Eureka Organic Farm CSA Week 1 Newsletter, 6/25 and 6/28

What's in the share this week?

See the end of the newsletter for the full list of veggies and their storage information.

First Pickup of the Season

Welcome! We're glad you're here. With this hot weather we've been hustling early to get the veggies in and prepped for the first CSA pickups of the season, which will be on Wednesday, 6/25 from 2-6pm and Saturday, 6/28 from 9-12:30pm. The veggies are looking good and we're ready for you.

When you arrive at the farm, parking will be by the greenhouse AFTER the house driveway. You will see where cars can park. We ask that you walk over the hill to the big barn where we will be distributing our vegetables. If you have mobility issues and require a shorter walk, the house driveway is open to you.

We will have our barn set up like a farmstand, and you will check in with Christine or Seth who will tell you how many of each type of vegetable you can take home this week. If you haven't paid for your share yet, please bring a check or card with you to CSA pickup. Then you can fill up your reusable bags and head home to get cooking!

Farmer Christine's Field Notes

Last week was all about squeezing in a few more plantings before harvesting begins, and staying on top of hoeing. When you turn an old cow pasture into a vegetable field, the grass won't to give up easily. Thankfully, after three years of weeding and planting, our main fields are relatively grass free, and now we are up against some other persistent weeds. Our plants are holding their own and we're hopeful that with the heat this week we can do some serious hoeing that will set us up for success for another few weeks.

We snuck in a second planting of broccoli, some bok choy, and another round of onions into the field. We started bed prepping for melons and winter squash, and trellised the pole beans and tomatillos. Next up for trellising are the tomatoes -- a big task as we have 600 of them.

We also saw the first monarch butterfly of the season over the weekend. The beavers are back in their pond and we have to come up with a way to encourage them to move upstream. The tomatoes are growing in their greenhouse, the kids are out of school for the summer, and the goat is happy to be the recipient of vegetable trimmings from harvest once again (she baas at me constantly). A new farm cycle is starting all over again and we're thankful to be here.

Week 1 Announcements

• We have a very limited amount of kale, spinach, and salad turnips this week. These items will be up for grabs, but they are an either/or item which means if you take one, please don't take the others. Our plants are revving up and we expect much more of these good things throughout the season.

Week 1 CSA Recipes

These recipes are here to inspire you to use your share this week!

• Crunchy Veggie Cream Cheese

• Eggs Nested in Sauteed Chard and Mushrooms

• Amaranth Dal

• Radish Salad

• Arugula and Garlic Scape Pesto

Vegetable List and Storage Information

Amaranth, Hopi Red - A nutty tasting cooking green, amaranth is a vegetable richer in vitamins and nutrients than many of our more common veggies today. Pound for pound, amaranth greens have more protein than spinach and chard, almost twice as much Vitamin C, and more fat, carbs, calcium and iron than the other two leafy greens. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. Spin dry. To cook: Add uncooked, minced tender tops to a mixed green salad. Blanch Amaranth until it wilts, 2-4 minutes, or steam for 5-8 minutes. Sauté greens and stems until tender in a covered pot or large sauté pan with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and garlic or onion. To freeze: Blanch washed greens for 1 minute. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process, drain, and pack into airtight containers. Freeze.

Arugula - Arugula has a peppery, slightly bitter flavor. It is stronger than most lettuces, so it’s often paired with other greens. Mature arugula has sturdy leaves, whereas baby arugula tends to be more tender and milder in flavor. Hotter weather makes for spicier leaves. To store: Arugula is highly perishable. Store in the fridge inside a perforated plastic bag. If you decide to wash it first, be sure to spin the leaves dry before placing them loosely into a Green Bag with a dry paper towel to absorb the moisture. To freeze: Blanch leaves in boiling water or steam for two minutes, followed by soaking in ice water. Remove from ice water and drain well. Freeze "balls" of arugula on a cookie sheet in individual portions. When frozen, pop them into a Ziploc bag.

Dill - To store: For short-term storage, stand upright in a container with an inch of water. Then cover the herbs loosely with a plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. To prep: Chop the leaves and stem before cooking. To cook: Use dill as a standard in pickling. It also combines well with green beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, parsnips, potatoes, spinach, cucumber, squash, eggplant, and eggs. To freeze: Trim off the long stem ends leaving only an inch attached to the feathery foliage. Place a couple of sprigs together inside a resealable plastic freezer bag; press out all of the air and seal. When you need fresh dill for a recipe, remove the frozen sprig and snip off what you need while still frozen. Do not let it thaw.

Garlic Scapes - The scape is the flowering part of the garlic plant that emerges in June. Farmers cut the scape before it blooms to redirect energy back to growing the bulb. It has a milder garlic taste and can be substituted for garlic. These scapes were organically grown by a farmer friend in Weathersfield. To store: Store scapes unwashed in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To prep: Chop off the very tip and woody parts of the stem. Then mince finely and use in place of garlic. To use: Garlic scapes can be chopped or diced raw into green or pasta salads, sautéed in place of bulb garlic, sprinkled onto pizza, eaten raw, or used anywhere garlic flavor is desired. They're also great grilled. To freeze: Scapes can be chopped and flash frozen in Ziplock bags.

