Summer CSA 2023
Our little CSA packing helper today!
Happy week #5!
We had a little visit from Milo today in the pack shed! he was a great supervisor and made sure all the boxes were filled with incredible veggies to feed you this week.
The weeks are truly chugging along. This week, Pearce worked hard to mow down our old spring crops and prepare the beds for planting some fall crops. Tomorrow morning, before CSA delivery, my goal is to direct seed another round of carrots, turnips, daikon radishes, and beets for the late summer/fall season. Wish me luck! Even though the main planting season is over, farmers never really stop planting; we’re always putting more food in the ground until the winter stops us!
This week we also busted out some major weedy zones, thanks to a few volunteers on Wednesday morning. Our onion patch and summer carrots are now weed-free and ready to rumble! We are so grateful for the community support and if you ever want to volunteer on the farm, just text me and we can coordinate a day. Wednesday mornings are always good for us, but we’ll accept any help you’re willing to give!
We always attend the Stillwater Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, and this week the hot item was BEETS. They flew off the market stand right away. Especially the gold ones! It’s always so fun to see what the community gravitates towards in a given week. You’re always welcome to come a visit me at the market if you need more veg! We are there every Saturday from 7:30am-12:00pm.
The not-so-glamorous side of farming…..
Every week, April, Pearce, and I wash and scrub out all the CSA totes before packing. Tote washing is a strangely integral part of farming. Sometimes I feel like we wash totes as much as we harvest veg. We always wash the CSA totes before packing for delivery, but we also wash out harvest totes every morning before hitting the field. Twice a week cold water splashing off plastic totes hits our faces and shoes before 8am rolls around. What a way to wake up! We wash the totes to ensure food safety and to keep all the veggies as sanitary as possible. Who knew farming could include such a diverse array of tasks?!
RECIPE CHALLENGE
Thank you to all of you who entered the summer squash recipe challenge! Everyone received a few more summer squash to be creative with, and you have until FRIDAY to submit an entry. I’ll be shopping for the winning prize at the farmers market on Saturday and will announce the winner next Monday! Can’t wait to see what you create.
Once all the recipes are submitted, I am hoping to create a blog post with all your dishes, so everyone else can see/be inspired to try summer squash in new ways!
In your box….
Here are photos of what you’ll find in your box this week!
Large CSA
Summer squash, gold beets, green curly kale, lacinato kale, lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, dill, thyme, and nasturtium greens/flowers.
Small CSA
Summer squash, lettuce, green curly kale, chiogga beets, dill, thyme, green onions, nasturtium greens.
Some inspiration…..
There is a lot of FLAVOR in this week’s CSA. Imagine you walked through the farm with us, basket in hand, and picked all the herbs and flowers and veggies that were speaking to you. This week is truly a garden bounty!
Some beet ideas..
My mother-in-law (Pearce’s mom) Delcie, made a stunning beet and pea shoot salad for us this week. She used the beets and pea shoots from last week’s CSA, so if you’re still looking for a way to use them up, here is the recipe. You could totally make this recipe with the beets in this week’s share and the nasturtium greens/flowers in place of the pea shoots.
Here is the recipe: Roasted Beet Salad with Vegan “Goat Cheese” – Minimalist Baker
We used regular goat cheese on our salads, instead of the vegan version.
This week, the small shares received Chioggia beets! This particular variety of beet is pink and white striped on the inside. They are stunning when eaten fresh on a salad or sliced thin on a sandwich. you can absolutely roast them too. They are slightly sweeter and less earthy than a red beet.
The large shares received gold beets, and they are the sweetest type of beet, like sunshine in every bite!
Next week we’ll flip, larges will get Chioggia, and smalls will get gold. That way you can try all the varieties.
If you’re looking for more beet recipe ideas, I really love Andrea Bemis’s food blog and cookbook. She has TONS of seasonal farm recipes that she created from the veggies her and her husband raise on a farm in Portland. Here is a link to her website with info all about beets:
A note on the nasturtiums..
Have you ever eaten a nasturtium flower?? If not, I HIGHLY recommend tasting one! They are an edible flower that have a spicy bite, similar to the flavor of wasabi. The greens and stems are edible in your bunch too and you can chop and add to a salad or stir-fry for a nice spicy profile.
Enjoy all the food this week and don’t forget to submit those summer squash recipes before FRIDAY.
Sunshine and soil,
Eleanor