From Our Farmer and CSA

[therese]

Just got my first CSA box last week from Taylor Farm (outside Atlanta). I pick up the box from the Morningside Market near my house. I have both a vegetable and a fruit share.

I got:

salad mix

braising mix

baby beets (with greens)

radishes

leeks

arugula

kale

spinach

dandelion greens

some sort of garlic where you eat the stems

red onion (described perhaps as "bullet"?)

kohlrabi

strawberries (grown at another farm)

tomatoes (also from another farm)

I chose this farm in part because they do a big business in blueberries and they've got figs in the summer.

As of today I've still got beet greens, a few radishes, one kohlrabi, kale, half the spinach, and the dandelion greens. Oh, and the salad mix and the braising mix. Husband out of town most of this week, so vegetable consumption down for the week.

I'm already looking forward to seeing what I get this week. Very exciting.

[edit to add link]

Edited May 12, 2005 by therese (log)

[tanabutler]

Today there is a front page article in USA TODAY about CSA farms. I know that some may not take this newspaper seriously (ok, I admit I often don't) but this is a good thing for CSA farms to get this kind of coverage.

CSA article in USA Today

Spring is still very much here, we're madly planting out the yummy summer crops!

in our CSA box in Central CA this week:

-Sorrel

-Arugula (Wed)

-Rapini (Thursday)

-Fava Beans

-Bacon Avocados

-Seascape Strawberries

-Red Leaf Lettuces

-Carrots

and lastly for any of you anywhere who have a CSA share, I have a recipe database that might be useful at times:

A-Z Vegetable Database especially made for seasonal eaters

Tell us where your CSA farm is if you reply to this thread about what's in YOUR box!

cg

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Chardgirl, I was really hoping to see y'all mentioned in that USA Today article. Your newsletter is surely one of the best being produced, not only for the recipes (yay) but for the stories Andy tells, and the guest writers you include. How long have you been doing it now?

I just want to add praise for LocalHarvest.org, which is VERY local to ChardGirl and me. The interface is very attractive and user-friendly, and I have recommended that site easily a thousand times in the years since I found out about it. I hope to write about its founder, Guillermo Payet, on my farm blog soon. He is a native of Peru who now lives in Santa Cruz.

NOTE: even if you don't belong to their CSA, you can sign up for the Two Small Farms newsletter, produced by Chardgirl et al, via this website:

free newsletter. It arrives in your in-box, and it's not only a delicious read, but it's entertaining. I've been on the list, though not a member of the CSA, for years. (Apologetic note: I don't cook regularly enough, or for enough people, to belong to a CSA. Instead, I go to the farmers market twice a week or so and "spread the love around," buying from four or five farmers. But I love CSAs, and I love reading about what people do with their loot.)

[chardgirl]

I'm on my third week of my first CSA here in Atlanta. Enormous amounts of food, but of course I also get other stuff at other market, btth local organic market at Morningside and Dekalb Farmers Market (which had absolutely great stuff on offer this morning). The fridge is so full of greens that my husband's started describing the contents as "leaves"

Our CSA has also been heavy on leaves: I recommend soup and other cooking uses asap: it helps reduce the bulk of green that looks at your when you open the fridge. And or make a large salad and take it to a party...

This week in our CSA box (we think: we'll see if the heat and the field has a different idea tomorrow): strawberries, chard or spinach, scallions, broccoli, radishes, carrots, basil...

Basil before tomatoes! That's what I call pesto season.

cg

[therese]

I'm on my third week of my first CSA here in Atlanta. Enormous amounts of food, but of course I also get other stuff at other market, btth local organic market at Morningside and Dekalb Farmers Market (which had absolutely great stuff on offer this morning). The fridge is so full of greens that my husband's started describing the contents as "leaves"

Our CSA has also been heavy on leaves: I recommend soup and other cooking uses asap: it helps reduce the bulk of green that looks at your when you open the fridge. And or make a large salad and take it to a party...

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Cool---I came over to post on my CSA for this last week to find that chardgirl had done it for me. The quote re "leaves" above is from the Weight Watchers thread. A CSA is great if you're trying to keep your weight in line.

Soup is exactly what I made with young broccoli, cutting celery, and Vidalia onions (from another source, not my CSA). Bright green, very pretty.

I also went ahead and cooked all the spinach.

New stuff this week was some young squash and lambs quarters.

[chardgirl]

Lambsquarters! Below is a photo for anyone who's interested. We sell them to the restaurants and some at the SF farmers market, but I won't let Mr. Farmer put them in the CSA box hardly ever, although they are tender and yummy.

[merrybaker]

Time for the Northeast to check in. I have a share of Honey Brook Organic Farm in Pennington, NJ, and I chose the option of picking up my produce at the farm itself. That way I can choose exactly what I want from the farmstand, plus every week I can pick certain crops from the fields. This week was the first harvest of the year, but not much was available yet. There were supposed to be Chandler strawberries, but they were "unavailable." So all I got was a bunch of herbs -- I chose thyme, but could have taken oregano or catnip instead. And I got 2 heads of lettuce -- red leaf lettuce and a head of green lettuce (don't know variety). Last year (my first) it started out slow like this, and I was disappointed. By the middle of summer I had more veggies than I knew what to do with!

