CSA report
CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
We’re winding down for this season. The last two weeks of shares have brought fall items, despite the unseasonably warmer weather. I’ve gotten turnips, potatoes, cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower.
I’ve also decided to try some Asian greens that are new to me. Hon tsai tai was a mild green, similar to spinach, that I used for a stir-fry. Fuyo shumi is a variety of bok choy, and I will make a simple saute from this. The tot soi I have will most likely be incorporated in a stir-fry as well (yeah, my wok is getting a lot of use lately!). I have some komatsuna (pictured above, from Evergreen Seeds) that I have yet to try.
Two weeks of shares to go.
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
We got some pretty cool radishes this week. Our choice of Daikon, watermelon, or the mysterious Nero Tondo, which is described as “round, black, hot” by our farmers.
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)
My sister thought the kale was looking especially happy this week, and I have to agree!
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)
And an extra view this week:
CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh
Thursday, October 11, 2007
It seems strange that today is my very last share of the season from Lancaster Farm Fresh. It’ll be sad not to bring home a bevy of vegetables every Thursday. I guess this means I’ll be seeing the inside of a grocery store a little more often. Yuck.
So what’s in the final share?
- 1 head Joi Choi grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head Verona radicchio grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head cabbage grown by Farmdale Organics
1 bunch celery grown by Farmdale Organics
1 bunch carrots grown by Riverview Organics
2.5 lbs red creamer potatoes grown by Green Valley Organics
3 lbs Beauregard sweet potatoes grown by Busy Bee Acres
1 baby pie pumpkin & 1 small butternut grown by Green Acres Organics
2 heads lettuce grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 bunch collard greens grown by Farmdale Organics
I’ve never had joi choi before, but I understand it’s pretty much like bok choi. With the cooler weather, I’ve been craving soup - so I decided to use the choi to make won ton soup. It’s going to be a multi-step and vaguely time consuming thing, but it’ll be something I’ve never done before. You know, making the won tons from scratch and all that [not the won ton wrappers, mind you - I bought a pack at the H-mart in Upper Darby a few weeks ago]. By some strange stroke of luck, I have been able to source nearly all the ingredients from local growers. Hooray!
CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
This week’s share:
Mixed tomatoes- most likely the last of the season for me.
Italian basil- to go with the tomatoes in a panzanella.
Breakfast radishes- I have plans to eat these with just salt and butter.
Sorrel- new to me. I like the sour taste.
Mixed bell peppers
Arugula- tonight’s dinner, as will be shown in my next post.
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
My sister and I split our share each week, and it only recently occurred to me, the extent of our literalness.
CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh
Monday, October 08, 2007
Better late than never, right? Last week’s CSA share from Lancaster Farm Fresh was chock full of Winter squash goodness!
- 1 bunch radishes grown by Farmdale Organics
2 baby pie pumpkins grown by Countryside Organics
2 acorn squash grown by Countryside Organics
3 spaghetti squash grown by Elm Tree Organics
4 heads baby boc choi grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1/2 lb. spinach grown by E. Zook
1 bunch carrots grown by Riverview Organics
1 bag hot peppers grown by Farmdale Organics
I used the spinach to make an excellent on-the-fly creamed spinach, but the rest of everything is waiting for my attention. I do believe I’ll peel and slice the carrots today, and get the pie pumpkins roasted and prepped for Thanksgiving pie.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’ll be doing the 100 Mile Thanksgiving again this year - anyone else in on this?
Weekly CSA Report: Red Earth Farm
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
This week’s share:
-A double order of sweet potatoes. We had them baked last night, and I’m thinking of making mashed tonight.
-Fennel. I love eating this either raw or roasted.
-Carrots. A good staple to have.
-Collard greens. Also for tonight.
-Red radicchio. I do love the bitter greens. Thinking of braising these and adding to pasta.
-Empire apples (from the buying club). Crunchy and sweet.
We have five more weeks of shares left for the season.
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
No picture of the share board this week, but I think this beautiful share speaks for itself.
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)
Broccoli and Bok Choy and greens - yum!
CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What does the last week of September hold for the Lancaster Farm Fresh share?
6 red slicing tomatoes grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
½ lb. bunch edamame beans grown by Elm Tree Organics
4 red onions grown by Green Acres
1 bunch rutabaga tops grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head escarole or 1 head radicchio grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
5 lbs. potatoes grown by Farmdale Organics
2 spaghetti squash grown by Elm Tree Organics
Apparently, we were also supposed to get either a bag of beets or a bag of green beans, but something went awry. The LFF rep tells us that she’ll be giving us an extra vegetable in two weeks to make up for it.
