this week

Winter Squash Risotto

This is days late in being posted, but I don't think our share make-up will change drastically this week.  My family really enjoyed this recipe from RealSimple.  It will make use of your winter squash (I used a chunk of hubbard), onions, and spinach.  I threw a couple of cloves of garlic in for good measure.

It was also very simple.  About 10 minutes of chopping vegetables and 10 minutes in front of the stove.

Winter - Week 9 (Dec 6/7)

Pontiac Red potatoes
Yukon Gold potatoes
Yellow onion
Turnips
Parsnips
Black radish
Beets
Spinach
Salad Mix
Red Kale
Banana squash
Fresh frozen peaches
Golden delicious apples
Fuji apples
Macintosh apples
Granny Smith apples

Kale -- cut away the center stem and the thicker veins.  Cut the leaves into thinner ribbons when cooking to be sure they get tender.  Saute ribbons with garlic and shallots until tender; fold into omelette.

Frozen peaches -- if they're still mostly frozen, you can keep them in the freezer for a couple of months.  If they're starting to thaw, they'll keep in your fridge for several days at least.  Eat as fresh, with cream or mascarpone, or blend into smoothies.  Fresh peach taste!

Tomorrow I'll post a fantastic (and easy) risotto recipe using the onions, garlic, banana squash, and spinach.

No meat this week, sorry.  When the butcher gets caught up, so will we!

TOP: spinach, salad mix, red kale
MID: black radish, turnips, parsnip, yellow onion, garlic, shallots, banana squash
BOT: gold & red potatoes, beets, golden delicious, macintosh, granny smith, Fuji

Winter - Week 8 (Nov 29/30)

Pics in a bit...

Parsley
Spinach
Buttercup squash
Hubbard squash
Red Pontiac potatoes
Yukon Gold potatoes
Yellow onion
Winter kale
Parsnip
Turnip
Black radish
Kohlrabi
Granny Smith apples
Red Delicious apples
Yellow Delicious apples
Beets
Rutabaga

MEAT:  honey  (The meat processor delayed AGAIN!  David is getting quite frustrated.  He'll make it square when the meat finally shows up.)

A few ideas to get the ball rolling

The Fruit Syrup
Refrigerate after opening.  Made with Zoe's honey and berries.  This is fantastic on pancakes or scones, or on bread pudding made with day after Thanksgiving rolls / pastries (with the frozen strawberries?).  Or pour over ice cream.  Or make a reduction with white wine and... (something?  apples?)... to replace your cranberry sauce.

Apples and Rutabaga
Apparently, a four to one mix of sliced rutabaga and apples, lightly seasoned and oiled, makes for a very interesting tart.  A mix of sweet and savory, familiar and unfamiliar.

Galeux D'Eysines
This warty winter squash comes highly recommended for soups and pumpkin pies.  1 1/2 cups of cooked squash = one can of pumpkin puree.

Winter - Week 7 (Nov 22/23)

Final list.....  At the end of the day, there was a limit to what David hoped to pick and get in the boxes and how that fit into the daylight hours.  Sorry if you were expecting anything different.

The whole holiday box

parsnips, sunchokes, and rutabaga

Turnips
Rudabaga
Parsnip
Salad Mix
Parsley
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Frozen Strawberries
Berry Syrup (made by David with his honey and berries)
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Red Potatoes
Onion
Garlic
Shallots
Sunchokes
Bell Pepper
Poblano Pepper
Mariachi Pepper
Marisol Pepper
Red Delicious Apples
Golden Delicious Apples
French Heirloom Squash (Galeux D Eysines)
Kohlrabi

MEAT:  lamb again -- the processor is three weeks behind with the beef order

That French heirloom squash is famous for its very smooth flesh, which is great for soups and equally great for pies!

David's no-gravy Mashed Potatoes

I think David learned this working the kitchens at the Grand America.  Seriously no gravy needed.

5lbs red or gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/4 lb butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 cup cream

3/4 cup mascarpone cheese

salt, pepper, and herbs to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, then leave to sit in the hot water while you mix the rest (a good 10-20 minutes is best).  You'll want to adjust the liquids -- if you're using lighter cream, you'll need a little less milk.  Stir together the butter, milk, and cream.  Drain the potatoes, and start mashing, maybe with an electric beater.  Whip in the cream / milk / butter in batches to avoid splashing.  The final product shouldn't be stiff -- no forks standing up in there.  Add more milk if needed.  Lastly, blend in the mascarpone and season to taste.

Rutabaga, Parsnip, and a Sunchoke recap

Here are three of the less common veggies we're getting this week, with some storage and use tips.  I'm trying to frontload the posts and give general ideas rather than specific recipes.

Rutabaga
A root vegetable, also called swedes (England) / yellow turnips (US) / turnips (Ireland) / neeps (Scotland), they are actually more closely related to cabbage.  To quote Samwise, "Roast 'em, Mash 'em, Stick 'em in a Stew."  They have a flavor similar to turnips, but better.  You can use them interchangeably in root veg recipes -- mash them with potatoes, put them in soups, roast them with other roots.  Store them loosely wrapped in plastic with your beets and turnips in the bottom of the fridge.  Fun fact:  The Irish traditionally carved rutabaga for Halloween (which was a Celtic holiday) -- pumpkins were an American development.

Parsnips
They look like fat white carrots, but they're sweeter and nuttier in flavor and richer in nutrition.  The centers can be woody if the weather was wrong, but those are still good for soups (remove the hard cores when ready to serve).  This is a fantastic veg to roast, and shines by itself.  Roast them with butter, cardamom, and coriander.  Another good use is to roast or mash them with the rutabaga and potatoes.

