CSA 2014 Week #2

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Pac choi
• Turnips
• Beets
• Sweet onions
• Collards
• Strawberries (some sites only)

Special Announcements

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**We would like to congratulate our grand prize raffle winner Sheila Thomas! She is the lucky recipient of a CSA share for this season! Sheila came out to the farm day with her business called “Let’s Go Learn” and wrote to us explaining a little of what she does, here is what she shared with us…”My business is called Let’s Go Learn and the group I was with is a ‘social – friendship’ group that go on high interest community outings every Tuesday and Saturday.  Three years ago it started with 2 girls that needed a friend and now it is a group of 7 that have become close.  I am proud of their accomplishments and feel great that they now invite each other to their birthday parties, support each other when problems arise, and are friends!  I told them on Tuesday that I had won and they were excited – I know we will enjoy some of the food together.” We are thrilled to welcome Sheila and her friends to the CSA.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle! The money we raised for the raffle went directly into our financial assistance fund. With the raffle, as well as Winter Green Farm’s annual contribution and community donations, we were able to raise over $7000!  We are then able to offer financial assistance to 37 families, as well as give 5 shares to the Womenspace transitional program. Linda will be contacting the rest of the raffle winners this week!

***You will notice that only some of the sites will be receiving strawberries this week. Strawberries have a big spring flush, and that happened the last few weeks here on the farm. We grow an ever-bearing strawberry variety, so they will continue to produce throughout the summer. We keep great records, so we will make sure to divide the harvest evenly between the members. So don’t worry, more strawberries are on the way!

Vegetable Handling and Preparation Tips:

BEETS: To keep roots and greens fresh, remove the beet greens, wash and store in a refrigerated plastic bag. Store the unwashed roots in an unsealed plastic bag in your vegetable drawer. Beet roots will last up to two weeks; the greens will need to be used within a few days after harvesting.

Beet greens are a delicious and healthy vegetable on their own; steam or sauté them like spinach or use raw in salads, they are also great lightly stir-fried. Beets do not need to be peeled, just scrub clean before using as there are many trace minerals just below the skin. Skins can be slipped off after cooking. Beets are delicious raw or cooked. Try them grated raw on sandwiches and salads. They can be steamed, roasted, or cooked in soup or stew.

PAC CHOI (sometimes called BOK CHOY) Refrigerate unwashed Pac Choi in a plastic container or loosely wrapped in a plastic bag. Pac Choi keeps for over a week but is firmest and tastiest if used with in a few days. Store Pak Choi stalks loosely inside a plastic bag in a drawer of your refrigerator. To prepare, slice stalks away from the base and wash, then separate the leaves (the green part) from the stalk (the white part), as they cook better separately. Slice and cook stalks as you would celery. Enjoy raw or add them first to stir-fries and soups.

SWEET ONIONS: These onions are harvested fresh, and are not cured, so keep them in the refrigerator and use within a few weeks. When you are ready to use, cut the top off the onion. You can use the tops on soups or any dish you want to add onion flavor. These onions are delicious raw on a sandwich, or in a salad, or cooked in any dish that calls for onion.

COLLARDS: Just prior to use, swish Collard leaves in a basin of lukewarm water. After any grit has settled, lift leaves out carefully. Store collards wrapped in a damp towel or plastic bag in hydrator drawer of refrigerator. Best used fresh, but may last for up to 1 week if properly stored. Keep moist. Collards can be cooked or eaten raw as a wrap for stir-fries and salads.When you cook collards, make sure to cook them for a while, the more they cook the sweeter they become.

Recipes!

Your fellow CSA member Betsy LeVine sent in her favorite turnip recipe, we love getting recipes and cooking ideas from our members, so if you have any suggestions send them our way! Thanks for sharing yours Betsy!

Japanese Turnips with Miso from Epicurious

Sauteed Bok Choy Recipe from Chow

Beet Recipes from Martha Stewart

Collard Green Recipe ideas from Martha Stewart

Saturday, June 7th was our annual farm open house and potluck. It was a gorgeous day on the farm, and we were happy to see all of you who made it out for the afternoon. The potluck was delicious as always, and Linda organized fun activities for the kids. There was mural painting, face painting, a bean bag toss, seed planting and hay rides with farm owner Wali Via. I will leave you with some photos of the day, and for those of you who couldn’t make it, we hope to see you at our fall harvest celebration on the 18th of October! We hope you all enjoy the vegetables in your box this week!

-Sara