Hi everyone,
Exciting update on CSA Club Member Potluck; we’ll be gathering at Ping Tom Park on Saturday 7/19 from 5:30-7:30 PM. There is a poll in the General chat of the WhatsApp community to coordinate on what everyone is bringing, as well as allergens. If you aren’t on WhatsApp, just send me an email or text, and I’ll make sure to keep you looped in!
The shift in the season is strong in this week’s shares. The vegetables out in the fields have been dealing with the same heat we have for the last couple of weeks. Similar to most of us, the greens don’t do well in the heat, hence why we have the first share of the season with none. However, everything else has been loving it. The totes are noticeably heavier as a result.
We hope you all enjoy this week’s shares!
—Ben
A classic brassica, we’re always excited to get cauliflower in the shares. Most of what Nichols sent were white, but a couple were orange so don’t be worry that there are a few funny colored ones mixed in. There’s a little yellow in there too.
New potatoes are an early summer treat. Harvested before curing, new potatoes have a thin papery skin and high moisture content. They’re also a little sweeter since all of the sugars haven’t been converted to starches yet. Because of all of that, new potatoes should be kept refrigerated. While raw they have a crisp texture that reminds me of jicama, but cooked they are extremely creamy and keep their shape well which makes them perfect for potato salad.
Fava beans are where you all really get the CSA Club value. Not only do the beans need to be removed from their pods, there is also an outer skin on each bean that needs to be removed. This is most easily done by blanching the beans, but we find doing that the fava are best eaten right away. Instead we carefully remove the skin while the beans so that they’ll last awhile refrigerated. With all the hard work of shelling out of the way, they don’t need much more to be a tasty dish. The buttery, cheesy, flavor of fava beans is unique and delicious. A quick sauté, blanch or steam with any fun herbs or seasonings you might and you have a perfect side.
These are the first carrots of this season. When I remove the tops from carrots, I like to leave a little bit on the carrot mostly because I think it’s super cute (it also makes the tops easier to clean, which we save to use for stock). I like to roast early season carrots whole to really lean into how adorable they are. There’s a bit of variety in sizes, so simply halve or quarter the larger ones lengthwise.
Beets are another crop that humans have been eating since prehistory. Shredded beets are great on salads, giving a beautiful pop of color. I actually prefer golden beets to the standard red since you don’t have to worry about them staining everything. People will often roast beets, but I prefer to braise them in 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar. The acid really helps the sweetness of the beets pop. Don’t worry about peeling them before cooking, as they’re much easier to peel after being cooked (so easy I like to use a spoon for it).
We’ve seen the full growth of these onions this season. Now the bulbs are fully formed and the greens not so nice. Aidan from Nichols Farm says if he “had to choose a time of the year where the onions have the perfect mix of size, flavor intensity, and freshness, it would be these next few weeks. “
Generally, I would refer to all thin skinned squashes as summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan, etc.). This one is called Grey Zucchini because of the more muted green color with some speckling. Jarvi let me know that the particular seed variety they planted was called Mexicana. There’s a fun variety of sizes, with the smaller ones being absolutely adorable and would be served well cooking whole or simply halved.
We trim the broccoli up into nice florets for you all. This way they’re ready for snacking, roasting, or whatever ambitions a broccoli might have. Don’t skip out on the stems. We peel away the fibrous parts so they’re tender and perfect sautéed with other veggies (maybe in fried rice?).
