CSA report
CSA report: Landisdale Farm, week 11
Saturday, August 16, 2008
It’s depressing to walk up the Landisdale Farm stand at Clark Park, see the gorgeous tomatoes they’ve got on sale, and then not get any tomatoes in your CSA share from them. It is. But at least the size of the share is a little bigger this week, even if there are no tomatoes.
- Three heads of lettuce. For the love of pete, I can’t take the lettuce! Do they grow this stuff in a place where the lettuce never bolts? I feel guilty that all the lettuce ends up in the compost heap, but who eats that much lettuce?
- Three small heads of cabbage
- Three green bell peppers and two purple bell peppers
- Eight red potatoes
- Six shallots. Something unexpected and interesting! I’m thrilled to have the shallots!
- A pint of plums
- Two bunches of swiss chard
So...what’s on the agenda for meals this week? I’ll probably roast the peppers and freeze them, along with the chard (I have tons of it in the garden right now for fresh eating).
With cabbage, I’d normally just shred it and throw it in the vat to make sauerkraut. However, I never ate all the sauerkraut I made last year. There’s the option of making soup, although August is not really soup weather. I’m not really in the mood for any kind of slaw or kimchi or stuffed cabbage, which really narrows down the options. But there are options, beginning with this amazing-sounding recipe for Braised Green Cabbage with Onions, Carrots, and a Poached Egg.
Here are some other ideas:
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Thursday, August 14, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
Pick-your-owns are in full effect at Blooming Glen Farm, with this week bringing four quarts (!) of string beans, one quart of cherry tomatoes (tons of varieties), as well as an herb bouquet of thyme, oregano and mint. Also this week was some lettuce, which I was very happy to receive—I’ve been wanting to put together a salad and greens have been the only thing missing!
CSA report: Landisdale Farm, week 10
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Traditionally, CSA shares tend to get a little bigger this time of year - crops are really growing out of control. Weirdly, the share from Landisdale Farm has gotten smaller. Maybe they’re having some sort of crisis on the farm that I don’t know about.
Here is what’s in the share for this week:
- two small heads of butter lettuce
- 4 cucumbers
- 2 onions
- a couple handfuls of fingerling potatoes
- one sugar baby watermelon
- 6 white peaches (there were 7 but one of them was so rotten we threw it out immediately)
Coincidentally, last year when we were with Lancaster Farm Fresh’s CSA we also received a sugar baby watermelon in the share this week, along with many, many tomatoes. We haven’t seen any tomatoes in the Landisdale Farm share this year, although I hold out hope: one of their main specialty crops is allegedly heirloom tomatoes.
I now have over a dozen onions in the kitchen from the CSA share this Summer. Some of them from the earliest shares are starting to get a little soft, so action is now required. Kevin had a great idea a few months ago to make caramelized onions in advance - I’m going to make them and can them using this tutorial. I will also can the peaches right away, because the fruit we get from the CSA share tends to spoil within 24 hours.
The lettuce, as usual, will likely end up on the compost pile. I tried to give it away to Naomi this morning (she met up with me at Clark Park to pick up my spinning wheel) to no avail. Shouldn’t all the lettuce be bolting by now? Speaking of Naomi, she sent me a recipe for watermelon gazpacho for the sugar baby melon that came in the share.
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
This week brought me, in part, six pounds of tomatoes, four pounds of summer squash and three quarts of string beans. We’ve already consumed a couple handfuls of beans and a tomato with tonight’s dinner. And that pint of cherry tomatoes you see is nearly gone. They proved to be a perfect little snack while my sister and I split, packed up and put away the produce.
This year’s share is once again proving to be out of this world, both in regard to quantity and variety. Each week, I get a little giddy when I spread out the loot, and boy was I was happy to receive some validation for this apparent vegetable lust: at my mom’s wedding over the weekend, a friend mentioned the share photo from last Tuesday, remarking that Blooming Glen’s CSA shares are the largest and one of the prettiest she’s seen. So glad, to know I’m not the only one who’s noticed!