Kale - THIS IS AN EITHER/OR ITEM. Kale is a member of the brassica family. Kale comes in blue-green, reddish green, and red varieties and may have flat or curly leaves. All types of kale have thick stems. It has a mild cabbage flavor when cooked. To store: Place kale unwashed, wrapped in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Best used very fresh, but may last for a week. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. If your greens have thick stems, you must remove them. Fold each leaf in half and slice out the stem. Then stack the leaves up and slice them diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips. To use: Sauté in olive oil. Use in soups, spaghetti sauce, pesto, quiche, or kale chips. You can also eat the stems. To freeze: Remove stems and chop or tear kale roughly. Put raw into plastic bags, squeeze out air, and freeze. May also be blanched and frozen like spinach.

Lettuce Mix - To store: Place lettuce mix in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel in the bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Use within 4 days. To prep: Discard any damaged or leathery leaves and tear large leaves into bite-size pieces. Wash leaves in a basin of cold water. Dry in a salad spinner. To freeze: Not recommended.

Radishes - (Save the greens to eat too!) To store: Remove radish leaves if they are still attached. Store the unwashed greens in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator. Store radish roots unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 1 week. To prep: Scrub radishes well. Trim off the stem and rootlets. To use: Eat radishes raw with a sprinkle of salt. Slice radishes into matchsticks or grate them and add to slaws and salads. Try small young radish leaves in salads or scrambled eggs. Blanch whole radishes in boiling salt water for 5-10 minutes, or steam them until just tender, 8-12 minutes. Top with butter, salt, and pepper or with a vinaigrette. They’re also great grilled and pickled. Radish greens are slightly hairy and are best cooked or blanched.

Salad Turnips - (Save the greens to eat too!) THIS IS AN EITHER/OR ITEM. Turnips are a root vegetable, related to arugula and radishes, which are members of the mustard family. Large or old turnips can be unpleasantly “hot” if not cooked properly or combined with the proper vegetables (like potatoes), but younger and salad turnips add great zip to dishes. They are best in the fall or spring, when they are small and sweet. To store: Remove the greens from the turnips and store in a plastic bag to use within 3 days. The turnip roots should be stored in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge for up to a week. To prep: Cut off the green tops (which can be eaten as well). Wash and cut the white roots into wedges or slices. To cook: Serve raw with dip in a veggie tray. Or grate and add them to a salad. Turnips are delicious when roasted with other root vegetables (like carrot, potatoes, rutabaga, garlic). Add a turnip or two to your favorite mashed potato recipe. Or add them into soups and stews. To freeze: Blanch for 3 minutes in hot boiling water. Cool in ice water for 3 minutes, drain and pack into freezer containers or freezer bags.

Scallions - Also known as green onions, these can be used anywhere you use onions, but their green tops are more delicate and lend themselves well to raw eating. To store: Chop off the top inch of the tender green tips and stand the scallions in an inch of water in a tall container covered loosely with a Ziplock bag, refreshing the water every 3 days. To prep: Remove roots. Chop the leaves and stem before cooking. To use: You can eat the entire scallion. Rinse scallions in cold water and snip off anything that’s floppy. Use chopped scallions as a garnish; they are less pungent. The minced greens of scallions are a good substitute for chives. Use them in stir-fry. Use scallions in almost any recipe calling for onions, raw or cooked. They are excellent in soups and stew. To freeze: Chop into desired size and place on cookie sheet and freeze. Then pop into a Ziplock baggie and store in the freezer. You can even freeze the green tops!

Spinach - THIS IS AN EITHER OR ITEM. To store: Keep dry, unwashed greens in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. Spin dry. To cook: Add uncooked spinach to a mixed green salad. Blanch spinach until it wilts, 2-4 minutes, or steam for 5-8 minutes. Sauté greens until tender in a covered pot or large sauté pan with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and garlic or onion. Watch for color to brighten as this signals it is done. To freeze: Blanch washed greens for 1 minute. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process, drain, and pack into airtight containers. Freeze.

Swiss Chard - Swiss chard has expansive, pocketed leaves with stems in a spectrum of colors: red, white, green, yellow. It is actually in the beet family but doesn't develop a bulb. Its leaves are more tender and delicate than other greens. Eat small leaves raw in salads and blanch or steam larger leaves. You can freeze chard for recipes later. To store: Keep dry, unwashed greens in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. Remove the thicker stems by folding the leaves down the center and cutting out the stem. Stack several leaves on top of each other and slice into 1-inch wide ribbons. To use: Add uncooked greens to a mixed green salad. Steam stem pieces 8-10 minutes, and leaves 4-6 minutes. Or sauté greens until tender in a large sauté pan with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and garlic or onion. Watch for color to brighten as this signals they are done. Serve cooked chard alone as a side dish or use them in soup or with pasta, beans, rice, or potatoes. Chard also goes great in stir-fries or in any recipe calling for spinach. To freeze: Blanch washed greens for 2-3 minutes. Rinse in cold ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and freeze.