In Your Share (March 30th edition)

GiantCauli-112x150This was one of our giant cauliflower heads from a few years ago. What we’re harvesting now aren’t quite this big, but the overwintering cauliflower is always the best tasting of the season. It is a long process to bring you these heads…
We seed in June
Transplant in July
Weed & water them all summer
Watch them grow through the fall
Then in a good year like this one, we harvest a bumper crop 10 long months later in April!!

Don’t forget to sign up for then Summer CSA Share asap. We’ve been having beautiful spring and getting lots of planting done which will mean bountiful baskets of veggies for the summer season. Hope you can join us!!

Lots of tips for all the veggies in the share at our exclusive CSA recipe site Cook With What You Have. Check your email for the password to access the site and enjoy your 24/7 access to recipe inspiration!

This week your share may include…

  • Carrots: The sad news is that these are the last of the sweet winter carrots.  The good news is that we just seeded spring carrots for the summer share!
  • Cauliflower: So exciting to have our first over wintering cauliflower harvest this week.
  • Chard: Beautiful rainbow chard.
  • Collards: I always thought that Mr. Vates was the plant breeder responsible for our Vates variety collard greens. In fact, I was informed not long ago by John Navazio that Vates actually stands for Virginia Tech Extension Center, the birthplace of this particular variety. It is a great tasting, super productive, late flowering, open pollinated collard green. Yet another reason to appreciate the long tradition of land grant universities, established in 1862 by President Lincoln when he signed the Morrill Act  into law. There are now agricultural colleges in every state & territory, including our very own Oregon State University.
  • Kale: Beautiful Red Ursa is the gift that keeps on giving.
  • Leeks: The white stalks are tender, yet also hold up to long cooking or braising.  The darker green ends make great soup stock.
  • Mizuna: Nice to have some tender frilly fresh spring greens in the share!
  • Parsley: The plants survived the winter and have started to regrow so we have a little sampler for you.
  • Peppers: These are NOT HOT. They are dried Jimmy Nardello SWEET peppers. Use them like you would a dried tomato.
  • Radish: These cute little bunches add a bit of zing to snacks or salads!
  • Red Onions: I used these to make the roasted cauliflower featured in your recipe packet this week and also made some quick pickles.

Coming soon…  next week is the Last Winter Share!!