In Your Share (April 24th edition)

This is the last week of the winter CSA. Does that mean that this rainy winter weather is going to end soon? We hope so!! It also means that you should make sure and sign up for the Summer CSA if you have not done so already. We’d love to have you can join us : )

Beautiful beans in the share this week! We have been growing dry beans for the CSA for several years now. What started as a small experiment has blossomed into a half acre of tasty varieties. You had Calypso (aka Orca or Yin-Yang bean) with its characteristic back and white markings in your share a few weeks ago. This time you’ll get to chose from Good Mother Stallard and Irish Creek Annie. Rancho Gordo, known to many foodies as THE source for heirloom dry beans puts Good Mother Stallard on their short list of all time favorites and suggests that you “prepare them simply and avoid the natural tendency to want to make them better by fussing about. Enjoy them without all the trappings to really get the most out of them.” The other variety this week is Ireland Creek Annie, a nondescript buff colored bean that makes up for its boring looks with delicious flavor. Thank you Uprising Seeds for bringing this variety to our attention! We agree that these beans “cook down to a deliciously rich, creamy texture. Excellent for soups, sauces, and spreads.”

And if you join us for the Summer CSA you’ll get to try even more eclectic and tasty varieties of dry beans but make sure and sign up this week!! We’ve been slogging through the mud for months now, not just to harvest your winter veggies, but also to seed, transplant and weed your delicious food for the summer.  All we need now is some LOVE from our members in the form of sign ups : ) The Summer CSA starts mid-May, but early memberships help us get a jump on the season so help us out by signing up TODAY!!

This week your share may include…

• Dry Beans: Several tasty varieties to choose from!
• Overwintering Cauliflower: Such a lovely addition to the spring share! These are challenging to grow in some ways – baby transplants must must survive the heat, weeds and bugs of summer then the freezing cold of winter. The good news is that once they make it into spring they are ahead of most weeds, pests and diseases : ) It takes a special variety – and we’re always up for trying any new (and old) ones we can get our hands on. This year they were quite successful so you can look forward to enjoying them at this pickup and the next one too!
• Cayenne Peppers: Great with Greens & Beans : )
• Collard Greens: The gift that keeps on giving
• Spring Raab: Spring + Brassicas = Yummy Raab (aka Rapini/Broccolini/Florettes/Flowering Mustard/Rabe)
• Leeks: Lovely winter leeks. This is perfect weather for a potato leek soup or a leek galette.
• Red Potatoes: Yum : )
• Purple Sprouting Broccoli: All parts of this cute little broccoli are edible – leaves, stems and florette are all tender and tasty!
• Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat:  Oregon Sweet Meat is an old variety bred for production in the Willamette Valley. Recently, local author and seed breeder Carol Deppe, spent a few years improving the variety and called her selection Oregon Homestead. We appreciate her hard work and really like the squash! Try any of these recipes for roasted winter squash.

Coming soon… Summer Share!