Sunchokes
I flogged this horse in the spring.  See here here and here.  We have a lot of interesting root veggies to roast or mash -- these work there, too!

Holiday Boxes!

I realized I want to post a preliminary share list for the week because 1) you're all making shopping lists and recipes for Thursday and 2) this is the holiday share box and it sounds HUGE.

David mentioned all of the following for the box this week:
beets, parsnips, potatoes (5-6lbs of red and gold), onions, garlic, parsley, chard, salad greens, radishes, turnips, rutabaga, apples, some frozen berries, winter squash (two kinds, I think, at least one good for pies), possibly sunchokes, and probably some prepared items (jams and berry syrups).  I know I'm leaving a couple of things out, too.  I think there's a good chance we'll see spinach, kale, and peppers, as well.

The reason I say huge is that David estimates our usual shares at a $35 box, at a discount over his wholesale items.  He puts these boxes closer to $60, with the discount.  Wait until Tuesday evening to do your grocery shopping if possible, so I can get a final list up.  I'll also find a couple of recipes for very holiday centered fare that includes the odder items... it will all feel very old world.

Go-to Greens and a Simple Miso

I know I tend to overuse the Mark Bittmann / Minimalist recipes, but they're generally so flexible, fast, and straightforward that it is hard not to do so.

This week's Minimalist would go well with any of the greens we have been / will be receiving (broccoli rabe, spinach, choy, kale, collards, chard, the nicer beet greens).  Not that you can go wrong with parmesan and garlic.  Fry an egg, and you have dinner in 25 minutes.

I mention making simple soups out of the vegetables we receive pretty regularly.  If you keep miso paste in the fridge (you should), this is a fast, healthy dish that can be as simple or as complex as you'd like.

Here is Alissa's go-to recipe soup.  Below is mine...

Twenty Minute Miso
dashi, vegetable, mushroom or chicken stock
   (the stock shouldn't be too strong or salty)
1/2 to 1 block tofu, drained and cubed
2 carrots, cut into thin rounds
2 small daikon, cut into thin half rounds
1 small onion, halved and sliced thinly
1 pinch dried wakame seaweed per serving of soup
   (You can use a handful of sliced greens if seaweed doesn't appeal)
miso paste to taste (roughly 1T per 2 cups soup volume)

optional:
thin sliced pork, browned, roughly 1/2 lb
1-2 burdock roots, peeled and sliced into rounds

Boil together everything but the miso paste.  When carrots are softish, turn off the heat and strain a bowlful of broth out.  Dissolve the miso into this broth and return to the pot.  Serve immediately.

Winter - Week 6 (Nov 15/16)

A couple of new items this week...

Hubbard squash (are these more manageable chunks working?)
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Onions
Red Pontiac potatoes
Yukon Gold potatoes
Black radish
Collard greens
Daikon
Winter red kale
Red beets
Turnips
Red Delicious apples
Golden Delicious apples
Bell pepper
Marisol pepper

MEAT: lamb loin (beef is being portioned out now)

Beets and Turnips -- Remove the greens, scrub the root clean, wrap them loosely in plastic, and keep in the crisper or the bottom back of the fridge.  The root will stay good for weeks this way.  The beet greens are definitely edible (use them like chard or spinach), but the turnip greens always look like hell this time of year.

Daikon -- This is a Japanese radish, and it literally means "large (dai) root (kon)".  The greens aren't bad but aren't great, and you can dispose of them without feeling too bad (or save them for soup stock).  The root is a crispy, mildly spicy radish.  Store loosely wrapped like beets and turnips, but remember they are a little more tender and won't keep as long.  I only ever use them in miso soup, but I make it pretty often.  They are also fairly tasty raw and as a quick pickle.  Try grinding them very fine (think apple sauce texture), mixing in a splash of soy sauce, and serving as a topping for grilled tofu, fish, or vegetables.  Another use:  shredded with carrots and tossed with a mix of sesame seeds, mild vinegar, and soy sauce.

Spaghetti squash -- This is a slightly tender winter squash.  Store it someplace cool and dark.  The flesh inside is stringy (thus "spaghetti"), but when roasted and scraped out, it is great topped with pasta-style sauces.

Potatoes and Onions -- Keep them cool and dark, with your winter squash.  These should keep most of the winter.

Cut winter squash -- David is hoping that the smaller pieces of winter squash are working for weekly use, particularly with the singles and small families who won't use up a whole hubbard in one fell swoop.  It should go right to the fridge, but I find it is keeping there for a couple of weeks if you're careful.

spaghetti squash, hubbard squash, spinach, golden and red delicious apples

top: onions, red potatoes, yukon gold, bell peppers, marisol pepper, black radish
bottom: beets, turnips

daikon, red kale and collards (red kale has red stems, I bundled them accidentally)

Winter - Week 5 (Nov 8/9)

Another typical fall share.  I'm happy to see the salad greens reappearing!  I was just starting to buy salad again in the grocery, so the seasons must be telling us it is time for some raw leafy things.  Salads are a great way to use thin sliced lemon cukes / kohlrabi / radishes / beets / peppers, or change it up and throw some roasted red onions and potatoes / winter squash on there with hummus and olives.

Some simple side dishes for you:
- fry some apple and kohlrabi slices in butter with a pinch of coriander or some other subtle spice.
- chop 3-4 slices of bacon into bits, fry them, toss halved brussel sprouts into the mix, serve when softish.
- the plums are soft.  Halve them, pit them, simmer them gently in a little water and light seasoning (think coriander, nutmeg, or a single clove).  Serve as a topping for pork chops, lamb roasts, or rice pudding.

