2024 CSA Season Week Twelve

August 27, 2024

Welcome to Week Twelve of the 2024 CSA Season! For those keeping track, we’re officially halfway through the Extended Season. The weather is being a little strange for August this year, which can affect the harvest, but the forecast is calling for a little more heat here soon, so we should be able to offer you an abundance over the last few weeks of summer, just like we planned. We can’t wait to share our bounty with you this week!

Another quick reminder about vacations and missed boxes!

Summers are busy here at the farm, and we know firsthand how the days can get away from you. With that comes impromptu trips, or scheduled vacations that may have slipped your mind, especially when they conflict with your delivery schedule. We get it! We are more than happy to make changes to your delivery schedule to accommodate vacations, so don’t forget to let us know!

We do plan for the harvest in advance and pull the lists early to avoid as many mistakes as we can, most of which come up with last-minute changes. To keep everything going as smoothly as possible, we do require at least seven days’ notice to make any changes to your delivery schedule. This deadline is for the earliest day of change (for example, if you’re a Friday delivery moving it to Tuesday earlier in the same week, we would need to know seven days before that Tuesday to make the change).

If you aren’t able to let us know within that time period, you still have a couple options. First, you can ask a friend or family member to pick up and enjoy that share for you. Just make sure they know the CSA protocols for picking up your share and you’re good to go! Or second, you can allow your site host to donate your share after that 7pm deadline has passed. They’re all really good about making sure those leftover veggies make it to someone who can use them! Either way, your share will not go to waste.

Canyon is the caretaker of the sheep!

Are you interested in Winter Green Lamb?

 We are excited to have plenty of lamb available this year! We had a lot of lambs this spring and the pastures have been lush which makes for better meat. We will also have a few ewes for grind as well! Reach out to Chris at [email protected] if you’re interested! 

A few facts:

The price for lamb is 6.50 a pound hanging weight, and you would pay that to us. You will also be charged a cut and wrap fee by 4 Star Meat Company when you pick up your meat, which is $125.00 per animal. We do offer a discount for multiple animals purchased, and that cost would be $6.00 a pound, per animal. The ewes will be $5.00 a pound plus the cut and wrap fee.  

Butcher dates:

  • September 21st
  • October 1st
  • October 12th
  • October 24th
  • November 2nd
  • November 7th

Please let us know if you would like to reserve lamb for this year and if you have a preference on dates! Again, email Chris at [email protected] to order lamb. Thank you all so much for supporting the farm!

September payments are right around the corner!

We are coming up to the end of the month, and September payments are right around the corner! Last week, I resent all of our overdue invoices, so if you see one pop up in your inbox, take a look so we can make sure you’re up to date!

This week, I’ll be resending all September invoices, but you can always access them by logging into your account and going to your “Orders” tab. If you have an issue logging in, please let me know!

While keeping payments up to date may seem like a little thing, every dollar received for your shares helps us run the farm. We are still considered a small business, so we rely on the income from the CSA to keep it going. Thank you all so much for your continued support and generosity. We couldn’t do it without you!

Meet Delmar and her box of Winter Green veggies!

Our amazing members, Rick and Leanna have recently moved to Portland and joined our CSA, but they’re not the only ones enjoying their Winter Green veggies! This beautiful little lady is Delmar, and she’s just as excited for the CSA share to come home every week as her humans are!

We want to know about you! Whether you’re a long-time member or new this season, we want to know more about you! Tell us about you, about your family, send of pictures of your gatherings and hobbies–even better with Winter Green veggies! We would love to get to know our members better, and to introduce you to one another. Help us celebrate all of you!

Shoot me an email at [email protected] and let us feature you in the blog!

What’s in your box this week:

  • Carrots
  • Corn
  • Cucumber
  • Summer Squash
  • Tomatoes
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Red onion

Some sites only:

  • Cauliflower

We know it’s a little disappointing that we can’t get cauliflower to everybody yet, but I promise, we are trying our best! Some of them are still a little small, so when we get some August heat again, they should be ready for harvest pretty quick! And we are still keeping excellent notes, so if we haven’t gotten you cauliflower yet, we are definitely working on it!

