Hello CSA-ers!  

This week seems to be speeding by!!  On the farm we are currently in that fun transition where our blueberry season is over, there is less chaos (only a little) and we are slowly catching up on all the little things that were dropped when all hands were on deck for those precious fruits!  Now our freezers are full (especially with our beef shares being delivered today), our coolers have a bit more room and the garlic is out drying in the barn. Our pullets are laying the cutest little eggs (available in the store) and we've got a new chef in the kitchen, Kerri!  Besides our farm dinner this past weekend another very exciting thing happened: Scott, one of our farmers, and Narendra finished their work on our Allis Chalmers G tractor..it is now run by batteries, no liquid fuel needed!!  The tractor has been a huge project and we are very excited for Scott.  He did the first test run yesterday and besides a few kinks that comes with old machinery everything went very well (the tractor even volunteered to harvest some cippolinis for us, haha).

Also, if you want to keep on in the CSA journey with us for the Fall season, spots are filling up fast to make sure to sign-up!  Fall and Winter are actually my favorite seasons, especially for CSA.  You get all the late summer goodies like peppers, tomatoes, turnips, radishes, lettuces, carrots and then move into more winter crops like chicories, winter squash, parsnips, celeriac, potatoes, onions, garlic and so much more!

TOMATOES:  The chefs at the farm dinner made a killer peach and tomato salad and it makes me want to try and recreate every day, but I'm biased!  Getting tomatoes regularly through the summer is such a great way to explore recipes and cooking methods, it always pushes me to be creative when I have a pile of gorgeous tomatoes staring at me!  We would love to know what you guys are doing with yours!

MIXED BEETS:  White beets, orange beets, red beets...blue beets? Hah!  Yummy beets and their greens (if some of them are a looking a little rough, sorry about that, we were a bit stacked yesterday and couldn't clean them to our desire.

COLLARD GREENS:  As we were harvesting and washing the collard greens some of the farmers started chatting about their feelings on these greens.  Beautiful? Yes!  Huge? Yes!  Love cooking them?  Maybe!?!  I think collard greens can often be one of those love or hate relationships.  For southern cooking collards are very common but we starting chatting about what else you can do with them and we came up with the following ideas: braising them (common), collard green wraps, collard green pesto this recipe or this more simple recipe, creamed greens, pasta with collard greens and onions,  ...or you can just saute the cabbage and collards together!  However you eat them, they are so incredibly tasty AND nutritious!  

Also in the share SQUASH and BASIL (couldn't not give you some with those great tomatoes).  This raw squash salad recipe is awesome and uses both ingredients!

CABBAGE (Large Only):  NOTE!  The dropsite didn't get any in this week's share, you'll get it next week.  Cabbage is a crop you must be patient for and with our symphilians problem, even more patient!  These are red and green cabbages, some large, some extra large.  Great for a delicious summer slaw!!  You can also: braise it, make a stir-fry, make kimchi or sauerkraut, fish tacos, oh my gosh the list goes on.  A great go-to for me that I learned from Orangette a long time ago:  Add oil (with a high smoke point) to a skillet on high, add chopped cabbage and cook until the cabbage is crunchy and some slightly charred.  Add soy sauce, chili sauce or whatever flavor/spicy-ness you like and then top with two fried eggs (from our farm??)  It is super easy and super tasty!  You can also add other things into the stir-fry like carrots or fennel, yum.

CUCUMBERS (Larege Only):  We finally have them again!  While we were packing all I could think of was a salad with cucumbers, basil and strawberries!  If some of them are a little rough on the outside, have no fear, they are tasty on the inside, the scarring is just from tiny beetle damage when the cukes are young.

BROCCOLI (Large Only):  I don't feel like I need to say much here!
 
STRAWBERRIES (Large Only):  Mini share, you will get some again soon!

Hello out there!

I heard lots of folks came out this past weekend to share in our abundant blueberry harvest!  It is so wonderful to have a good year and be able to share it genuinely with our community. Thanks!!  Also, I cannot believe it is already week 12. Make sure you sign-up for Fall CSA as it is filling up fast: look forward to the late summerfare as well as chicories, winter greens, winter roots and winter squash!

It is going to be another short and sweet post here on the blog.  I can tell things are really getting crazy when I don't even have any photos to post from the past week!  Our first dinner is this weekend, farm camp is happening, our new chef starts today, so many things!  We are excited for what is coming up!  And today, we harvest garlic. 

RED LEAF LETTUCE:  Some butter, some more fragile, for a beautiful salad!

TURNIPS:  Large received Scarlet, Mini received Hakurei.  These really are the last turnips until fall!  Hakureis are much better fresh than the Scarlets, both are great roasted.

BLUEBERRIES:  The last of them!  Such glorious fruit.  I always think I'll be sick of them and I never am!

SUMMER SQUASH: Yum!  Recipe for grilled summer squash salad here or a grilled ratatouille salad here (we don't have it yet but I've been seeing eggplant at various farmers markets).

TOMATOES:  As the season continues to get warmer, we will have more and more of these.  Some sites received heirlooms, others our New Girl beefsteak, which we will rotate through as the weeks go on.  

FENNEL (Large only):  Great heads and fronds.  I won't wax on again about my love for fennel.  To BBQ fennel: Toss with olive oil and place on grill. Grill each side of bulb or bulb wedges for about 10-20 minutes (depending on toughness of bulb) . The fennel bulb will become soft and tender. Remove from grill, drizzle with a little more olive oil, salt, some lemon juice and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

NABECHON ONION (Large only):  Big and wild onions, I love how full of flavor these are, and so versatile.