CSA Report: Red Earth Farm
Monday, August 04, 2008
How can it be August already? The summer is flying by and all I have to show for it are two cups of frozen shredded zucchini. Half a CSA share does not provide enough food for us to preserve for the winter, but with the new baby it’s a good thing we didn’t go for a full share since most of it would have ended up in the compost bin anyway. I’m a bit behind since we were out of the city most of last week, so here’s last week’s share:
3 medium eggplants, 3 red onions, a big bunch of carrots, a bunch of swiss chard, a pint of mixed tomatoes, a big bag of green beans and cheddar cheese and yogurt from the buying club.
This week’s unphotographed share included a quart of Yukon Gold potatoes, close to a pound of green beans, a 1/2 pint of mixed grape and cherry tomatoes, a 1.5 lb bag of red potatoes, 2 summer squash and 3 pattypan squash, 3 huge green peppers and a quart each of raspberry and peach yogurt.
CSA report: Landisdale Farm, weeks 8 and 9
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Last weekend my husband picked up the CSA share (I was in Nashville). I’ve barely had time this week to even so much as glance at it. But for those of you following along, this is what was in it: swiss chard, lettuce, zucchini, garlic scapes, two bell peppers, and a pint of blueberries.
Today I went to pick up the share. Here’s the list:
two heads of lettuce
two bunches of swiss chard
six peaches
about a dozen potatoes ranging in size from pea-sized to tennis ball-sized
about a dozen medium red beets
two heads garlic
four purple bell peppers
I don’t have many plans for the share, but I do have to eat and/or can the peaches this weekend - they’re already mushy.
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
Seeing all the lovely produce grown by the Blooming Glen farmers this week proved to be a nice “welcome home” for the family as we return from a two-week camping trip. Though I was quite content living the simple life, sleeping in a tent and making dinners over the campfire, I couldn’t help but think about all the great veggies I was missing out on back home—both from CSA as well as our own little garden. I plan on carrying on the simplicity from our vacation by turning out some grilled corn and a pico di gallo using those scrumptious tomatoes, basil and cucumbers this week.
Landisdale Farm CSA, week seven
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Yesterday’s CSA share from Landisdale Farm included:
- Two heads of lettuce
- six small to medium yellow squash
- six small to medium potatoes
- two bulbs of garlic
- six peaches
- two small bags of spinach
Considering how hot its been, I’m a little surprised to see lettuce and spinach still being included in the CSA - I would have thought all of that would be bolted by now. Certainly, the spinach I planted in the garden this year - a heat tolerant variety - went to seed over a month ago. I can only hope the lettuce stops coming in the CSA share. Most of it only ends up in the compost pile anyway.
I suspect my husband will eat the peaches as soon as they ripen up a bit. And I’m going to have to cook all the spinach down today - it’s looking a little iffy. Which leaves me with a small bit of garlic, a couple of potatoes, and a few yellow squash. A frittata or torta comes to mind, but I did find some other ideas (which will sadly use all the potatoes and squash in a single meal - this share does not seem to be able to feed a family of four, as advertised):
CSA Report: Red Earth Farm
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I’ve been slacking on the CSA reports the past few weeks. I’ve spent too much time trying to eat it all with a minimal amount of cooking. I’ve been eating
Walla Walla onions
Red Tropea onions
Cipollini onions
red potatoes
zucchini
cucumbers
summer squash mix
Lacinato Kale
Swiss chard
Red summer crisp lettuce
snap peas
broccoli
beets
and probably a few more things I can’t remember right now.
One of the best hot weather local meals we’ve eaten was grilled Porterhouse steaks with a side of tzatziki potato salad. This potato salad recipe, adapted from the Joy of Cooking, was found when I was searching for an authentic tzatziki recipe. I couldn’t resist- I had all of the ingredients and almost all of them (potatoes, cucumbers, dill, mint and yogurt) were local.
Tzatziki Potato Salad
2 cups plain yogurt or Greek yogurt (Pequea Valley)
2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced (Red Earth Farm)
2 tsp salt divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (I substituted fennel from Red Earth Farm)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (my garden)
3 cloves garlic, peeled2 lbs red potatoes (Red Earth Farm)
For Tzatziki
Drain the yogurt in a colander lined with coffee filters for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Skip this step if using Greek yogurt which is already thickened.
