CSA 2014 Week #12
- Corn
- Tomatoes
- Cilantro
- Red onion
- Jalapeños
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- New potatoes
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Strawberries
Some sites only:
- Sweet Peppers
Special Announcements
*It’s that time of year when we are offering our organic grass-fed beef! If you are interested in receiving more information you can email or call the farm, all the info is also on our website and you can check it out here!
*We are still offering bulk flats of strawberries for $30, if you are interested in getting some berries delivered to your drop-site next week you can place your order by calling the farm.
*We just wanted to let you know that there are spicy jalapeños in your box this week so you can make a delicious fresh salsa, but make sure little ones helping to unload the veggies understand that they are spicy, and if they touch them to wash their hands afterwards!
Vegetable Storage and Preparation tips:
CORN: Eat your fresh corn as soon as possible, natural sugars begin to break down soon after harvesting. Corn can keep for a few days 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 6-10 min. or drop into boiling water and cook for 4-7 min.
Older or over-mature corn is great added to corn bread, soups, stews, chili, casseroles, stir-fires, quiches, salads, & bean dishes.
It is not uncommon to find a worm in your organically grown corn. Simply cut away the bad section and cook the rest – it’s perfectly fine to eat!
CILANTRO: For short-term storage, wrap Cilantro in a damp towel or stand upright in a container with an inch of water and refrigerate. Do not wash prior to refrigeration.
Freeze fresh leaves in a plastic zip-lock bag, or put a Tbsp of the herb in each ice cube tray section, add a bit of water to cover and freeze. Do not thaw before use. Dried Cilantro does not retain its flavor very well.
Add fresh leaves to salsa, soups, stews, stir-fries, and salads for an aromatic touch. Add cilantro toward the end of cooking time to retain fresh flavor and color. You can also toss fresh leaves into a green salad.
It’s a salsa box! You have all the ingredients to make a delicious fresh salsa this week! We were especially excited about the corn too, fresh sweet corn is a wonderful addition to salsa…enjoy!
Recipes!
Tomato and Corn Salsa from epicurious.com
Fresh salsa recipe from southernfood.about.com
Corn Recipes from Marthastewart.com
Summer Tomato Recipes from Saveur.com
Bean and Tomato Salad with Honey Vinaigrette from webmd.com (This was recommended to us from your fellow CSA member Melody White, thanks for sharing Melody, looks delicious!)
News from the Field
The box could barely close today as they packed out the shares for the week…11 ears of corn! Everything looked so beautiful and delicious, even though it was just after breakfast, I was getting hungry thinking of all the delicious ways to prepare these amazing vegetables.
Jabrila wanted to share with you that she is excited that we have been able to give extra strawberries to everyone this season, and that soon we will be transitioning to pears and then later, apples. She just spoke with Mt. Hood Organic Farms, the wonderful farm where we get your pears and apples, and they said they are starting to pick pears right now, so you can look forward to pears in your boxes soon!
I was able to get out into the field this week while the crew was harvesting your eggplants and peppers and took a few photos to share with you…
I get to introduce you to another one of your fabulous farmers this week…
Meet Emma Sackinger!
This is Emma’s second season on the farm. She grew up in Corvallis, Oregon, and graduated from the University of Oregon with a double major in International Studies and German. She studied abroad in college teaching English in a preschool in Germany. She came to the farm with a yearning to work with her hands and breath fresh air, needing “a divergence from the intellectual haze of academia.”
She loves working on the farm for all of the different things she gets to do and see. Emma works on the harvest crew, but she also works one of our farmers markets up in the King neighborhood in Portland and she loves working market. She told me she loves the positive energy of a farmers’ market, and talking to people about vegetables and answering questions. Emma would like to give a shout out to all the farm workers out there, especially those who don’t work at a place like Winter Green, and don’t get paid a fair wage and are respected, an issue dear to her heart.
We are so thankful for all of Emma’s hard work here at the farm, we are lucky to have her on the crew!
We hope you all enjoy this last week of August!
Take care, Sara