Beets
Bell pepper
Mariachi pepper
Marisol pepper
Anaheim pepper
Poblano pepper
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
Lemon cucumber (soft, but sweet and crunchy inside)
Black radish
Kale (Siberian like last week, I believe)
Brussel sprouts
Banana squash
Mixed greens (wash 'em well)
Macintosh apple
Italian prune
tomatoes

potatoes and onions (they weren't on the list David put in my box, but they were in my box.  If you don't see them in yours, apologies... they were a small "guy who handles the blog" bonus)

Meat:  lamb roast

Top: Banana squash, potatoes, onions, tomato
Bottom: beets, black radish, plums, Macintosh apples

Top: Broccoli, lemon cukes, bell pepper, brussel sprouts
Bottom: Poblano, Anaheim, Mariachi, Marisol

Salad greens, kohlrabi, kale (Siberian I think)

Boxes

Just a reminder for everyone:  Please remember to bring back your boxes.  They're expensive, but very re-usable.  Also, labeling new boxes slows down the packing of the shares.

Winter - Week 4 (Nov 1/2)

I am excited to see more winter squash.  They can keep on the countertop or in the cupboard for months.  The Hubbard is sweet and dry, with good seeds for roasting and eating.  It has a thick skin, meaning it will keep well.  The buttercup lends itself to roasting and turning into a soup.  Both of these go very well in curried squash soups... cut them, remove the skin and innards, cube them, roast them in oil to make the sweet, mash them a bit, boil them with salt, basil, garbanzo beans, and Thai curry paste in coconut milk, mash it some more, and serve topped with cilantro and seeds (pumpkin or sunflower).  Perfect for the current weather.

Anaheim pepper
Bell pepper
Red Pontiac potatoes
Yellow onion
Bok choi
Turnip greens (a little yellow from the frosts, but fine)
Broccoli
Baby turnip
Spinach
Lemon cucumber
Swiss chard
Macintosh apple
Plums (a little wrinkly, but sweet)
Tomatoes
Hubbard squash
Black radish
Red meat radishes
Buttercup squash

MEAT: ground lamb

LtoR: Chard, Macintosh apples, plums, tomatoes, turnip greens

Clockwise starting left: Buttercup, lemon cuke, Hubbard squash
Anaheim peppers, bell pepper, bok choi

LtoR: Spinach, broccoli, baby turnips, black radish, red meat radish

It occurs to me that I put the potatoes and onion away in my potato basket before I got their picture.  There were pre-schoolers involved.

TIP:  Save your cuttings, such as the leaves from the broccoli, the tops of the radishes, and that one tomato you feel was a bit too squashed to eat.  They can be simmered with carrot peels, potato skins, the outer parts of onions, a few cloves of garlic, and herbs, to create tasty stock.  I keep a gallon ziploc in the freezer to collect the parts.  It is soup season -- you'll use them up quick, and it only takes about 30 minutes of simmering pre-soup-start to get a lot of flavor.

Throw in a couple of carrots and some tofu, and we have a full dinner that uses several of our ingredients.  Serve with rice and pickles or a salad.

MISO
dashi soup stock, or vegetable stock (or fish/shrimp/mushroom stock)
1 black radish, peeled, quartered and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, quartered and sliced
1-2 heads bok choi, sliced into ribbons
1/2 block extra firm tofu, cubed
2-6 Tbsp of miso paste

Boil all the veg and tofu together with the stock, until just tender.  Turn off heat, stir in miso paste until dissolved, and serve.  If it sits at all, be sure to stir before serving -- the miso will settle.

SESAME WINTER SQUASH
1 small winter squash, or 12 thin slices of a larger squash
2-3 Tbsp sesame oil
1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
3-5 Tbsp sesame seeds, split into two halves

Slice the winter squash into rounds or half moons, approximately 1/4-1/2" thick.  Toss with oil-soy sauce-sesame seed mixture and place on a cookie sheet.  Roast at 375 until pierced easily with a fork and just beginning to brown.  Serve, topped with the remaining sesame seeds.

Using Greens and Roots

First, a few pics and updates to help out.  The share included a kale that wasn't mentioned in the list -- Siberian Kale.  Great firm leaves that store well and taste great.

On roots and peppers...

Image from Kitazawa Seed Co.

One of our radishes was called a Chinese Red radish, but it isn't red on the outside.  It is also called a Watermelon, Red Meat, or Beauty Heart radish.  Great in a salad, as a quick pickle, or treated like a turnip (roasted, sauteed, mashed, or stirfried).  The peel can be eaten, and apparently the white outer flesh is spicier than the pink inner.

We also have a largish, black skinned radish.  It isn't dirty -- just black. These are supposed to have a stronger, peppery flavor.  Generally peeled before eating, the size and firmness holds up well to cooking.

(BTW, here is a great reference on radishes)

With the peppers, none of them are very hot.  The mirasol (reddish) and mariachi (yellowish) are both fruity, slightly spicy peppers for raw or cooked eating.  You'll recognize the poblano from chile relleno, and they're good stuffed or turned into a mole sauce.

On turnips and greens...
Trying to figure out what to do with those turnips and greens?  You can eat them by themselves, or you can eat them together.  Root vegetables make great accompaniments to their own greens, but they go well with others as well.

For these young turnips, you can eat them sliced with some nice cheese and apples.  Snacky dinner.

Or try this:

Roasted roots and greens
2 double-handfuls of cubed turnips, radishes, banana squash (3-4 cups?)
olive oil to coat
1-2 T diced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
spice according to taste (coriander, curry powder, garlic, or chili)
2 double-handfuls of chopped greens (kale, broccoli raab, turnip greens)

Toss the roots and garlic with olive oil and spices.  Roast in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes, or until nearly done (depends on how small your cubes are).  Mix in the chopped greens, add a little more oil if it is dry, and return to the oven until the greens are tender (5-10 minutes).  Serve, maybe with a splash of vinegar.
(This can be made a single dish meal if a can of rinsed garbanzos is added at the start.)