[therese]

Beets getting significantly larger, summer squash still smallish but more of it, nice carrots (made carrot-ginger soup), conventional onions showing up.

Did you know that if you eat a lot of beets your pee turns pink? It's pretty cool. My 14 year old son thought it was pretty cool, though he did at first wonder if perhaps he were very very ill.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Another Northeasterner, here. Just got my second basket from Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills (Westchester) ... if I knew how to link it, I would.

Beautiful Katsurei turnips, which I simply scrub up and eat like an apple. For the rest of the family, they are grated into salads or spring rolls, or glazed or roasted.

Carrots: So sweeet and tender, you don't even have to peel them. Tiny yellow carrots, too. They're cleaned and in a bowl in the refrigerator for eating out of hand and so far, haven't lasted long enough for me to do much more with them.

Spring onions, spring garlic, and leeks; the latter are caramelized and put on goat cheese medallions. I use the spring garlic like I would a scallion -- I touch them with a little heat to take the edge off when I cook for my husband.

And lots and lots of fresh herbs; bags of arugula, and mixed red-and-green greens, for salads and braising. Best of all -- those wonderful people wash the salad greens before bagging them for us. Awwwww!

Next week, I'm getting Craig's Eggs and some cut flowers, too.

I love this stuff!

Edited June 13, 2005 by FabulousFoodBabe (log)

[therese]

This week in Atlanta I got:

Cabbage (first appearance this season)

Broccoli (still young)

Cauliflower (also still young---I steamed it and pureed it with chicken broth for soup later this week)

Carrots (little babies that I'm steaming for dinner tonight)

Green beans (skinny haricots verts size---also for dinner tonight)

Zucchini (first appearance this year, although good size; baked, served with parmesan broiled on top at the last minute)

Rainbow chard (blanched, ready for lunches this week)

Beets (roasted, served with blanched beet greens as a salad, dressed with apple cider vinegar and walnut oil)

Summer squash (finally mature size---I'll make squash casserole later this week)

Onions (small---they'll go into the squash casserole)

Green bell peppers (stuffed peppers? I don't like to add green peppers to other things, as I find their flavor overwhelming)

Blueberries (first of the season here, really beautiful---last week it was too late for strawberries, too early for blueberries, so he gave me a whole lot of frozen blueberries, which I'm using for smoothies and sorbet sorts of thing).

[crouching tyler]

We just joined a CSA ( Helsing Junction Farm ), and picked up our first box of the season. We are splitting a large share with some friends. I don't think I have ever been this excited about produce. I have wanted to participate in CSA for years, and am finally in a place where I can do so.

Our share of the box included:

Strawberries - heavenly

Artichokes

French breakfast radishes

Spinach

Arugula

Red Oak leaf lettuce

Cilantro

Asiatic lilies

So, here is a question - what can I do with these radishes? I am not sure that I like radishes, but perhaps I have never had radishes like these? I'd love some suggestions.

[ludja]

There have been a couple of good threads on this that will probably give you some ideas: click

A perennial favorite (for me and many others) is just good bread with sweet butter and sliced radishes, a little salt sprinkled over. I also llike chopping them up and adding them to green salads for crunch, color and a little bite.

[therese]

So, here is a question - what can I do with these radishes? I am not sure that I like radishes, but perhaps I have never had radishes like these? I'd love some suggestions.

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Another vote for radishes with bread and butter. Salted butter, preferably cultured. Pretty much any sort of good bread will do, though of the bread will of course change the experience. Nice white baguette, sourdough, multigrain, dark rye---all excellent with radishes and butter.

[Chris Amirault]

Finally made our first CSA pickup at the Urban Edge Farm, a project of the Southside Community Land Trust here in Providence. (It's worth snooping around their website if you find such things interesting.)

The total booty was 1/2 lb of arugula, 1/2 of mesclun, some wonderful very young beets and greens, some bok choy, eight eggs (we're getting a share of those for the summer; they seem great), a little thyme plant, some fresh oregano, and a head of boston lettuce. I may be forgetting something. It's definitely on the small end, not a surprise for the first week after a long, cold spring.

[therese]

I may be forgetting something. It's definitely on the small end, not a surprise for the first week after a long, cold spring.

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Very cool seeing how much farther along in the season we are down here in the south. Greens will soon be a distant memory and I'm already wondering how long it will be before the figs are ready. Figs...

[happycook23]

Just found this thread while searching for what to do with my CSA kohlrabi....