Toss cucumbers with 1 tsp salt in a colander and drain for an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Squeeze as much water out of the cucumbers as possible and dry completely with paper towels.
Mash garlic and salt into a paste.
Add olive oil, lemon juice, dill, mint, garlic paste and fresh ground pepper to thickened yogurt mixture. Refrigerate for an hour.
For potatoes:
Cover two pounds of scrubbed red potatoes with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender but firm. Drain and let cool completely. Cut into bite size pieces. Toss with tzatziki. Serve cold or at cool room temperature.
Landisdale Farm CSA, week six
Sunday, July 13, 2008
In this week’s CSA share from Landisdale Farm we have:
Four yellow summer squash
One pint of cherries
Potatoes (look to be Yellow Finns or some other yellowish potatoes)
Green beans
Two heads of lettuce
Two bunches of collards
Parsley
I’m also growing collard greens in the garden this year, so I guess now is as good a time as any to learn some new ideas for using them. I’ll be honest: when I think of collard greens, I think of cooked-within-an-inch-of-their-lives collards with smoked pork neck bones. In other words, your standard “mess of greens”. And do love good vinegary greens, but there have to be other things to use them for.
After doing a bit of research, I managed to find some amazing ideas for using collards, my favorite of which is collard green and olive pesto. Apparently, the recipe makes a heap of pesto. It’s just different enough that it might also make nice holiday gifts when canned. Sources say that it’s excellent on pasta or for dipping bread with some nice locally made yogurt.
Other interesting ideas for using collards:
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
Oh boy, am I excited to have potatoes! I definitely see a dinner including a little top-your-own-tater bar in my family’s dinner future this week. We’ll be able to use this week’s fresh, luscious herbs and some of of our scape stock, as well. Yum!
I didn’t pick up the share from the farm this week, as I normally do; instead the boyfriend stopped by on his way home from work. He picked a bouquet of gorgeous, deep, vibrant wild flowers, including several of these fuzzy red guys:
I’m not sure what it is, but it totally reminds me of Little Shop of Horrors.
Landisdale Farm, week five.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
This morning’s CSA pick up from the Landisdale Farm booth at Clark Park brought a box of great things! There’s a handful of garlic scapes, and more red and white onions. There were also three good sized zucchini, a big box of cherries, two big bunches of pretty Swiss chard, a giant box of green beans, and a box of new red potatoes.
The green beans and potatoes will be part of my dinner tonight. I don’t have big plans for the rest of it - yet.
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
This week’s share is definitely the most colorful so far this season, with yellow and orange edible marigolds, pink and green Swiss chard, a rainbow of colors in the pick-your-own wildflower bouquet, green herbs and scapes, and tri-color tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes—I could hardly believe it! It seems early, but looking at last year’s shares, I see that it was almost this exact date last year and in 2006 when we received our first batches of tomatoes. Hm… it’s as if our farmers KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING 
Landisdale Farm, week four
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I was feeling a little bit of deja vu when I picked up my CSA share this morning from Landisdale Farm: it’s nearly a carbon copy of last week’s share. Here’s what this week brought:
- two bunches of kale
two heads of lettuce
a handful of garlic scapes
four Walla Walla onions
a box of cherries
a box of black raspberries
I haven’t even touched my lettuce and onions from last week, and I still have lettuce and onions left over from the week before that. Really, how many onions can a body use? At least there are no more strawberries (and, in truth, last week’s strawberries didn’t really count - within a day they had turned to mush).
Another two bunches of kale really leaves me in a quandry: what am I going to do with more kale? I thought I was clever coming up with that casserole recipe to use up last week’s kale, but now I’m faced with even more of it. I may just give up and freeze it for a winter soup. I don’t think I can deal with trying to come up with Summer uses for kale.
It’s a good thing I bought more carrots from Urban Girls, as well as fava beans and peas from the Fair Food Farmstand - the need to supplement my CSA share with extra food is intense right now. It’s difficult to build meals around onions and lettuce.
CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)
School’s out, summer’s here, and I couldn’t be happier than I am now, celebrating with CARROTS!