Winter - Week 3 (Oct 25/26)

Sorry, no pics.  I was moving the parts to make a new chicken coop while I had access to a truck.  Not a lot new, apart from the varieties of peppers we've received (most about the level of a banana pepper -- not hot) and the banana squash (large and orange, very sweet fleshed winter squash).

raspberries
spinach
tomatoes
San Marzano tomatoes
pears
Italian prunes
Macintosh apples
eggplant
marketmore cucumber
lemon cucumber
poblano pepper (dark green, mildly spicy)
mariachi pepper  (light green / yellow, not spicy)
mirasol pepper  (mid-green / red, not spicy)
green bell pepper
broccoli raab
bok choi
black radish
Chinese red radish
broccoli
baby turnip
banana squash
kohlrabi

MEAT:  ground lamb
    -- the beef is out for processing, but there is a couple of week queue

Winter - Week 2 (Oct 18/19)

Lots of greens this week.  Most of them are pretty hardy, so keeping them loosely wrapped in plastic in the bottom of the fridge should be sufficient.  The sorrel and spinach will want a little more babying, with some paper towel in the bag with the greens (in the crisper).  The radish and turnips can probably be kept loose in the crisper if you remove their green tops first (save for soup stock);  both roots are tasty raw with a strong cheese or roasted.

spinach
sorrel
parsley
pears
peaches
plum
tomatoes
broccoli raab
turnip greens
white pattypan squash
black radish
baby turnip
marketmore cucumber
Japanese cucumber
lemon cucumber
green bell pepper
mixed color miniature sweet bell
blue kale
golden raspberries
red raspberries

Meat share:  lamb loin roast

raspberries, peaches, pears, tomatoes, plums

sorrel, parsley, spinach

blue kale, turnip greens, broccoli raab

Recipes for sorrel

Sorrel

The sharp, almost citrusy green is more common abroad, particularly in Northern Africa, Russia, and South Asia.  Sometimes called lemon spinach, it adds a bright note to salads and an interesting taste to soups.  Below I'll include two different uses for it, but add it anywhere you're trying to make a sour soup.  These recipes are equally good with sorrel, arugula, cress, or any sharp tender green.

Creamy Greens Soup
2 cups of flavorful stock (broth from a pork or chicken roast is great)
4 cups of chopped greens (I used equal parts spinach and sorrel)
2 cups cream or milk
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the greens briefly in the stock, until tender.  Puree together if you want it really creamy (I didn't bother).  Add the cream / milk, warm it a bit, season to taste, and serve.

"Russian" variation -- add a cup of peeled, chopped beets to the boiling stock for 10 minutes before the greens.


Simple Sharp Green Salad
2 cups shredded greens (arugula, sorrel, basil with spinach)
1/2 cup feta or cotija cheese
1-2 cups of chopped tomato
drizzle of olive oil
spices to taste (I like a little red pepper flake or 5-spice)

The feta and tomatoes will bring down the harshness of the greens.  Toss this together and eat soon after.

Winter - Week 1 (Oct 11/12)

The first winter CSA delivery!!  We've seen almost all of these items before, but most of you are new members.  To get started, I'll give a few basic pointers.

Greens:  Wrap them loosely in paper towels, then in a plastic bag, and stick them in the crisper if you have room.  Hardier greens (broccoli greens, bok chois, cabbages, kales, chards) can handle being on the bottom shelf that way, but more tender items should get preferential drawer space.  If you need something easy to try out the greens, saute a little garlic in olive oil, then toss in a chopped up bunch of [insert green].  If it is bland, add salt and pepper or soy sauce.  If it is too bitter, splash with vinegar.

Summer squash:  All of these can be eaten as is, skin and all.  If in doubt, treat them like a zucchini, but slightly tougher.

Bell Pepper
Japanese cucumber
Marketmore cucumber
Armenian cucumber
Lemon cucumber
white pattypan squash
yellow squash
zephyr squash
black beauty eggplant **
white Swiss chard
turnip greens
bok choi
broccoli raab
brocco-flower
spinach
sorrel
bartlett pear
Oh Henry peach
tomatoes
Italian plum
red raspberries
yellow raspberries

Meat for the week:
ground sirloin (lean, use a little oil if frying)
ground lamb

** They miscounted the number of eggplants picking in the rain.  Three boxes were short -- those boxes will get an extra next week.

Sorrel, raab, and turnip greens all have good descriptions in this post.

LtoR:  sorrel, bartlett pears, peaches, spinach

LtoR: raspberries, tomatoes, plums, Armenian cuke, lemon cuke

LtoR: white pattypan, yellow squash, Japanese cuke,
marketmore cuke, bell peppers

LtoR: chard, turnip greens, bok choi, broccoflower, broccoli raab

DELAYED -- October 9th Farm Day

Too much rain and not enough sun between now and Sunday for garlic planting.  The Farm Day is being pushed back tentatively to October 16th.

Last Delivery of the Summer

Today is the last delivery of the summer CSA (well, of the extra week of hazard pay that went to those who made it through the spring).  Thank you all for a great season!

I would love to hear any feedback about the usefulness of the blog / FB / email (however you received the news).  Please drop me a line with criticisms, suggestions, go-to recipes, or glowing praises at produce@zoegarden.com

The news will continue to flow through this channel with the winter CSA, and we should have signups available for next summer sometime in March (unlike this year).

