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.
Farmer Christine's Field Notes
June is a hectic month for farmers. After the winter off, we're still getting into the swing of harvesting again, but with loads of planting left to do. Last week was a scorcher too! Thankfully we had a great crew to help us out, so we spent the first part of the week harvesting and then the slightly less hot days planting out another round of cauliflower and some kohlrabi, which were watered in by the rain all weekend so they should have a good start. The weeds have been enjoying the rain as much as the vegetable plants, so weeding was high on our list, and a bit of seeding in the greenhouse too. Our tomatoes are loving the heat of course, which means we have to spend more time trellising, and since I ran out of trellising hooks for the tomatoes and had to purchase some new ones. These new hooks don't come with twine attached so you may see me winding twine at the CSA pickup on Wednesday. You're welcome to twine a hook or two with me!
I also put in some time over the weekend in editing the new CSA Member Resource Library, which has become an online course called Eat Like a Farmer. This course is full of information about how to use up and save every bit your vegetable share. It's for those days where you feel overwhelmed by the abundance of fresh veggies coming your way. Membership in the course is included with your CSA membership, and you can sign up here. The email that I sent out about this newsletter has a coupon code for 100% off the course for CSA members, please don't pay for the course if you purchased a share! I haven't run a course on this platform before, so please message me with any technical difficulties and we'll figure it out together.
Week 2 Announcements
We'll have a limited quantity of eggs from our own hens available for purchase at the farmstand on Wednesday. Eggs are $4.50/dozen for CSA members and $5.50/dozen for non-CSA members. Our hens are fed organic, soy-free grain from a Vermont grain mill, and they spend their time scratching in the dirt and begging for treats.
If you're going to miss your CSA pickup, please message me on our farm phone line at 802-727-7187 by the end of the day Wednesday. I can pack up a share for you and we can arrange for you to pick up your share on Thursday. If you know in advance that you won't be able to pick it up like for a vacation, we encourage our members to offer their share to a friend or neighbor for that week. All your replacement has to do is give me your name, and they'll be good to go!
Week 2 CSA Recipes
These recipes are here to inspire you to use your share this week!
Vegetable List and Storage Information
Amaranth, Hopi Red - A nutty tasting cooking green, Amaranth is another 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. They are on par with Lambsquarter for nutrient density. 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.
Beets, Baby Size - Beets come in many colors -- red, gold, pink. You can eat the green tops too! To store: If your beets still have greens attached, cut them off, leaving an inch of stem. Store the beet roots, with the rootlets (or "tails") attached, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks. To prep: Just before cooking, scrub beets well and remove any scraggly leaves and rootlets. If your recipe calls for raw beets, peel them with a knife or a veggie peeler, then grate or cut them according to the recipe. To remove the skins, you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will slip right off. To freeze: Boil or bake beets until done. Cool them in ice water or let them come to room temperature. Remove peels. Trim the beets into 1/4 inch slices or keep them whole (if they are small). Place in Ziploc freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze.
Cilantro - Cilantro looks like parsley, but has a strong smell and flavor. It is used in ethnic cuisine — Asian, Indian, and Mexican (especially salsa). Since it doesn’t stand up to much heat, it is usually added to a dish right before serving. This plant grows in cool weather conditions, so you won’t see it in the heat of the summer months. If you want cilantro to make salsa later, take some now and freeze or dry it! 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 stem and leaves with a butcher knife. The stems and flowers can be eaten too. To freeze: Mince well. Place Ziploc freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze.
Lambsquarter - An ancient green, Lambsquarter is not commonly cultivated today. It's other names include wild spinach, as it tastes very similar. Lambsquarter contains more iron and protein than raw cabbage or spinach, more calcium and vitamin B1 than raw cabbage, and more vitamin B2 than cabbage or spinach. 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 lambsquarter 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.
Lettuce Heads - To store: Store unwashed lettuce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried with a spinner, place back 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: Slice the head at its base with a knife and let the leaves fall open. Discard any damaged or leathery outer 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, although lettuce can be mixed with other greens, blanched, and pulverized to make green cubes.
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!) 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 - 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!
Snap Peas - To store: Use as soon as possible within 4-5 days of harvest. Refrigerate in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer. To prep: Wash well. Snap off the ends and remove the string if present. To cook: Eat young, fresh snap peas raw. Put them on top of a salad. Add raw peas to stir-fry or soup in the last stages of cooking. Steam peas until just tender-crisp, for three minutes. Toss with butter, olive oil, cream, vinaigrette, or pesto. To freeze: Peas freeze well but will lose their crunchy texture. Remove stems/strings. Blanch peas for 1 minute, rinse under cold water, drain, and pack into Ziploc freezer bags.
Spinach - 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.
Summer Squash/Zucchini - 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. If you get a giant-sized zucchini, use it for making zucchini bread. It will be too tough and seedy for other recipes. 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.
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.
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