Eureka Organic Farm CSA Week 2 Newsletter, 7/2 and 7/5

What's in the share this week?

There's more than in this picture! See the end of the newsletter for the full list of veggies and their storage information. Pickups are Wednesday, 2-6 and Saturday, 9-12:30.

Farmer Seth's Field Notes

We split our time in the last week between harvesting for the first CSA pickup, planting out and hoeing our crops, and then making use of the NOFA Resilience Grant money that came our way in the spring. We applied for and won this grant at the start of the year, which gave us funding to continue renovating our farmstand. So far, we've insulated the farmstand side of the barn and finished the walls on the inside with locally milled pine boards. Many of our returning members commented that it was brighter in the barn, and that's why! The rest of the money will go towards wall coverings for the wash station and walk-in coolers, and building barn doors to enclose the farmstand fully. This will allow us to host classes in the fall and winter, and to store our crops for longer in the walk-in coolers so we can provide veggies for a greater part of the year.

Week 2 Announcements

• Our friends at Three Square Farm in Weathersfield will be pasturing their sheep and cows with us this year! They will be setting up their animals this upcoming weekend near our parking area, so you may see some new additions on our farm. Feel free to say hello, but please be mindful that their electric fences will be hot and should not be touched.

• We have three Easter Egger/Barred Rock roosters who are about 12 weeks old and looking for flocks to call their own. If you're looking to add Easter Egger genetics to your flock and would like to take one of these sweet boys home, please let us know.

Week 2 CSA Recipes

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

• Savory Zucchini Chard Muffins

• Quick Pickled Green Onions

• Coconut Rice with Bok Choy and Fried Eggs

• Really Quick Broccoli Pasta

• Creamy Dill Potato Salad

Vegetable List and Storage Information

Click the arrow next to each vegetable to learn more

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.

Bok Choy

Bok choy, which may be written as bok choi, bok choy, or pac choi, is a traditional stir-fry vegetable from China. Choy grows in elongated, upright heads of dark green leaves with large, white stems. The leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, while the crisp stems can be used like celery or asparagus. To store: Cut off any yellow leaves. Store wrapped loosely in plastic bag (or a Green bag) in the refrigerator. To prep: Wash and removed any damaged yellowing leaves. Cut off the root tip — about an inch worth. If the stems are thick, cut the leaves from the stems and cook them separately a few minutes before you add the leaves. To freeze: Cut the stems from the leaves and chop to desired size. Store those separately. Cut the leaves into ribbons or squares or keep whole. Store separately from stems. Bring salted pot of water to a boil. Boil the leaves in boiling pot of water for 90 seconds. Douse in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the leaves and squeeze out moisture. Place in Ziploc freezer bags, removing as much air as possible. Put in freezer. Blanch the stems separately for 2 minutes. Douse in ice water and drain before packing into separate Ziplocs.

Broccoli

Broccoli is a member of the brassica family, which also includes cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale and kohlrabi. All of the brassica vegetables contain bioflavonoids that help reduce the risk of cancer. To store: Wrap broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Store for a week. To prep: For organic broccoli, soak head upside down in cold salted water (1 teaspoon salt to 8 cups of water) for 30 minutes to remove any hidden field worms. Any critters will float to the top. You can eat the stalks, leaves, and head of broccoli. Break the head into florets of desired size. Then use a peeler or paring knife to cut the tough skin off the broccoli stalk, and cut into equal size pieces. The stalks will require a few extra minutes of cooking time. To freeze: Cut into florets. Blanch in boiling water for three minutes or steam for five minutes. Remove and dunk in ice water for 5 minutes. Drain. Individually quick freeze.

Collards

Collards are a heartier leaf like kale. To store: Wrap the leaves in a Debbie Meyer green bag and store in the crisper. Use within a week if possible or until the leaves turn yellow. To prep: Remove the stem with a knife. Use the leaves for wraps, stirred into soup, braised with bacon, in a stir-fry, pesto, chili, salads, or served alongside ham hocks. To freeze: Blanch 4 minutes in boiling salt water. Soak in ice water bath for 4 minutes. Drain, let dry, and pack into Ziplock containers.

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

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.

Potatoes

We have partnered with a local farmer to bring you these potatoes, grown using only organic methods. To store: Keep unwashed potatoes in a cool, dark, dry place, such as a loosely closed paper bag in a cupboard. They will keep for two weeks at room temperature. Light turns them green, and proximity to onions causes them to sprout. Don’t put them in the refrigerator, as low temperatures convert the starch to sugars. To prep: Scrub well and cut off any sprouts or green skin. Peeling is a matter of preference. In soups, the skins may separate from the flesh and float in the broth, but when baked, pan- fried or roasted, the skins acquire a crisp, crunchy texture. To cook: Boil potatoes in water for 20-30 minutes until tender. If desired, mash them. Use potatoes in soups, hash browns, and salads. Roast sliced or whole small potatoes with fresh herbs, salt, and olive oil at 400 degrees until tender, about 20 minutes. To freeze: Cool cooked or mashed potatoes and freeze them in a Ziplock bag.

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.

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!

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.

Zucchini/Summer Squash

Summer squash is a general term for 70 different types of fast- growing, tender-skinned, soft-fleshed squash. Zucchini is the most famous, followed by yellow squash (either straight or crookneck), and scallops (or patty pan) which look like flying saucers. To store: Store squash unwashed in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable bin. In the refrigerator they keep for about a week. To prep: Rinse under water to remove the dirt or prickles, and slice off the stem and blossom ends. Then slice or chop. Scrape out seeds from baseball bat sized zucchinis before using them to bake. To use: Slice tender, young summer squash raw into salads. Try them in stir-fry or with pasta. Lightly steam (4-5 minutes) and dress them with fresh herbs or pesto. Or coat squash lightly in oil and roast at 350 degrees whole or sliced in half for 15-45 minutes. Stuff whole squash with your favorite stuffings. Bread them and make zuke fries. To freeze: You can freeze grated zucchini for use in breads and muffins. Squeeze as much liquid out as possible before adding to the freezer bag.