Week 20 + 1 Lists (the extra week)

Only a picture of new things this week.  Sorry, I'm hungry!

Top: Italian prune, marisol pepper, green bell
Bot: Asian pear, brown Asian pear, red pear

SMALL

raspberries

white pattypan squash

green bell pepper

broccoli

Armenian cucumber

marketmore cucumber

Japanese cucumber

lemon cucumber

marisol pepper

peaches

tomatoes

cantaloupe

Italian prune

red pear

Asian pear

bok choy

spinach

turnip greens

MEDIUM

crookneck squash

straightneck squash

zephyr squash

brown Asian pear

yellow raspberries

young spaghetti squash

LARGE

golden zucchini

green zucchini

green basil

purple basil

sorrel

cherry tomatoes

extra red pears

extra raspberries

extra brown Asian pears

October 9th Farm Day -- Plant some garlic

David would like to invite people to the farm on Sunday October 9th.  He'll be planting garlic bulbs for the spring and would love people to see the farm and help out.

1700 North Fort Lane, Layton, UT

I'm guessing it will be from 10-2.

Week 20 Lists

Please keep bringing back your boxes.  This last week or two, please bring bags to take your produce home in so that you can leave the boxes behind and not risk keeping them through the winter. The boxes are pricey and bump up the price of the shares when they have to be replaced prematurely.

This is the last regular pickup week for the season.  Those that weathered the very sparse spring with us (signup before June 22nd - email me if in doubt) will get an extra box next week in thanks for your early patience.  Don't forget to sign up for the winter CSA to keep the food flowing.  I have to accentuate just how special local seasonal produce is running through the winter.  It is incredibly hard to find!  I promise you will be missing all these fresh veggies before Thanksgiving rolls around -- guarantee your supply!

Top: white patty, cantaloupe, tomatoes, turnip greens
Mid: broccoli, pears, raspberries, okra, San Marzano tom, arugula
Bot: lemon cuke, nectarine, Marisol pepper, eggplant, Armenian cuke,
marketmore cuke, peaches, plums

SMALL
white patty pan
marketmore cucumber
lemon cucumber
Armenian cucumber
broccoli
nectarines
peaches
plums
spinach
arugula
tomato
San Marzano tomatoes
raspberries
turnip greens
cantaloupe
purple eggplant
okra
Marisol peppers
pears

Raab, golden raspberries, yellow squash, bitter melon,
yellow pattypan (Frankenstein'd with something)

MEDIUM
broccoli raab
yellow squash
bitter melon
golden raspberries
yellow pattypan
extra pears
extra red raspberries

Top: Napa cabbage, Japanese cuke, blackberries, strawberries, red cabbage
Mid: romas, cherry toms, green basil, purple basil
Bot: young spaghetti squash

LARGE
napa cabbage
Japanese cucumber
blackberries
strawberries
green basil
purple basil
purple cabbage
young spaghetti squash
cherry tomatoes
roma tomatoes
extra peaches
extra plums

New this week, we have okra, eggplant, and fresh basil.  All pretty straightforward.  Maybe place a paper towel in the bags with the basil to keep them fresh.  The okra and eggplant would probably benefit from being wrapped loosely in their plastic bags in the crisper.

That eggplant is an Asian variety -- a little skinny for the typical eggplant parmesan, but not impossible.  Try it in a stir-fry, tempura battered, or roasted with other vegetables.  After cutting them up for cooking, eggplants benefit from a bit of salting before cooking.  Salt them, leave them to sit wrapped loosely in a towel or paper towel for 30 minutes, then rinse them before cooking.  It will remove the excess moisture and improve texture.

The arugula is a little exotic to most people, but very accessible once you experiment a bit.  It is a very sharp, peppery green when raw, but just pleasantly bitter when cooked.  In smallish amounts, add it to salad.  It is also fantastic wilted by the heat of a meat or 'meaty' topping (tempeh has a nice quality, as does nicely crisped tofu) that is hot from the oven or skillet (think a bed of arugula greens topped by sliced pork roast, potatoes, and olive oil just before heading to the table).  This week, I did a quick saute of cottage bacon, onions, garlic, and apples, and put a triple handful of chopped arugula into the skillet as a pot of pasta finished up.  Toss it all together and tasty occurs (especially if a little cream finds its way into the mix).

Sign up for Winter Shares

The end of the summer shares and the beginning of the winter are creeping up on us.  If you'd like to be certain of being in the first week of veggies, sign up by Oct 4th.  That will give your first payment time to clear and us the time needed to get you on the lists.

That's one week!  Prepaid veggies until February!

Apples and no-spray

David wanted me to mention that the apples have some worm holes in them this week, and that he's aware they aren't as pretty as they could be.  There isn't a great deal of information on the timing of organic sprays to deter the bugs, and getting it right in terms of when the bugs are laying eggs is tricky.  The apples themselves are still fine, but there are a few worm holes in there.  At least you know they're healthy!