Kate harvesting cauliflower this morning

Handy Tips:

  • Carrots: Cut or twist carrot tops off before storing in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks. Clean the carrots well before eating by scrubbing with a vegetable brush under running water. Do not peel unless the carrots are damaged, as much of the nutrients are very close to the skin. Eat carrots raw in sticks, rounds, julienned, or grated. You can also add slices or chunks to soups, stews, or casseroles. Carrots are also delicious lightly steamed or sautéed, and garnished with butter or olive oil and fresh herbs. Try them grated with oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
  • Corn: Eat your fresh corn as soon as possible. Natural sugars begin to break down soon after harvesting, so the sooner the better. Corn can keep for a few days if you keep it refrigerated with the husks on. Corn-on-the-cob is the favorite way to enjoy fresh-picked corn. To cook, steam in 2 inches of water for 6 to 10 minutes, or drop it into boiling water and cook for 4 to 7 minutes. Older or over-mature corn is great when added to corn bread, soups, stews, chili, casseroles, stir-fries, quiches, salads, or bean dishes.
  • Cucumber: Cucumbers are best when eaten fresh, but they will keep for up to a week in a drawer of your refrigerator. Cut or peeled cucumbers will stay fresh for only a few days. Wash your cucumbers well before using. Peeling is optional for organic cucumbers. Try peeling the skins in alternating strips for a decorative effect. You can cut them into spears and serve them with dip, put the slices on sandwiches, or marinate the slices for cold cucumber salad.
  • Summer Squash: To clean summer squash (zucchini), rinse or wipe with a damp cloth (peeling is not necessary). Store in the refrigerator in a closed plastic bag to prevent dehydration. Use within a few days of harvest. Summer squash is very versatile. Try it raw, steamed, baked, broiled, fried, grilled, sautéed, or stir-fried. Slice it thinly for a great pizza topping, oven fry in sticks, or try in quiche or omelets. It also works great as a substitute for noodles or pasta. Grated squash mixes beautifully into your favorite chocolate cake or muffin recipe. A simple way to prepare squash is to half it, then top with minced garlic, herbs, and olive oil. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top, and bake until tender.
  • Tomatoes: Do not refrigerate tomatoes! You can place them out of the sun at room temperature. Some of our tomatoes are a day or two from being fully ripe, but will be perfect with a little patience. To remove tomato skins, place the whole tomato in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon, dip in cold water, and remove skins. Tomatoes can be frozen whole. Core tomatoes, then place them on a cookie sheet, and freeze them. When they’re solid, place them in a freezer bag and replace them in the freezer. Remove as many tomatoes as you need at the time. Thawed tomatoes are good for cooking and pureed dishes. Salsas, sauces, and purees also freeze well.
  • Cauliflower: Cauliflower is best eaten soon after it’s harvested, but it will keep for one to two weeks in the refrigerator if you wrap it loosely in plastic. Remove the outer leaves, rinse, and trim off any blemishes or brown spots. To cook florets, steam for 15 to 20 minutes. Overcooking will result in a strong odor and flavor. Stir-fry the florets with other veggies, add to Indian or Asian curries, top steamed heads with lemon and butter or parmesan cheese, or serve raw with dip.

What We’re Making This Week:

  • I am all for eating carrots as they are and getting all their nutrients, but sometimes, you just need something sweet. This Carrot Cake Cheesecake looks like just this thing!
  • Cherry tomatoes are delicious, and they make the perfect addition to this Baked Feta Pasta!
  • It’s always great to start off your morning with a hearty breakfast, and this Egg-Topped Avocado Toast is a great use for both your tomatoes and your onions this week!

These P.F. Chang’s Salad Wraps made one of our members a delicious meal!

Our members Morgan and Hagen found a great way to use their veggies last week in these P.F. Chang’s Salad Wraps! They googled the sauce online, but were able to use a few of their veggies in this dish. Hagen even said it would be good over noodles!

Veggies from the farm:
Lettuce
Carrots
Green onion

In the chicken medley;
Farm white onion
Riced broccoli and cauliflower 
(This could easily been made veggie)

They used basil from their neighbors, and had leftovers for days!

What are you making? Send us a picture and a recipe, and we’ll feature it on the blog! You can send your recipes to [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!

As always, thank you all so much for allowing us to tag along on this food journey with you this season! We’re so excited to be able to share the bounty from the farm. We couldn’t do the CSA without you!

Many blessings,

Chelsea and your Winter Green farmers