I was surprised to see more tomatoes in the share. Sure, we’re still pulling them off the vines in the garden, but I just got it in my head that there would be no more tomatoes.
It’s exciting to see edamame coming my way - I didn’t grow any in my garden this year. And I’m thrilled to see a couple of spaghetti squash. It’s a vegetable I haven’t really used very often in my cooking, and I’m delighted to sort of be forced into some experimenting!
It took fervent googling last night to figure out the uses of rutabaga tops. Have you ever seen those for sale in the market? I haven’t. But I discovered that rutabaga tops can be eaten raw, an addition to salad greens. Or they can be cooked like greens or treated like spinach - and I found a specific recommendation to cook them like collard greens. I just happen to have some smoked pork neck bones in my freezer, so I could definitely cook up a mess of greens with those rutabaga tops...providing the ‘bunch’ is big enough.
CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
This week’s share:
Plum tomatoes- some were damaged when I brought them home.
Nordello peppers- new to me. Described as mildly hot.
Turnips- these are mild, almost potato-like in their consistency and flavor.
Leeks- made roasted leeks last week, which were delicious.
Mustard greens- pungent. Not sure what I’ll do with these yet.
Flat-leaf parsley
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Autumn is here. Happy fall equinox!
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)
Is that an amazingly colorful and diverse share, or what?
CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Lots of greens in the box this week though some were the tops of other veggies. This week’s share contained
1 bok choy
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch red kale
3 largish turnips
quart of green beans
1 bunch leeks
1 head radicchio
I don’t have any interesting plans for most of the greens, but they’ll all get eaten. Half of the radishes made it into a tabouli salad I brought to a party. The radicchio is going onto a Gouda and Red Salad Pizza recipe I found at Epicurious. I don’t know what to do with turnips, though my America’s Test Kitchen cook book tells me they’re best roasted. I may just freeze them and save them for later.
Does anyone have any interesting bok choy recipes?
Can you do anything with radish greens or should I just let my son feed them to the pig around the corner?
CSA Weekly Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh
Thursday, September 20, 2007
It’s only a few days from officially being Autumn - does this week’s share from Lancaster Farm Fresh reflect that? Sort of. At least the tomatoes and corn have stopped coming in fast and furious, which is a sure sign that Summer is over!
This weeks share includes:
- 1 bunch German parlait radishes grown by Meadow Valley Organics
1 bunch daikon radishes grown by Elm Tree Organics
1 head radicchio grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
1 head leaf lettuce grown by Scarecrow Hill Farm
2 lb. bag beets grown by Farmdale Organics
3 eggplants grown by Riverview Organics
1/2 lb. young kale grown by Elm Tree Organics
1 butternut squash grown by Hillside Organics
I’m a little bummed out the eggplants are those teeny baby ones - I had visions in my head of making a meal out of them. What do you do with a couple of very small eggplant? I don’t know - this is why I stopped growing them in the garden.
I plan to roast and freeze the squash and beets, and blanch and freeze the kale. I’ll be using the radicchio in a pasta bake, and I’m trying something new with the Daikon tonight for dinner (a full report on that later). There’s not much you can do with regular radishes except nibble on them as snacks, is there? I don’t know, I was thinking I might try pickling them or making radish relish. The lettuce? I hate to say it, but it will probably just end up as fodder for the compost pile - we still haven’t eaten last week’s lettuce and I already preserved insane amounts of lettuce in the Spring as cream of lettuce soup (minus the cream, frozen). With just three or four weeks left in the CSA season, I seriously hope the shares don’t devolve into masses of lettuce - what a let down that would be!
CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
SWEET POTATOES!
(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)
Aren’t sweet potatoes the best? I’m always on the lookout for high alkaline veggies that my son likes. Who am I kidding. I’m always on the lookout for any veggies that he’ll even tolerate.
He’s the king of broccoli, he loves steamed carrots and can knock back quite a bit of raw red peppers and cucumbers with some hummus. All of this is great, but when it comes to switching things up and trying something new or different, he uncharacteristically hesitates.
This is the same child who will, and often does, skateboard off flights of stairs.
Sweet potato was one of the surprises that came with our CSA subscription last year. It’s certainly not an uncommon vegetable, but, like leeks, it was one that I never really considered while shopping at the market. Hm, and I wonder why my son won’t give kale a chance? I suppose we’re all creatures of habit to a certain degree.
Lucky for both of us, Blooming Glen introduced our kitchen to the sweet potato. This root vegetable is high in fiber, vitamin B6 (especially nice for a vegetarian or vegan) and potassium, and is a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C and manganese. And better than all that? It’s dang tasty and can be prepared quickly.
Certainly there is much more exotic produce a CSA will bring into your home, but it seems that simple and everyday once again reign supreme in the local diet 