Week 19 Lists

SMALL

Armenian cucumber

White pattypan

Yellow pattypan

Crookneck squash

Peaches

Spinach

Turnip greens

Broccoli rabe (Rapini)

White peach

Arugula

Bartlett pear

Wealthy apple

Stanley prune

Raspberries

Tomatoes

Cantaloupe

Lemon cucumber

Top: Armenian cuke
2nd: crookneck, yellow and white pattypan
3rd: raspberries, white peach, prunes, peach, lemon cuke
Bot: cantalopue, Bartlett pear, Wealthy apple

Top: spinach, tomatoes
Bot: broccoli rabe (jaggedy), turnip greens (round)

MEDIUM

Zephyr squash

Flying saucer squash

Golden raspberries

Marketmore cucumber

Napa cabbage

Nectarines

Straightneck squash

Top: cuke, golden raspberries, nectarines, napa cabbage
Bot: flying saucer, zephyr, straightneck

LARGE

Beets

Doughnut peach

extra Peaches

Green cabbage

Sorrel (lemon spinach)

Young spaghetti squash

Straightneck squash

Golden zucchini

Green zucchini

Strawberries

Blackberries

Cherry tomatoes

Asian pears (nashi, apple pears)

Top: sorrel, cabbage, cherry tomatoes
Mid: young squash, Asian pears, beets, green and golden zuccs
Bot: jalapeno, strawberries, blackberries, doughnut peaches

Notice the 3-year old hand snaking another berry.  I had to snap
this pic in a rush because the strawberries were nearly gone and
she was starting on the blackberries. She does this weekly with the fruit.

Broccoli Rabe (aka Rapini, Rape, Broccoli raab)

A close relative of turnip greens, this jaggedy leafed green is very common in Italian cuisine.  Mine was missing the telltale florets that look like miniature broccolis, but you might find small yellow flowers on yours.  Store it loosely wrapped in plastic in the crisper.  It is all edible.  The most common dish for it is chopped and sauteed gently with garlic and olive oil for 15 minutes or so.  Serve tossed with pasta.

Turnip greens

Treat them as the broccoli rabe and you won't go wrong.  Traditionally served boiled with ham or bacon, these can be cooked up any of the ways you've found you liked kale, Chinese broccoli, bok choy, or collards.

Sorrel (aka Lemon spinach, Spinach dock)

This is a strong flavored green, very citrusy and bright.  The sourness comes from oxalic acid, the mildly poisonous ingredient that makes rhubarb so sour and sets your teeth on edge when you chew it.  (Don't worry, it is only poisonous in large quantities.)  It is a fantastic addition to salads, and is often used in soups and sauces.  I like tossing some with equal parts spinach, some sliced tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper, and feta cheese (or fresh Mexican cheese like cotija).

Asian pears (aka Nashi, Chinese/Japanese/Korean pear, Apple pear)

These look like small apples (or large brown apples in some varieties), but they taste like crisp, dry pears.  Imminently snackable.

Winter subscriptions are active!!

I wanted to put the link up for the Winter CSA signup through Farmigo.  We're good to go with all the details I mentioned before, but now you can register!

http://csa.farmigo.com/join/zoegarden/winter2011


The winter season starts October 11th.  Don't miss it!  Installment payments are available, and for those that want a bigger share, I noticed it is very easy to sign up for two shares at once.

Week 18 Lists

I'm sorry, but no pictures tonight.  I locked the keys to my car in the trunk after a meeting.  It was late when I got dinner and later still when I got back to the car with the spares.  The "new" stuff this week would be arugula (we saw it this spring, though), lemon cucumbers (they look sorta like lemons and have great flavor), watermelons, and apples.  That's all pretty standard, minus the arugula, which the medium and large share could confuse with their spinach by sight (but never taste).

David says the watermelon is always a gamble on how ripe it is.  Other melons are easy to judge, watermelon - not so much.  If it turns out to be too ripe, it is still totally edible just a little mealy in the texture.  Too green -- try salting it before you eat it, or blend it into smoothies, mixed drinks, or just dropped into a pitcher of water.

Sorry folks, but enjoy these heavy boxes!  Also, we'll have signups for the winter share available on Farmigo within the week (if I don't lock my computer in my trunk again).

I've been snacking my way through the cukes and the fruit, but I'm swimming in a sea of cabbage and summer squash.  I'll put up instructions for freezing the summer squash (great for slipping into winter soup and pasta sauce) and maybe I'll take a stab at REAL sauerkraut to share with you all.  All you need is salt, spice, a big pot, and a rock.  I'll wash the rock first, I promise.

SMALL
watermelon
cantaloupe
arugula
peaches
doughnut peaches
plums
tomatoes
raspberries
Armenian cucumber
white pattypan squash
yellow pattypan squash
kohlrabi
lemon cucumber

MEDIUM
golden raspberries
spinach
extra large watermelon
flying saucer squash
Japanese cucumber
young spaghetti squash

LARGE
extra raspberries
blackberries
extra tomatoes
apples (wealthy)
strawberries
cabbage
Napa cabbage
extra large watermelon
long bean

Winter Share Official

With some feedback from the members, we have the official details on the Winter Shares now. We should have Farmigo set up to accept your applications in about a week. Deliveries will start the week after the summer shares end.

What’s different about a winter CSA? Most farms don’t offer one! You’ll be able to enjoy fresh, seasonal produce grown by a local farmer through most of the winter. Weekly selections will come from the following:

· Pasture raised beef and lamb
· Fall storage crops such as potatoes, onions, beets, a wide variety of winter squash, turnips, cabbage, garlic, shallots, apples, pears, Asian pears, frozen berries and peaches, and fruit and berry preserves

· Fresh vegetables that don’t mind cool weather, such as kale, broccoli, chard, mustard, kohlrabi, mixed salad greens, spinach, brussel sprouts, microgreens, and probably even tomatoes, summer squash, and eggplants (at least through the end of the fall)


The details on the shares:

· Twenty weeks, starting October 11th
· A single size of share, roughly 1/3-1/2 bushel of produce per week
· A vegetarian box at $35/week, or add a couple of pounds of beef and lamb (ground and roast) for an additional $15/week
· Drops on Tuesday in Ogden (Harvest Moon), Salt Lake (Granato's), Holladay (Granato's), AND Wednesday in Park City (Recycle Center)
· Check our blog for more news, and we’ll provide links to the sign up: http://zoesgarden.blogspot.com/
· Email us at produce@zoegarden.com

A couple of recipes

Here's a recipe that uses kohlrabi AND summer squash that I found on the Straight from the Farm blog.  Visit their site -- they have good pictures of filling the empanadas.