Picked up my first share today (I pay $355 for a weekly 1/2 bushel of organic produce for 19 weeks). I like that I can go to the farm and select my own goodies. They also offer a flower subscription (which I didn't purchase) and they let me bring my yard waste to throw on the compost heap (so I don't have to pay the trash folks to take it) and I can help myself to the yummy compost for my garden (hooray). I'm in Illinois and there were 4 CSA options for me locally (I'm a lucky lady)

Anyway, today my share was:

3/4 lb. sugar snap peas

approx a gallon bag each of arugula, spicy asian greens, and leaf lettuce (choice of bibb, red leaf, or romaine)

4 bunches green onions

3 kohlrabi

and my choice of 3 of the following

6 garlic scapes (that top part of the garlic mentioned above)

10 radishes

a bag of greens (spinach, kale, or something else-can't remember what)

a rather small bag of herbs (basil, dill, oregano)

My daughter loved going to the farm with me and I'm already looking forward to next week....now what to do with that kohlrabi?

[therese]

....now what to do with that kohlrabi?

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Heh heh. I never did find a satisfactory use for kohlrabi---had some sliced raw, some diced and added to vegetable soup.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

....now what to do with that kohlrabi?

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Ahhh, kohlrabi. Pureed, most definitely. Same with the kale. (Oh, wait. You didn't ask about that, did you?

[happycook23]

I actually ended up dicing the kohlrabi and sauteeing it in a little butter along with some of the garlic scapes. Delish! It was good raw too (couldn't resist a nibble). I figure I'll cut some up to serve along with the sugar snap peas and other veggies/dips as part of the Father's Day BBQ apps.

So do you puree it solo or along with potatoes (seen a few recipes for a potato/kohlrabi mash)? I'm open to recipes if you're willing to share I have a feeling these won't be the only CSA kohlrabis (or kale for that matter), so I'd best get cracking on the recipe ideas.

Edited June 16, 2005 by happycook23 (log)

[crouching tyler]

A perennial favorite (for me and many others) is just good bread with sweet butter and sliced radishes, a little salt sprinkled over.  I also llike chopping them up and adding them to green salads for crunch, color and a little bite.

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Holy radish! It is amazing how such a simple preparation can completely change my appreciation for a food. I really thought I did not like radishes. And now, every day at 5:30, I am having a snack of bread with butter, salt and sliced radishes. Cool and spicy, and so perfectly crunchy. And dare I exagerrate and call those delectable little squares of radished, buttered, salted bread - beautiful?

[ludja]

A perennial favorite (for me and many others) is just good bread with sweet butter and sliced radishes, a little salt sprinkled over.  I also llike chopping them up and adding them to green salads for crunch, color and a little bite.

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Holy radish! It is amazing how such a simple preparation can completely change my appreciation for a food. I really thought I did not like radishes. And now, every day at 5:30, I am having a snack of bread with butter, salt and sliced radishes. Cool and spicy, and so perfectly crunchy. And dare I exagerrate and call those delectable little squares of radished, buttered, salted bread - beautiful?

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Oh, I'm glad you found a new treat! And in this case so simple and obtainable.

One of my favorite little 'trucs' that I discovered on this site is to make homemade Vietnamese inspired lemonade as follows:

juice of half a lemon

pinch of salt

sugar to taste

dissolve in a little water,

add ice cubes

and then top with club soda

It tastes like a really good lemon soda. The salt really does it. I think Jason Perlow posted this a long time back. To keep this a little on topic, I don't get lemons from a CSA, but do get a nearly limitless supply from a friend's lemon tree.

[crouching tyler]

This week's CSA bounty of produce included:

Green butter head lettuce

French breakfast radishes

Scallions

Flat leaf italian parsley

Strawberries

Lavender

Asiatic lilies

and

Garlic Scapes - which I am planning on experimenting with tonight.

[constanela]

Northern California checking in again:

The first of the tomatoes (said by the farmer to be substandard but WAY better than anything from a supermarket at ANY time of the year

Strawberries

Green Beans

Peaches

Summer squash

Sweet Corn - another first

Basil

Garlic

Yellow Watermelon -another first showing for melons.

Whee!!!! Summer is here

[therese]

Atlanta this Saturday:

Blueberries

Arugula

Tomatoes (several sorts, including some cool ones striped with black and a few unripe green ones)

Summer squash

Zucchini

Lemon cucumbers (about the size and shape of lemon, yellow peel, with higher seed to flesh ratio---you slice them in wedges like lemon, very pretty and nice flavor)

Redskin potatoes

Pole beans (rattlesnake and some other type that are sort of magenta)

Eggplant (first of the year---it's a sort of mottled yellow and white stripe that I've not seen before)

[therese]

This week similar to last week's, but with a couple of new items:

basil (a couple of different sorts)

pattypan squash

[bleachboy]

Two heads of lettuce

Another cabbage

A dozen or so cherry tomatoes

Eight regular tomatoes

Two heads of garlic

Cilantro

Basil

Two squashes

Red and green okra

Green beans

A ton of carrots

Two zinnias (inedible)

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot the carrots.

Edited July 10, 2005 by bleachboy (log)