Category Archives: farms

CSA, farms, locavore

2013 CSA – Week 3

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Still quite green and I think that’s a good thing, this being the year I embraced salads.

csa_3

This week’s share from my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was:

  • 1 head of red leaf lettuce
  • 1 head of green lettuce
  • 1 endive
  • 2 kohlrabi
  • 2 heads of broccoli
  • 1 bunch of garlic scapes
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • 1 head of Napa cabbage
  • 1 bunch of Swiss chard
  • 1 bag of lettuce mix

Big take this week—nature must like us. I was very excited to see the broccoli, one of my favorites. I was also grateful for the garlic scapes, having run out of garlic except for the dried kind and sometimes you need garlic flavor that’s not a powder. I’m happy about the Napa cabbage too because I really liked Patti’s Nana’s dressing recipe (recipe in Week 1).

I “julienned” the kohlrabi and tossed it with my salad for a nice flavor contrast and some crunch. Why is julienned in quotes? Because I’m fairly certain the pieces should have been the size of matchsticks and not fatwood.

farms, locavore

2013 CSA – Week 2

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Kermit, I feel for you but it’s easier being green with the Greens, Glorious Greens cookbook, with over 140 methods of preparing greens (no affiliation).

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This week’s share from my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was:

  • 1 head of Tropicana lettuce
  • 1 head of red Romaine lettuce
  • 2 kohlrabi
  • 1 bag of stir-fry mix (komasuna, tatsoi, Bok Choy)
  • 1 bunch of collard greens
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • 1 bunch of Lacinato kale (aka Tuscan kale, dinosaur kale, cavolo nero)
  • 1 bag of spinach

This is a lot of  food—where to begin?

I’m particularly excited about the kohlrabi. A few years ago, I didn’t even know what kohlrabi was. I can’t decide whether I want to grill, pan sear, roast, make a slaw, or pickle it. If I don’t decide soon. I’ll just end up eating it raw (also quite delicious). By the way, the leaves are edible too and I expect I’ll probably sauté them with some garlic and olive oil. Here’s a tip from farmer Al: kohlrabi keeps for awhile so if you plan on storing it, remove the leaves so they don’t draw the nutrients away from the head. 

And by the way, Arethusa Farm now makes sour cream and Sport Hill’s farm stand is carrying it as well as raw milk from Baldwin Brook Farm.

CSA, farms, locavore, recipes

2013 CSA – Week 1

As foretold, the first week of my 2013 Sport Hill Farm CSA was greens, greens, greens. Nature thinks it’s high time we ate greens after the winter.

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  • 1 head of Oak leaf lettuce
  • 1 head of red Romaine lettuce
  • 1 head of Napa cabbage
  • 1 bunch of heirloom Spigarello
  • 1 bunch of dandelion greens
  • 1 bunch of bok choy

Spigarello is a green in the kale and broccoli family from the Puglia region of southern Italy. I sautéed mine with garlic and olive oil (surprised?). It has the texture of kale but a more mild taste like broccoli.

Dandelion greens are super healthy and super bitter, so you need to blanch them in boiling water for a couple of minutes before using them in a recipe. Then they are just fine!

My farmer is so cool that she gives us recipes for CSA items!

For the dandelion greens, she shared this this dandelion tart recipe from the NY Times. I made it without the pie shell (the gratin version), used Arethusa Farm Dairy heavy cream instead of milk, Sankow’s Beaver Brook‘s Pleasant Son cheese and Sport Hill Farm eggs. This is crazy delicious.

dandelion_tart

For the Napa cabbage, Patti gave us her Nana’s Slaw Recipe:

  • 1/2 cup Mayo
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 olive oil
  • 1/8 cup sugar
  • salt & pepper to taste

Place ingredients in a mason jar. Cover, shake and pour over chopped green cabbage or Napa cabbage.

The dressing is excellent and I don’t see why it can’t be used with other greens that are not cabbages. It made a nice companion for the tart (which I did as a gratin).

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CSA, farms, locavore, organic

CSA 2013 Opening Day!

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This is the week my Sport Hill Farm 2013 CSA begins!

CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. While there are many programs out there, the basic idea is that the subscriber pays the seed money in the winter so the farmer has the capital to get things growing, then receives weekly shares of food based on the harvest.

If this is your first CSA, here are some tips and strategies for getting the most out of the program:

Get Debbie Meyer Green Bags. I have no affiliation with this company, financial or otherwise, just experienced affection. Vegetables can last 2 weeks in these bags. They’re on the expensive side, but your veggies are worth it.

Get a salad spinner. In the first few weeks, there will be lettuce. Lots of it. Varieties you didn’t know existed. A salad spinner makes light work of cleaning the greens. Did you know, Julia Child first introduced us to salad spinners?

Get a few good salad dressing recipes you like. Seriously, there will be a lot of lettuce in the beginning because that’s what grows at this time of year in New England. I really don’t like salad and have attempted cooking just about every lettuce. Some do better than others! Lately, I’ve been trying to get more apple cider vinegar in my diet due to the health benefits and so I’ve made my own apple cider vinegar dressing.

  • 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 c olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 pinches of sea salt
  • 4 pinches of garlic powder

Combine in a container with a sealing lid (like Rubbermaid) and shake, shake, shake.

You might get more food than you can finish. Most CSAs are designed to provide veggies for the week for a family of four. If your eating group is smaller, you can put by food for the winter and eat locally year round. It doesn’t have to be an all-day project either. While cooking your regular dinner, cook an extra item to put away. Blanch some broccoli on the back burner to freeze.

Tip: Many local farms are producing cool weather greens all winter long. Thanks to Sport Hill Farm, Fort Hill Farm, Riverbank Farm, and Holbrook Farm, I had fresh greens all winter. Put by the items that will not be available in the winter like broccoli, green beans, summer squashes, corn, and so on. Choose items that will complement the other foods that you can get in the winter. For example, meat and dairy are available year round, so you might want to make sure you have plenty of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and herbs for any soup, stew, or roast you’ll want to make.

Since I mentioned freezing, I need to mention my vacuum sealer. I couldn’t live without it! Because they remove the air from the bag, food lasts longer. While most brands advertise that foods last 3-6 months, I can honestly tell you that I’ve had some things last 2-3 years!

You’re not going to like everything you get. Swap or figure out something to do with it that you will like and remember, it gets better. For example. I don’t LOVE corn. Before you gasp, I do LIKE it. I generally need about one ear a summer and I’m over it. However, it turns out I LOVE corn in the dead of winter—it’s like opening packaged summer. So I cut of the kernels off the cob, vacuum seal and freeze them, and enjoy them in January and February (with lots of butter). Same with those salad turnips—boring (to me) when they’re in season, but pickled with mustard seeds and other spices and given six months to chill in the fridge, they’re awesome!

You’re not going to recognize some of the items or you won’t know what to do with them. Welcome to the CSA where the adventure is half the fun of it. Google is your friend! Search out a few recipes, pick one (or select the best featured from a few), and dive in. If they’re greens, you might try my go-to method of cooking greens to get a sense of the green’s properties and flavors to determine what else you might do with it next time.

Most importantly, have fun with this. If it sometimes feels like you’re on an episode of Chopped, remember that you don’t need to make it work with jelly beans and a package of dried shrimp.