Hi everyone,
It’s really starting to feel like fall now. We’ve been having cool nights and there are winter squashes in the shares (and football is back). I want to thank everyone again for being part of the first season of the CSA Club. Its been very fulfilling for us and we hope that you all have enjoyed it as much as we have. Lisa and I are starting to finalize plans for the CSA Club over the winter (and for next season) and we want your help to form those plans.
First though, I want to share some of our accomplishments so far through the season. Together, the CSA Club has enjoyed a whopping 1300 lbs of locally grown produce. All of that coming from just 70 mi away, compared to the average of over 1500 mi of what you would find in a grocery store. I had also planned on listing the percentage of diet grown in Illinois that would represent, but based on a typical thrifty diet according the USDA food plans each of the CSA Club shares would only account for 28% of fruit and veggies. That doesn’t quite seem right to me. Lisa and I are usually working hard to use everything up before the next share rather than supplementing with additional produce, but let us know if you think different!
Now the ask for help; we want your feedback on the CSA Club to help guide the direction we continue to grow. If you could please fill out this survey, it would go a long way in helping us plan. We appreciate any thoughts, ideas or critiques, that you might have.
Enjoy the veggies!
-Ben
McIntosh apples are a classic variety. Originated cultivated in Upper Canada, they entered commercial production in 1870 and today are in the top fifteen apple cultivars in the US. Tart with a green apple flavor similar to Granny Smith.
Cortlands are a McIntosh x Ben Davis hybrid developed in Geneva, NY in 1898. Striated green and red skin with bright white flesh, these have a more brown
The Oranos are the bright orange and are extraordinarily sweet with a zesty flavor. The Gypsys are the red and yellow, and have a more fruity flavor similar to fresnos (no heat though).
Another last of the season. We like to use eggplant in addition with other veggies (sautéed, roasted, or however) since it’s texture adds a nice variety to the crunchiness of most other vegetables.
The flavor of these carrots is wild. The distinctive aroma of carrots is due to terpenes. This family of compounds can have aromas ranging from flowery to citrusy to piney. In these carrots I notice prominent baking spices, like clove or cardamom.
One last round of Patty Pans will be the last of the summer squash. Earlier this week, we split some Patty Pans hamburger style and grilled, charring the outside but keeping the center firm. They were like squash cutlets.
This is the last corn of the season so we’ve left them whole again for grilling in this nice cool weather to close out the season. If you don’t have a grill, another option is to bake husk-on on a sheet tray at 350F for ~45 mins.
There Cipollinis in the shares a couple weeks back back. Sweet and disc shaped, these are great roasted whole, or used anywhere else you would use onion.
Similar to corn and eggplant, this will the last of the melon for the season. With that in mind, and because these are nice small ones, we left them whole for you to be able to delay the last few bites if you’d like. My preferred method for cutting melons is to first cut off each end, and then stand up the melon to trim the rind top to bottom, following the curve. You then left with a naked, whole melon that can be halved and then cubed. But the classic wedges are always a fun way to go too.
We have a theme this week of two varieties of the same veggie. It should be fun to compare the differences
The Covingtons have brick orange skin, while the Carolina Rubys skin is well.. ruby.
Shelled beans might be the best benefit of being part of the CSA Club as shelling them is quite laborious. We typically put something on the TV and plod away at the beans, that way you all can easily enjoy them. The cold weather has baked beans or soup on my mind for these.
A member of the brassica family, collards have a deep savory flavor in comparison to kale. It’s hardy, and stands up well to long slow braising. Check out our recipe here.
We froze the shells from the peas received in the shares earlier in the season so that we could make this stock. Steeped lightly with herbs and garlic, this stock is stock is light and aromatic. It would work great for a light ramen, or split pea soup.
We often like to have braised greens in the refrigerator, whatever greens we might have. They an easy reheat to serve with whatever else is for dinner that night. We also add spoonfuls of it to soups or stirfrys to easily add some greens to more medley type dishes. Here we used some of the collards from your share along with some other greens frozen earlier in the season, braised in CSA Club Stock and Dill Pickle liquid and seasoned with housemade Paprika.
Some memories of spring; pickled at the peak of the asparagus season. Because the anthocyanins that give the purple color are water soluble, they’ve bled from the outside of the asparagus to the pickle liquid and flesh giving a beautiful pink hue. These would be the ultimate garnish for a Bloody Mary.