YAYA CARROTS (Large only):  Don't worry mini share, you will get some!  Our first carrots of the season, hurray! Sweet and crunchy!  Patience paid off.

Hello everyone!

Going to be another week of keeping it short and sweet here on the blog. The sun is out and there is plenty to be done on the farm.  Weeding, trellising, harvesting our garlic, seeding chicories...the list goes on!  We've also have our second farm camp week starting next Monday (a few slots still available) and our first farm dinner next Saturday (a few seats still available)!

Cheers!

Jen

FAVAS:  Ahhh favas....finally!  They feel pretty late here but better in July than never.  Favas are one of those crops that folks either love or hate.  These delicious beans are often overlooked for the added labor element but in my opinion so worth it...a treasured early summer treat.  I enjoy using a small number of them at a time as it doesn't seem overwhelming.  There are a number of ways to prepare these big beans. I simply shell the beans out of the pods and then sauté them with a bit of garlic. A lot of folks boil the shelled beans until they turn bright green and then dunk them in cold water and pull the thick outer skin from the bean. I've also read that you can boil the whole pod in heavily salted water until it falls apart, but I've never tried it myself.   If I'm not feeling the work I like to rub the whole pod in olive oil and salt and just put them on the grill...when done they'll just pop right out and the whole thing is delicious.  Some recipes ideas to inspire: summer bean salad, fava-mint pesto, 

BASIL:  Don't feel like I need to say much here!  Glad we were able to send everyone tomatoes and basil at the same time.

TOMATOES:  Three different types: New Girl, Brandy Boy and Purple Cherokee. New Girl is a straight red beefsteak while the other two look a little more like your typical "heirloom".  We hope you enjoy, we are so excited to have them for you in early July!  (by the end of the season you will get to try all of them).  Also, to store, keep them dry and room temperature, we don't pack them in the box because they'll split if wet.

RAINBOW CHARD:  So big and beautiful.  Hopefully the rainbow will bring some needed color to these otherwise dull and dreary "summer" days.  Chard, like many of the farm greens, is great cooked.  I recommend adding it to a dish (ala spinach) like lasagna or enchiladas or just sautéing it with some onions, garlic and a little bit of oil and maybe some lemon at the end.  You can also throw it in fresh pasta, add it to a soup...really the options are endless.  I often de-stem the chard, dice the colorful stems and use them in a different dish (delicious in a little olive oil and seasoning alone).

BROCCOLI (Mini Only):  Small heads or one large head.  I like to lightly cook broccoli in olive oil or eat it raw.  Store dry and cold.

CABBAGE (Mini Only): A mix of purple and green varieties. They almost didn't fit in the boxes!!  Great for kraut or slaw.  If you can't use your whole gigantic cabbage they store super well in the fridge.  My favorite fried chicken and slaw recipe is here.  It originates from one of my go-to stops during my Oakland days (the slaw is my favorite part, I'll make it without the chicken most of the time).

NEW POTATOES (Large Only):  Rose Gold and Huckleberry Gold.  New potatoes are known for their sweeter flavor and tender skins.  I just made french fries on the grill with these last night, oh my!  

LETTUCE (Large Only):  Big, beautiful romaine!  Great for the grill or a Caesar, or something entirely different (stir fry? yes you can!)

SALAD MIX (Large Only):  A gorgeous, ready-to-go salad mix (just don't forget to wash).  Perfect for your favorite summer fruit, turnips and a bit of yummy cheese.

HAKUREI TURNIPS (Large Only):  Last of the season.  These fresh little cuties are fantastic!  Absolutely delicious fresh, these are great on toast, in a salad or munched on alone.


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LETTUCE:  Big, beautiful heads!  Some almost didn't fit in the box :P

PARSLEY:  We wanted to give ya'll a big, beautiful bunch of parsley so that you can actually do something fun with it.  Farmer Eric was thinking salsa verde.  I was thinking pesto.  We are really proud of our parsley crop this year and hope you enjoy it as well. Here is a great salsa verde recipe (can be used with other herbs too)!

BLUEBERRIES:  Probably only one more week of these fantastic blues.  I can't believe the season is almost over.  I love that a pint of blues can do so many things: yogurt, shortbread, clafoutis, muffins, pie, pancakes, salad, smoothies...need I even go on?  One of our farm dinner servers used our blueberries in a pie contest and won this past weekend!

FRESH GARLIC:  My absolute favorite form of garlic!!  This garlic is ready to be dried and cured but instead of hanging them in the barn we are sending them out to our members!  You can use it exactly like you do dried garlic but savor the subtle and vibrant flavor fresh out of the ground.  You can even use the stem and skins as it all has that great garlic taste.

BEETS:  White, gold, red, chioggia.  Everyone gets a little bit different mix but beets, oh boy!

BROCCOLI (Large only):  Yay, finally!   Some folks got one large head while others received several smaller ones.  I like to lightly cook broccoli in olive oil or eat it raw...but, I might be crazy. Store dry and cold.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO (Large only):  Three different types: New Girl, Brandy Boy and Purple Cherokee. New Girl is a straight red beefsteak while the other two look a little more like your typical "heirloom".  We hope you enjoy, we are so excited to have them for you in early July!  (by the end of the season you will get to try all of them).  Also, to store, keep them dry and room temperature, we don't pack them in the box because they'll split if wet.

MIXED SQUASH (Large only):  Patty pan and zucchini this time.  Sick of zucchini?  Sorry!!  Try zucchini chips: preheat oven to 350º.  Slice squash thinly.  Dip in olive oil or egg, cover both sides with mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan, and whatever spices you like (parsley, garlic, cumin, curry, cayenne).  Cook 15-30 minutes flipping half-way through (depends on oven).