Hi everyone!
It’s crazy that we’re already at the second to last share of the season. With that in mind I thought now would be a good time to reminisce about all of the delicious produce that we’ve enjoyed so far this season.
The CSA Club as a whole will have gone through nearly 4,000 lbs of produce over the season. We’ve enjoyed about 40 different types of vegetables and fruit with a total of more than 70 unique varieties across those produce items. The most frequent items we had (6 times each) were onion, tomato and green beans. Not far behind were radish, summer squash, apple, cucumber, potato, and eggplant. Just to name a few other highlights we received in the shares, we also had strawberries, turnips, english peas, fava beans, melon, corn, peppers, and winter squash. It’s been a satisfyingly delicious season.
In past seasons, we’ve flirted with doing something over the winter but we’ve never been able to land on something. We can say confidently that we will be taking a pause this winter. In the next newsletter, I’ll share a few options for getting your local veggie fix over the winter (there are a surprising amount of options). I’ll also share a couple other end of season housekeeping things such as a final tote/container return after our last pick-up.
Thank you all so much for being a part of the CSA Club. It means so much to us that you all trust us to provide you all with delicious produce and we couldn’t do it without the commitment and reliability you all bring to the table. With the upcoming life change Lisa and I have of welcoming a baby into our home, we’re hoping to use the time off to prepare as well as continue the work we’ve already started of planning for next year for Gard Mo and the CSA Club. We’re hopeful that we can still manage to fit Gard Mo into our lives, but it’s going to take a lot of help. The plan as of now is to have a CSA Club season next year, but there is a chance that our winter break is extended indefinitely. We’ll be sure to keep you all updated.
Hope you all enjoy the share.
—Ben
This will be the third share in a row with brussel sprouts which helps make up for the smaller amounts of them that we’ve been getting. I’ve been using them a lot recently to make a quick slaw as an side/garnish for whatever else I’m cooking. I’ll thinly slice 2-5 brussels, and then dress it with rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, and a touch of mustard (and maybe toss in some other fun things like pickles, seeds, or apples). I’ve used that slaw on top tacos, as a side with a sweet potato hash, and on a sandwich.
These leeks are really nice looking with large white portions, which is the most useful part of the leeks. The upper dark green portion starts to become more fibrous and bitter, and less sweet. When we trim the leeks up for you all, we keep the dark green parts to use for stock which they’re perfect for! We do have that stock for sale ($4 per quart) but keep it frozen so we don’t bring it with to pick-ups. Reach out if you’re ever interested in some.
Nichols listed these as ‘yellow’ potatoes, so I’m not exactly sure which variety they are. If I had to take a guess, I’d say they are the Canada Golds that we had back in the beginning of September.
A favorite tool I use when writing these blurbs is the website Apple Rankings. Written by comedian Brian Frange, it often gives extremely harsh but comical reviews of apple varieties. I’ll leave a blurb here from Apple Ranking’s review of Melroses, but I promise these are tastier than it makes it sound.
“This WWII-era tank-fruit is a daunting behemoth that could easily smash in a Nazi’s skull if hurled at close range. Dense, thick-skinned, and great in an apple pie, this state apple of Ohio may be the most American apple on Earth.”
These tomatoes are a mix of red and green as this week we’re helping out Otter Oaks by taking what fruit was left on their tomato plants. As the season is wrapping, farmer Jarvi has to completely clean up and clear out their plot at the Legends farm in Bronzeville. The land the Legends farm is on is leased yearly by The Chicago Botanical Garden as part of their urban agriculture apprenticeship program, Windy City Harvest, so at the end of each growing season there is always uncertainty around whether it will be leased again the following. Fortunately, Otter Oaks has secured a more stable land opportunity so that next season they don’t have to spend as much time clearing out, and focus on getting things started for a head start on spring. Here is a reddit thread with some ideas for how to use up end of season tomatoes!
Mutsu apples are a Golden Delicious cultivar, first grown in Japan. In Japan, there are three kinds typically available: Sun (yellow-green), Red, and Silver (pale-yellow). Each kind differ in color based on how much sunlight they receive.
Bred by North Carolina State University, Covington sweet potatoes are great baking, mashing, and roasting. The simplest way to enjoy these is by baking whole at 375F for ~1hr.
Most people are probably more familiar with fennel seed than fresh fennel. With a characteristic anise or black licorice flavor and a surprising sweetness, fennel is crisp and refreshing when raw, but can also fit well into savory dishes. Fennel caramelizes really well, and benefits from high temperature cooking to develop color. Bulb, stalks and fronds are all usable. The fronds can be used as an herb for garnish or by the handfuls.
This is my favorite variety of kale. Dark green, with bumpy looking leaves, it’s often called “dino kale.” It’s hardy with a crisp texture that holds up well to sautéing or roasting.
