2024 CSA Season Week Twenty

October 25, 2024

Welcome to the Extended Season! This weekend is the FIRST delivery of the Extended Season! For those who are just joining us, welcome! We’re excited to have you. For those who have been with us since June, thank you for continuing to support the farm for the last few weeks! Bear with us as we go over the basics for those who haven’t been with us before. We appreciate all of you!

Tips and Tricks for a Successful Season!

  • Please do not take any extras at the delivery site unless your name is on them. We appreciate your cooperation! 
  • Help us keep everyone healthy by only touching your own share. 
  • Don’t forget to check your name off the list, so we know you got your share! 
  • Shoot me an email at least a week ahead of time if you need to change your delivery schedule. 
  • Contact your site host before the 7pm deadline if you aren’t able to get your share during the delivery window.  
  • Please bring your own bag or box, so you can leave the farm totes at the delivery site. We would appreciate it if you stacked them nicely to help out both your site host and your delivery drivers! 
  • Keep an eye on your emails for information from the farm! Let us know if you aren’t getting them, as that’s how we communicate with you!  
  • Only take a box if your name is on the list. We only pack enough for the members listed, so if your name isn’t there, please contact the farm for a makeup during the next delivery or a credit to your account. We will get back to you the next business day.

When you pick up your shares each week, we like to know when you get your veggie boxes. Please check your name off the list, so we can confirm you were able to pick up your share! If your name is not on the list, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE A BOX. If your name is not on the list and you think it should be, please double-check your delivery schedule, then email the farm at folks@wintergreenfarm.com, and we’ll reach out to you the next business day to make arrangements for a makeup share or credit.

If you have someone pick up your share for you and they are not getting our emails, please make sure to remind them of this as well. 

We’ll mostly communicate through email!

We will be sending out emails each week to let you know what’s in the box! The blog will go out on Fridays during the Extended Season and off season. It will contain important announcements, what’s going on at the farm, what you can expect in your share each week, and recipes to help inspire your time in the kitchen!  

You’ll also be getting an email on Thursdays, depending on your delivery day, with an estimate of what you can expect in your box. These lists come from the harvest crew and are more of an estimate than a final list. We also aren’t able to guarantee everybody will get everything, especially when the weather gets colder like this, but we will do our very best to get you the veggies we promised for this season. If we don’t get you one week, we’ll try to get you the next week that veggie is available.  

(Please note: we can’t guarantee half shares will receive all the veggies offered throughout the season due to availability, but we’ll try our best.) 

If you aren’t getting emails, please let me know! You can reach me at folks@wintergreenfarm.com, and I can check to make sure you’re on our list. 

Please respect our site hosts and other CSA members! 

Our wonderful site hosts have graciously donated their time and property for the season. We are so grateful for our residential site hosts (and our market site hosts!) and we can’t thank them enough for allowing us to use their driveways, porches, and yards, as well as donating their time. Please remember to respect our site hosts by taking out everything you bring with you and not leaving any trash, stacking your boxes nicely, checking your name off the list, bringing your own bag to pick up your veggies, and being kind and courteous to your site hosts and other CSA members.  

I would really like to emphasize picking up your box on time! Please be there before 7pm on Fridays. Please, please, please DO NOT expect your site hosts to accommodate you for late pickups or Saturday pickups! This is a busy time of year for everybody, and your hosts have ONLY volunteered from the pickup window. Anything else could be seen as taking advantage, especially if it’s become a habit, and we really want to respect both their time, property, and effort this CSA season. Thank you so much for your help making sure they feel respected and appreciated! We couldn’t do it without you.

Give your site host a call if you can’t pick up your share that day! 

If you’re unable to pick up your share the day of delivery, you will need to contact your site host to see if they are able to hold it for you. Your site hosts are under no obligation to hold your shares! The pickup deadline for residential deliveries is 7:00pm. After that delivery window passes, the leftover shares will become theirs to either eat or give away. They do not come back to the farm, and we are unable to replace missed boxes. 

Please make sure you contact your site host if you’re unable to pick up your share on delivery day. Our office is usually closed or we’re out on the farm during those pickup windows, so we will not be able to help with missed pickups the day of delivery. 

If you pick up at the markets, missed shares do come back to the farm. However, we only hold them until Monday morning, so we’ll need to know by 10am Monday if you would like us to hold it at the farm. Because we’re only delivering once a week for the Extended Season, we won’t be rerouting boxes or holding them for a week to send them back to the market. If you let us know you missed it, we CAN hold them at the farm until Friday morning. Any boxes left after those deadlines get donated to Food for Lane County. 

Shannon and Sarah wish you a wonderful rest of the year!

Goodbye from the Eugene Farm Stand!

With the beginning of the Extended Season comes the end of the Eugene Farm Stand, and we want to wish you all a wonderful rest of the year! We’ve been doing the farm stand at the Emmaus Church for fifteen years now, and some of our members and customers have been supporting us there the entire time! We can’t tell you how much that means to us, and Shannon especially, would like you all to know how grateful we are for your continued support. This has been a wonderful season, and so much of that is due to how lovely all of our patrons are. We truly couldn’t do it without you!

We are done for the season at the Eugene Farm Stand, but we’ll open again in June with the first week of the 2025 CSA Season on Wednesdays from 2pm to 6pm. If you happen to be in Eugene next summer, come see us at the Emmaus Church on 18th and Polk. We would love to see you!

We have apples for you this week!

