In Your Share (Week of April 10th)

Cute little heads of cauliflower! And plenty of BIG heads too. I was worried through the snowpacolypse that we might lose this crop. Happily, the temperatures didn’t go much below 15 degrees and we had some snow cover and the varieties showed amazing fortitude. So 9 months after planting – voila! We have happy cauliflower for you this week.

Make sure and sign up for the Summer CSA this week!! We’ve already bought all the supplies & hired all the folks needed to grow your delicious food for the summer so now all we need is some LOVE from our members in the form of sign ups : ) Early memberships help us get a jump on the season so help us out by signing up TODAY!!

This week your share may include…

  • 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!
  • Collard or Kale 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.
  • Yellow Potatoes: Yum : )
  • Purple Sprouting Broccoli: All parts of this cute little broccoli are edible – leaves, stems and florette are all tender and tasty!
  • Red Ursa Raab: The flowering tips of the kale can be used just like you would the Purple Sprouting Broccoli or like Kale leaves.
  • Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat or Sibley Squash:  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! Sibley is n outstanding heirloom. It is teardrop shaped, dusty blue to peachy in color, with sweet deep orange flesh. The amazing flavor combined with its cultural significance has earned it a spot in the Slow Food Arc of Taste. An excellent keeper, this variety was popular in the midwest back to at least the 1840’s, believed to be of Native American origin, possibly from Mexico; it was introduced commercially by Hiram Sibley & Co. of New York in 1887. Try any of these recipes for roasted winter squash.

Coming soon… Summer Share!