First Summer CSA Pickup for 2019!!

Welcome to the first Summer CSA Pickup of the 2019 season!! We have had beautiful weather for planting the last few weeks. Despite some challenges earlier this spring – the late heavy snow in March and terrible April flooding – we still have plenty of veggies to offer for the first pickup. In your share this week you’ll see spring planted crops like hakurei turnips, overwintering crops like sweet onions and garlic, and storage crops like potatoes and heirloom dry beans. Thanks to the huge diversity we grow, there’s always plenty of veggies to keep the farm pantry full. All this should make for bountiful baskets throughout the summer!!

And what’s for dinner tonight? Well since today’s a little drizzly, it might be nice to make some lively spring soup using our potatoes, green garlic, chard (pictured above), and a sprinkling of our radish microgreens to warm all the nooks and crannies. Or maybe roasted onions and turnips, nudged toward the exotic with turmeric and chickpeas. Or a quick coconut milk curry featuring our creamy Tetsukabuto Squash…

You’ll find recipes for all these fabulous fixins’ and more at Cook With What You Have. If you’re a CSA member, you will find your Access Key in the most recent farm email. Enjoy 24/7 access to recipe inspiration!

We still have a few spots available in the CSA so feel free to let your friends know they can still get in on the bounty with a prorated Summer CSA share share starting next week.

This week your share may include…

• Dry Beans: This Jacob’s Cattle variety is an heirloom from Prince Edward Island. Listed on the Slow Food Arc of Taste, it is favored by many cooks as a baked bean because of the rich and nutty flavor. It also holds up well to long cooking.
• Green Garlic: Lovely plump garlic stalks for you in the share today. Green garlic is planted alongside our storage garlic in the fall. It grows a vigorous root system through the winter, and pushes up its little green stalks in the spring. We harvest green garlic now – when the greens are tender and before it has much of a bulb.  Similar to leeks – the white part is most tender, but the green tops have good garlic flavor too. Enjoy these little beauties while they last!
• Sweet Spring Walla Onions: We call them spring onions to differentiate them from storage onions. This time of year the spring onions have beautiful leaves & stems on them which can be used like just like a green onion. This particular variety is one of the sweetest!
• Yellow Potato: These yellow Nicola potatoes are great roasted, steamed or boiled.
• Radish Microgreens: Zesty little treats make a nice topping for soups, salad or sandwiches. They also have even more nutrition per ounce than their full grow grown counterparts.
• Tetsukabuto Squash: So many people think of “winter” squash as something to be eaten only in the fall. We’d like to expand your understanding of that concept! Squash like the Japanese Tetsukabuto are metabolic miracles – with little to no special treatment, they hold through the long winter, spring and into the early summer. Tetsu is not commonly grown or eaten in the US, although it is popular in its country of origin (Japan) and has also been wildly popular in Brazil since the 1960’s. Try it and we think you’ll like it!
• Hakurei Salad Turnips: The golf ball size turnips are mild & crunchy with a hint of sweetness. Use them raw as a snack or sliced into salad. The greens are also tasty and mild enough for use in salad, or can be sautéed.
• Cherry Tomato Starts: Since the tastiest cherry tomatoes are those picked straight off the plant and popped directly into your month – we’re sending you home with a baby plant. This way, you can grow your own. You’ll be amazed at how easy these are to grow – they just need a little bit of sun, occasional water, and voila! In a few months you’ll have yummy little fruit on your doorstep. These will also grow just fine in a pot – at least 5 gal or larger. Trellis them to keep more fruit off the ground – or just pick the ones off the top.

Coming soon… A Whole Summer Full of Yummy Veggies!