We’ve partnered with Mt. Hood Organic Farms to bring you apples this week and next! Mt. Hood Organic Farms is located at the base of Mt. Hood in the Upper Hood River Valley. They’ve been around since the turn of the century, and their gorgeous grounds are perfect for both growing fruit and hosting beautiful wedding venues. Their pear and apple orchards boast near one hundred different varieties, and we’re so thrilled we get to offer you a taste of their magnificent, organic, biodynamic produce. If you’d like to know more, visit their website to learn more about their awesome operation!

A Huge “Thank You” to everyone who came out for the Harvest Potluck!

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, and we had a wonderful potluck lunch with the members and community that came out to the farm! For all those that joined us, thank you so much for coming out, spending time, and seeing what the farm is all about. You were wonderful! I would also like to personally give a big shout out to the four kiddos who worked super hard to make not one, but TWO, batches of apple-pear cider. Not only did you all do an EXCELLENT job, but it was delicious!

Because we had the potluck down in the oaks this year, I manned the cider press up at the barn and didn’t get many pictures. If any of you who joined us took some pictures you would be willing to share, we would love to see them! You can send them to me by email at folks@wintergreenfarm.com.

We do have quite a few jack-o-lanterns left here at the farm and available to our CSA members! If you would like to come out and get pick on up, you’re more than welcome to do so. You can find us at 89762 Poodle Creek Road in Noti, and the pumpkins are situated under the oak trees just past the red barn. You’re welcome to come out any time before sunset.

What’s in your box this week:

  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Onion
  • Celeriac
  • Sugar Dumpling Squash
  • Apples
  • Cauliflower

We were able to get everything to everybody, so we hope you all enjoy!

Handy Tips

  • Napa Cabbage: Napa Cabbage is cleverly packaged. Just stick dry, unwashed cabbage in the fridge. The outer leaves may eventually get floppy, but you can remove and discard them to reveal fresh, inner leaves. Cabbage can keep for a month, but once it’s cut, it needs to be stored in a plastic bag. Rinse the cabbage under cold running water just before use. Peel away outer leaves (if necessary) and cut cabbage in half through the stem end. Lay flat and quarter it, again through the stem end. Balance each section upright and slice away the triangular core exposed at the base. Then, chop, sliver, or grate the quarters. Use raw cabbage to make coleslaw or sauerkraut. Stir-fry or braise until slightly browned. Use steamed or boiled cabbage leaves to wrap rice or meat fillings.

NOTE: If you received Savoy Cabbage instead of Napa, care instructions are similar.

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Celeriac: Celeriac will store for up to a month in your refrigerator in a plastic bag. When ready to use, slice off the green stalks at the root crown. Then soak the root in warm water to loosen the earth between the roots and scrub well with a brush. Peel the skin off the roots before preparing (top and peeled portions are a tasty addition to soup stocks). Try celeriac raw, grated into salads, or in any recipe that calls for celery. Celeriac can also be boiled or steamed. Peel, slice, and boil celeriac for 5 to 10 minutes or boil whole for 20 to 30 minutes. Mash and top with butter. It tastes incredible with potatoes!
  • Winter Squash: Store winter squash in a cool, dry, dark place with good ventilation. They should keep for up to a month or more, depending on the variety. You can also incorporate winter quash into a beautiful arrangement for your fall table. They won’t keep quite as long at room temperature, but if they are sitting on your table, you might be inspired to eat them quickly. Once squash has been cut, you can wrap the pieces in plastic and store them in the refrigerator for five to seven days. To bake winter squash, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp, then place the halves on a baking dish filled with a half-inch of water, cut-side down. You can also bake without the water, just lightly grease a baking sheet or use parchment paper. Bake squash at 350 degrees until halves are completely soft and just starting to collapse. This could take 45 minutes to an hour, sometimes more, depending on the size of the squash. Remove squash from the oven, fill with butter, seasoning, or filling, and serve them in the shell. Winter squash can also be substituted in baked goods. Try using it instead of pumpkin or sweet potatoes in dessert recipes. While the oven is hot, try roasting the seeds after mixing them with a little oil and seasoning of your choice.
  • Apples: Apples are an incredibly versatile fruit. They can be eaten plain, made into juice or sauce, or turned into ciders, vinegars, or alcohols. They can be dried and saved for later, or baked into your favorite treats. Apples can be stored at room temperature for a short amount of time, but check on them frequently to make sure they haven’t begun to rot. For the best results, sprinkle your apples with water, place them in a perforated plastic bag, and then store them in the coldest part of your refrigerator. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.
  • 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’m sure I could get creative with the cabbage this week, but why do that when I can give you this Traditional Kimchi recipe instead?
  • This Creamy Coleslaw lets you use a few of the veggies in your box this week!
  • Autumn is definitely here, and the weather lets us know it. This Fall Kale Salad is the perfect way to bring fall colors into your dining room in a delicious way!
  • It’s that time of year when you start to see turkeys in the grocery store. This Turkey Salad on Wheat Bread is a tasty way to have lunch!
  • This French Onion Chicken is as healthy as it is tasty! Give it a go for a taste of something different.
  • Wondering what to do with that celeriac? Try this Creamy Celeriac Mash recipe for a new side tonight!

It’s been a great 2024 CSA Season so far, and we can’t wait to continue on with the Extended Season with all of you. We hope you’re as excited for all the veggies we have to offer as we are!

Many blessings,

Chelsea and your Winter Green farmers