CSA Week 2, 2023
There will be no CSA pick up on Independence Day, Tuesday July 4th, all other pick up days will be happening as scheduled. I’m talking to you July 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, etc people 😉
The picture above does not reflect what is in your bag….but it does have nice pics of the various peas and beets, which you should have.
Things you MAY find in our bag or box this week: lettuce, arugula, snap, snow or shell peas, garlic scapes, the first summer squash, Spring radishes and or beets with the tops! Yes, eat the tops. Don’t worry, you are not getting one of each variety, LOL! Also potatoes and onions from Still Life Farm.
Since I am not sure what kind of pea you might get, here’s what all our returning members know: Snow peas are flat green or purple pods and yes, eat the whole thing. Sugar snaps and English shell look very similar sometimes. If you are not sure what’s what, bite one in half, if you can chew it up, it’s a snap pea, if not, get shelling. you do not want to be shelling your very dear snap peas.
If you pick up your CSA at a location you see one of us, please feel free to return any containers or frosty bags in good shape for us to reuse. I know you wouldn’t but please do not leave anything behind at any of the private homes or businesses that host CSA pick ups. Thank you. To recap from last week, our microgreens and herb containers are made out of sugar cane and many of the clear bags are cellulose, not plastic 🙂
Fun Fact: purple vegetables like peas and beans will turn green after 4 minutes of cooking.
Again: no pick ups anywhere Tuesday, July 4th. We will add on at the end. Thanks!
Summer Squashes
It is summer squash season! We generally stay on top of picking it so there are not any large ones but should you get a large one even they are super tender and not seedy when they grow fast. Any squashes with tender skin harvested in the summer are technically summer squash. Yes, that’s right, a zucchini is a summer squash. While there are slight flavor and texture nuances, use them interchangeably. I had a member complain that she had no idea how to use yellow summer squash, only the zucchini. That was funny to me… after I recovered from my surprise (and, obviously, she didn’t read my letter about summer squashes, LOL) 🙂 Any of the summer squashes are my go-to replacement for pasta and why not? They are low carb, low calorie, high in vitamin C and a good source of fiber, B-6, Potassium and Magnesium. Get the spiralizer or mandolin out and make some veggie noodles!
Pro tip: lightly salt it after spiralizing, slicing, etc, to draw out some of the water. In a fresh salad this process tenderizes the squash and also prevents your dressing from becoming watery, if used as the lasagna layer it won’t make your finished dish runny, and if sauteing will allow the squash to brown.
Sprinkle squash with 1/2-1 tsp of salt, let sit for at least 10 minutes, drain and pat with paper towel if needed. I toss mine in salt right in the colander and let it drain while I organize the rest of dinner.
Recipes
Easy Lettuce Wraps according to me
Lettuce wraps are a fun and simple supper. The longest part of the whole process is cooking the brown rice 😉 This is what I normally do and , but you could easily sub in chicken or beef or go vegetarian. Leave out the rice and go carb free!
- Lettuce – leaves carefully removed, rinsed, excess water shaken off or layer between toweling to dry
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 or 5 garlic scapes chopped
- 1 can water chestnuts drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- minced pickled ginger (if you have fresh – grate away, or not, use powdered)
- splash toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tb ish Oyster sauce
- 1 Tb ish Hoisin
- splash soy sauce
- sprinkle rice vinegar
In a large skillet, cook the sausage and scapes until the meat is cooked through. Stir in water chestnuts, cooked rice, seasonings. Sample your good work. Serve with lettuce leaves and let everyone fold/wrap their own. This is another great time to break out the garlic chili sauce. Yum!
Farm Dirt
Another year and we are glad you all got strawberries. It’s a short season for us, and since the Cedar Waxwings devoured the crop we couldn’t cover, Glenn is plowing it under and they will plant something else there. It has been unseasonably cool, so ripening of a lot of things like berries, has slowed down. A lot of growers we know had their blossoms killed on the freezing night in May and did not have any berries at all. We often buy strawberries from another farmer in the Valley the second week, BUT, to be honest, the ones we got for a farmers market the other day were not very amazing tasting, so we won’t be doing that. HEY, blueberry season is coming up though and Glenn reports they look excellent so far!
Fledgling birds everywhere! The House Finches have quite a presence at the feeder at my office window – pretty sure there were close to 30 there last evening! There is one Dove that is making Glenn and I crazy when we are trying to enjoy a moment on the porch. He stands on the perch and just pulls seed out, tossing it down to a little breve below to the point that it fills up and spills over to the ground. It is so irritating to watch and listen to I invariably jump up and slam the screen door repeatedly till he leaves. Wow, I am getting worked up about it just typing!, LOL. The Bluebirds are busy feeding in the back yard, there are always some insect in the lower lawn they must enjoy, as every year they always feed in that area. If you have never seen one in person, they are even bluer and more striking than pictures. No bear sightings this week, which is actually A-okay for everyone out in the fields. There are deer prints everywhere and it is a joy to see any of the does out with their fawns.
Part of our conscientiously grown® philosophy is stewardship of the land to provide great habitat for our native species; we feel blessed every time we see one of our bears or birds or bugs (some of them anyway) and strive to be good neighbors.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Your grower, Glenn, with his cat Apollo.
