2022 CSA Season Week One

June 7, 2022

Welcome to this year’s CSA season! We’re so happy to have you with us this year, and we can’t tell you how excited we are to tag along on this food journey with you! It’s been an incredibly wet spring, but the sun is finally shining, the days are warming up, and we have lots of delicious veggies to share with you this season!

How Does This Work?

There are two different seasons and five share types to Winter Green Farm’s CSA. We’re beginning the Standard Season, which runs from this week until mid-October. When the Standard Season ends, the Extended Season begins, and runs until the week before Thanksgiving. While our four major share types all begin in June, the Extended Season full and half shares will continue through November, while the Standard full and half shares will end in October.

  • Standard Full Share (19 weeks) – begins Week One
  • Standard Half Share (10 weeks) – begins Week One (every other week)
  • Extended Full Share (24 weeks) – begins Week One
  • Extended Half Share (12 weeks) – begins Week Two (every other week)
  • Extended Season ONLY (5 weeks) – begins Week Twenty

Half share programs will alternate. The 10-week program begins this week, the 12-week program begins next week. While we are willing to accommodate vacation days, we can’t switch the entire schedule, as our half shares are set up to make sure we have enough food to feed everyone.

We’ll send out emails each week to let you know what’s in your share, give you handy tips for storing and cooking your veggies, and recipes to inspire you in the kitchen. If you stop getting these emails, check your spam folder. If you still can’t find them, reach out to the farm at [email protected].

Because of Covid, we’re asking that you load your veggies into YOUR OWN container, and only touch what’s in your own box. For members who have been with us in prior years, we are not doing a Yumm Yuck box this year. If you don’t want something in your share, please consider donating it to a friend or make arrangements to donate elsewhere, but please do not leave it at the site. Due to the size of our CSA membership, we aren’t able to make accommodations for you to pick and choose what veggies are in your share each week. Thank you so much for your understanding on this.

Picking Up Your Share

We pack the boxes on Tuesdays and Fridays for your respective delivery days. When you go to pick up your share, you’ll arrive at your delivery site in the allotted windows listed on your delivery info, and make sure your name is on the list. If it’s not on the list, please do not take a box! All the boxes are the same unless they’re specifically marked, so please make sure you take a regular box and not one with a bright yellow label unless we have spoken, and prior arrangements have been made. From time to time, a member may have purchased an extra that will be included with their shares. These extras will have labels with the member’s name, so even if you think you ordered something, please do not take anything unless it’s your name on the label.

Our residential pickup sites have a strict 7:00pm deadline. Our site hosts have all graciously donated their porches and driveways to Please make sure you have picked up your box by that time, or made arrangements with the site host BEFORE that deadline, otherwise you’ll forfeit your share. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to replace a box or issue a credit if you miss a share, so make sure you make it to your pickup!

For those picking up at the market, those shares do come back to the farm if you don’t pick them up, but we only keep them until the NEXT PACKING DAY (Tuesday or Friday). If you would like your box sent to a residential site on the next packing day, please email me to let me know BEFORE the packing day. If I receive the email on Tuesday or Friday, it will be too late and the share will already be gone. We are no longer able to send them to your regular site the following week. We just don’t have enough room to keep shares that long.

Vacation Days

We know everyone has a busy schedule, and you want to be able to take your vacations during the summer without being tied to a veggie schedule. We want to help you with that! If you know you’re going to be gone, hop on over to our Vacation Request Form in the FAQ section of the CSA info and make your request. Or, shoot me an email and let me know! Just remember, we require a full 7-day notice to make any changes. We’re taking that deadline seriously, so any changes made after that time has passed won’t go into effect until the following week. Please do your best to let us know early so we can make arrangements for your share!

If you do need to miss a delivery day, you can either take a credit toward next year’s season, or give your box to Food for Lane County as a tax-deductible donation. With enough notice, we may be able to send it to another location or add you in another week, but please remember that 7-day notice period. If it’s Thursday and you’re missing the following Friday, but want to pick up Tuesday, we will not be able to make that happen. In cases such as those, we’ll need a full week from the CHANGE to make sure you get the box when you want it. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m happy to help you with anything I can.

What’s in your Box this Week?

  • Strawberries
  • Fennel
  • Kale
  • Lettuce

Some sites only:

What’s in Your Box this Week?

  • Strawberries
  • Fennel
  • Kale
  • Lettuce

Some sites only:

  • Radishes
  • Turnips

We aren’t always able to get our veggies out in equal share, but don’t worry! We’re keeping meticulous notes. If we didn’t get you something this time, we’ll make sure to get you next time it’s available.

Oregon weather hasn’t cooperated much this year, so the first few boxes might be a little lighter than the rest of the season. Now that it’s sunny, we should be able to get back on schedule and get you all the delicious veggies we promised! We’ll fill your box as full as we can each week, and by the end, they’ll be bursting with veggies!

Handy Tips for Your Veggies

  • Strawberries: Rinse strawberries just before eating to clean off any grit that may still be on the berries from the field. To freeze them, spread them out on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer. Once frozen, store them in a Ziploc bag or plastic container until ready to use.
  • Fennel: Wash the fennel bulb and store it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. Wrap the delicate leaves in a moist paper towel. Stored this way, fennel should last up to two weeks. Fennel can be eaten raw, baked, steamed, or sautéed. Tops can be used as a garnish or added to soups at the end. Use the tops as a substitute for dill.
  • Kale: Wash kale leaves well by dipping them in a sink of cool water several times to flush out soil and garden stowaways. Remove the stems from the leaves by folding leaf in half lengthwise, and stripping or slicing away the thick stems. Baby or tender young leaves may be cooked, stem and all. Steam mature kale leave approximately 4-5 minutes, depending on age, size, and amount in steamer. When it’s limp but still retains texture, it’s ready. Wrap kale in a damp towel or in a plastic bag to refrigerate, preferably in a hydrator drawer, for up to one week. For long-term storage, kale can be frozen. Wash, de-stem, and blanch leaves for two minutes. Rinse in cold water, drain, and pack into airtight containers, and freeze.
  • Radishes: Radishes may need a good scrubbing, even after our crew has washed them, but do not need to be peeled. Trim off any damaged areas. Store them in a damp towel or plastic bag in the refrigerator. Store green tops separately, wrapped in a damp towel. Use as soon as possible.
  • Turnips: Cut turnip greens from their roots and store separately. Keep dry, unwashed greens in a sealed plastic bag in your fridge. Thicker greens will keep up to two weeks. Tender ones should be eaten within a week. To store turnips, place them in a plastic bag, unwashed, in the crisper bin of your fridge. Due to high water content, turnips may deteriorate quickly, but most should keep for a week.

What We’re Making:

  • Strawberries are here, and I, for one, cannot wait to try them in this yummy Strawberry Squares recipe!
  • With barbeque season right around the corner, you might want to get creative with your kale. If that’s the case, give these California Burger Bowls a try!
  • Do you know what to do with your turnips? Why not add them to a salad with some of the other veggies in this box? It should be delicious!

What are you making? Send us a picture of the meals you make with Winter Green veggies, and you might see it on our blog! You can also follow us on social media to see what other members are posting! You can find us on Instagram at @wintergreenfarm or on Facebook at Winter Green Farm. We look forward to hearing from you!

Spring is coming to a close, and June is just now taking off. We cannot wait to join all of you this summer and share in food journey this year. We hope you’re as excited for the beginning of the season as we are!

Many blessings,

Chelsea and your Winter Green farmers