Kohlrabi & Squash Empanadas
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated
2 medium kohlrabies, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large summer squash, cut into small cubes
2 large scallions, both white and green parts, finely cut
1 radish, minced (optional)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 box of pre-made pie crust or one batch homemade*
1 egg

In a medium skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger to brown.  Add kohlrabi cubes, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Toss well and cook 3 or 4 minutes until kohlrabi are softening a bit.  Add squash cubes and continue to cook for 4 more minutes.  Add scallions, radish, nutmeg and another pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well and cook for one minute before removing from heat.  Set mixture to this side to cool.

Roll out dough to be a little thinner than pie crust typically is.  If you are using pre-made crust from the store, run your rolling pin over it once or twice.   Using a cereal bowl or large circular cookie cutter, cut out 6 inch-ish circles from the dough.  It should yield about 15, give or take depending on your cutter and dough thickness.

Pre-heat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Prepare egg wash by beating egg with a teaspoon of water and set to the side along with a small bowl of water.

To make the empanadas, spoon one tablespoon of kohlrabi and squash mixture into the center of a circle of dough.   (It’s better to have less filling than too much or the empanadas won’t hold together. Feel out the right ratio that allows you to close off the dough without any filling popping out.)   Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the outside edge of the dough.  Fold dough over the filling to create a half circle.  Press down edges.  Carefully pick up the dough pocket and pinch edges (see photo) to seal them tightly.  A fork can also be used to crimp the edges if you want a less tedious method.

Repeat above process to finish all the empanadas, laying them on the lined cookie sheet when done.  With a fork, prick the tops once and brush with egg wash.   Bake for 8 minutes and turn over.  Bake another 5 to 7 minutes until deep golden brown and flaky.  Best served straight from the oven.

_________________

In case you've been throwing your beets and cabbage into the bottom drawer and forgetting about them, I harvested these from Simply Recipes:

Beet Hummus - you can use up our cucumbers dipping in it

Roasted beets with balsamic and orange zest glaze - side dish

Colcannon - Irish mashed potato and cabbage dish

Italian sausage and cabbage stew - cabbage stew doesn't sound super appetizing, but the recipe sounds pretty tasty

Week 17 Lists

Sorry for the late post, everyone.  Still adjusting to the school year - three kids in three schools!

A couple of items:

• Winter CSA - We should get the sign-ups onto Farmigo within two weeks.  We're assuming drops at Harvest Moon in Ogden, the Recycling Center in Park City, and the downtown and Holladay Granato's locations.
• Peaches and other soft fruit - David heard your complaints about the squashed peaches.  There's a certain amount of marking that happens up near the stems where the branch pushes on the peach.  He knows they're going into the boxes perfect (he has supervised extensively the last three weeks) and arriving in pretty good shape (that'd be me), but he thinks a combination of being perfectly ripe and subject to free-range cantaloupe rolling around in the box is leading to bruised fruit.  He has scavenged for plastic containers to keep them protected and has started picking them just a little greener to help the problem.  PLEASE RETURN ANY PLASTIC CONTAINERS TO KEEP COSTS DOWN AND ENSURE FRUIT SURVIVAL!  Heck, throw in your extra salad containers, fruit boxes, and lid-less tupperware.  Reduce, Reuse, then Recycle.
• Raspberries -- Red raspberries grown at elevation and heat (umm, most of Utah) get white patches of sun-spots (called "white drupelets", which sounds silly).  They aren't bad, moldy, or unripe.   Eat as usual.  Also, when they get to be very ripe they shrivel a bit, especially the goldens that are showing up in the shares this week.  David said, "They're ugly, I'm not going to deny it."  Also fine, just sweeter than usual and very soft.  Honestly, mine didn't make it home - they barely made it from the middle school to the preschool this afternoon.  Raspberry mold is big and furry -- you can't mistake it.  I promise you're not getting moldy raspberries.
• Bacon and Eggs -- Zoe's doesn't do pork anymore and can't do eggs at the moment.  I'm going to plug another local alternative.  Tonight my son made fried rice with Zoe's carrots, leeks, red cabbage, and garlic, and also eggs and a tiny handful of small-batch-cured "cottage bacon" from Clifford Farms.  That bacon was amazing, and her eggs are the only ones I'll use to replace my girls' when they aren't laying enough to fill our fridge.  They are just down the row (Eastward) from Zoe's at the SLC farmer's market.

top: cantaloupe, cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, spinach
mid: raspberries, plums, peaches, Old Germans, romas
bot: yellow and white pattypans, stright neck, zephyr, Arm. cuke

SMALL
spinach
yellow pattypan squash
white pattypan squash
zephyr squash
straight neck squash
peaches
plums
Roma tomatoes
Old German tomatoes
Armenian cucumber (actually a muskmelon, eat the skin)
cantaloupe
raspberries
cabbage
broccoli
kohlrabi

top: crookneck, Italian striped, Napa cabbage, bitter melon
bot: flying saucer, beets, golden raspberries

MEDIUM
flying saucer squash
Italian striped zucchini
Napa cabbage
crookneck squash
bitter melon (see last week's post for suggestions)
golden raspberries
beets

top: bok choy, green beans, spaghetti squash
mid: strawberries, long red beans, amaranth, Shiro plums, cherry toms, San Marzano
bot: doughnut peach, blackberries, Caspian pink, White wonder

LARGE
baby bok choy
Blue Lake green beans
young spaghetti squash
red long bean
amaranth
cherry tomatoes
Shiro plums (means "white" or "castle" in Japanese, but these are yellow and not made of stone)
strawberries
San Marzano tomatoes (the famous Italian sauce tomato)
white wonder tomato
Caspian pink tomato
blackberries
doughnut peaches (cutest things EVER)
extra plums
extra peaches

Winter CSA corrected

Based on early feedback and some internal discussions, we're going to shift the Winter CSA shares to smalls, with a vegetarian and meat eater option.  I updated the post below.

