Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for joining the CSA Club for our third season! We’re thrilled to share a summer of fresh, delicious veggies with you.
We’re grateful to welcome back returning members and excited to meet so many new faces. Let’s take a moment to introduce the team making this season possible:
We started Gard Mo in 2023 after spending a couple of years dreaming and scheming about ways to improve the local food infrastructure. We both have a background in food science and have worked for large consumer packaged good companies as product developers, but have grown to believe that supporting local growers is the route to a more just, sustainable, and delicious food system. I (Ben) do most of the day-to-day things for Gard Mo while Lisa carries more than her weight coordinating our zero-waste efforts, stepping in wherever needed, and holding down a full-time job to support us.
Our new CSA Club Production Assistant, Ana, is indispensable this season. From prepping and packing veggies to cleaning totes and containers, her help ensures everything reaches you on time—we couldn’t do it without her!
This project thrives because of you, enabling us to build a community around eating local. From our multi-season members to the new ones; your trust in us to deliver the freshest local harvest is what makes this all possible. Our long-term vision is to grow Gard Mo into a cooperatively owned and managed business, and we’re already seeing incredible momentum. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have a group of CSA Club members (Jenny, Dylan, and Kyra) helping us dream up what a Gard Mo cooperative could look like—and what it would mean to be a member-owner. The conversation has expanded to the wider CSA Club community through member dinners we’ve hosted, and members have already been stepping up to pitch-in (Catherine, Nancy, and Marc). Our goal is to keep this momentum going through the season, deepening and growing the community. Potluck picnics, a recipe-sharing forum, and a co-op study group are just some of the ideas we have for doing that. We’re so excited for you all to be part of the CSA Club and to be part of this exciting phase of growth for us.
For us, this journey has been fun, sometimes exhausting, and deeply transformative. Most of all, it’s been incredibly rewarding to connect with so many amazing people. We’re excited for another season and can’t wait to see how much we’ll grow together!
We hope you all enjoy the veggies, and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or feedback!
—Ben
Sometimes I see kale like this called ‘baby kale’ and mixed into greens mixes. The leaves are tender and would make for a great salad. I mentioned Caesar for the arugula; this kale would probably appreciate an invite to that party.
Joi Choi is a brassica very similar to bok choi. The stems are tender and juicy, and the leaves are broad and flat. The flavor is zesty with a woody, perfume-y note that I love. They do well quickly grilled over high heat, or as a stir-fry with some of the spring onion.
The mild varieties of lettuces that we eat today are descended from an inedible bitter weed that grew in Asia and the Mediterranean. Thanks to 5,000 years of cultivation and improvements by thoughtful growers, we’re able to enjoy these varieties that are tender with only a pleasant touch of bitterness.
Spring onions are always a treat. Harvested before a bulb has started to form, these look more like scallions and can be used similarly. Use the bottom white portions the same way you would onion (diced and sautéed at the beginning of any dish, pickled, on a taco, etc.), and the top green portion like you would green onion or chives (as a garnish).
Cucumbers already is kind of crazy. Nichols has a pretty impressive greenhouse program that enables them to have delicious cucumbers and tomatoes this early in the season. They use a moveable top that allows them to plant directly into their healthy soil with the protection and warmth of a greenhouse. When it warms up, they move the top and boom! Cucumbers and tomatoes and a month ahead of where they otherwise would be.
Nichols’ arugula is always extra peppery. You’ll often see arugula used in light salads, like with balsamic and goat cheese. But these ones are so peppery I had visions of it carrying a creamy Caesar dressing making it seem like you gave it a few extra cranks of the pepper mill.
Comparing these to the ones from Otter Oaks is pretty fun. They might be slightly different varieties, but more likely the differences are from different growing conditions. These from Nichols are much more elongated in shape, and have more of a spicy bite than the Otter Oaks radishes. Luckily the recipe this week is a simple way to use an abundance of radishes!
We’re starting off the season with a double ration of radishes. Easter egg radishes are typically a mix of different varieties of radishes which is how we end up with the pretty mix of purple, pinks, and whites. These ones from Otter Oaks are particularly sweet and mild.