Winter CSA

We have word on the winter shares!  This is still up for debate / request, as it doesn't go forward if you the members aren't interested.  Please weigh in with what you'd like to see, by email if you're more comfortable with that (produce@zoegarden.com).  At the very least, let me know if you're interested so we can plan the planting scale.

Right now, David is considering

• Meat -- cold weather means he can deliver a couple of pounds a week without worrying.  There will be a vegetarian version for those that don't want meat.
• A single size of share, similar in volume and cost to our current Small shares (roughly 1/3-1/2 bushel a week, roughly $35/week).  We're still trying to determine costing of meat vs. non-meat.
• October through February (roughly 20 weeks) with a weekly drop (locations dependent on interest).  There would also be a bonus holiday box (probably at Thanksgiving) with extras of all of your favorite feasty foods like potatoes, onions, salad, winter squash, and pie apples.
• It focuses heavily on vegetables that ripen in the fall and store well (winter squash, apples, potatoes), but includes fresh tasty greens and vegetables that can extend into the fall with the use of high tunnels (spinach, tomatoes, salad greens).  All told, you're looking at over 30 different vegetables and fruits that could show up each week -- all local and in season! -- without being as dependent on the weather as the spring / summer veggies were.

Here is the projected crop list:

October and November

Meat:  Beef and Lamb

Storage crops:  potatoes, onion, beets, acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, buttercup squash, turnip, cabbage, garlic, shallots

Fresh veggies:  kale, broccoli, Chinese kale, Swiss chard, mustard, tomatoes, broccoli raab, radishes, pears, apples, Asian pears, eggplant, kohlrabi, raspberries,  mixed salad greens, spinach, (possibly) summer squash and cucumbers

December, January, and February

Meat:  Beef and Lamb

Storage crops:  Yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, onion, beet, sunchoke, acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, turnip, parsnip, rutabaga, carrot, frozen berries and peaches, fruit and berry preserves

Fresh veggies:  pear, apple, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, microgreens, microbasil, spinach

Week 16 Lists

Top: yellow pattypan, white pattypan, zephyr, straightneck,
broccoli, cucumber
Bottom: raspberries, tomatoes, green beans, peaches

SMALL
yellow pattypan
white pattypan
zephyr squash
straight neck squash
cantaloupe
cucumber
broccoli
raspberries
Blue Lake green beans
Regina peaches
tomatoes

Top: flying saucer, Armenian cuke, young squash, crookneck, beets
Bottom: plums, blackberries, roma tomatoes, kohlrabi

MEDIUM
Armenian cucumber
flying saucer squash
crookneck squash
beets
young spaghetti squash
blackberries
plums
kohlrabi
extra peaches

Swiss chard, Chinese green beans, bitter melon, wheat grass,
baby squash, cherry tomatoes, leek, corn

LARGE
Chinese green beans
Swiss chard
bitter melon*
cherry tomatoes
wheatgrass
baby squash
corn
extra raspberries
extra peaches
extra tomatoes
extra roma tomatoes
extra plums
extra kohlrabi


Bitter Melon
A tropical relative of cucumbers, pumpkins, and luffas (yes, your bath scrubby is named after a melon), this is among the most bitter fruits grown.  It is also being increasingly researched for health benefits (it features prominently in the cooking of Okinawa, one of the longer lived Japanese islands).  The Chinese like to use it in stir-fries, particularly with pork.  In Indian cuisine, it goes with potatoes and yogurt.  Strong spices like curry, and sour flavors like yogurt / vinegar, help to cut the bitterness.  Honestly, I had this vegetable prepared three or four different ways in Japan, and was never super excited to see it on the plate.  But I'll try again!

Armenian Cucumber
This isn't actually a cucumber, but a type of muskmelon.  Don't bother peeling it.  Eat it like a cuke, for a week if it is one of the bigger ones.  Crunchy and sweet.

Week 15 Lists

Heavy boxes this week!  Nothing new that needs a lot of information on storage.  I'll follow up tomorrow with some new recipes for the items we've received and some information on a fall/winter share.

top: cantaloupe, green beans, peaches, cabbage
bot: zephyr, sunburst, pattypan, crookneck squash
corn, raspberries

SMALL

White pattypan squash

Sunburst squash

Zephyr squash

Crookneck squash

Cabbage (last until late September)

Corn (done with this)

Peaches

Green beans (done with this)

Cantaloupe (some will be a little green)

Raspberries

Japanese cuke, flying saucer, beets, blackberries, broccoli

MEDIUM

Red beets

Flying saucer squash

Broccoli

Blackberry

Japanese cucumber

top: amaranth, Chinese green beans, wheat grass, baby squash, tomatoes
mid: purslane, candy striped beets
bot: Armenian cukes, kohlrabi, finger squash, mustard, chard

LARGE

Candy strip beets

Wheat grass

Baby squash (seriously, they're babies)

Cherry tomatoes

Chinese green beans

Armenian cucumber

Red amaranth

Mustard greens

Purslane

Kohlrabi

White Swiss chard

Finger squash

extra Raspberries