It’s the first winter CSA pick up this weekend! And it’s going to be a cold one! We are very proud of this share. We’ve got bunched hakurei turnips, mini-bib lettuce and spinach from the low tunnels that we picked today. Plus pea tendrils and micro-greens from the big greenhouse and kale and leeks from the field. Plus lots of delicious storage crops.
I get a little overly excited about season extension. In reality, selling vegetables at either end of the season and especially in winter is more expensive and more work. I need supplies like row cover, hoops, low tunnels and then we have to put it all on and take it off! Or, we have to pick it, and instead of bringing it to the CSA stand and having it disappear right away with happy customers, it has to be stored and monitored, and taken out of storage, and sorted.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just up the summer shares and get another job November-March. But who hires for that time-frame anyway? And let’s face it, I’m only happy when I’m in charge. Plus, one of the reasons I got into agriculture was because I wanted be a part of the solution to the waste and suffering caused by our current commercial food system, and I think addressing local food in the off-season a tricky and interesting part of the problem.
Oh, and did I mention only really cool people are willing to get a 25+ lb box of vegetables once a month in winter? And I like to make veggies available for them.
Thanks for joining our winter share. I might gripe a little, but really, I love that I get to do farm work all year round. Even when my fingers are cold and I’m covered in mud. We are glad you want to try year-round, local eating and we hope to help a little along the way. I’ll post blogs with each share (like this one) with a little update from the farm, some pics, and then information about the produce and recipes.
If you are reading this and missed out on joining the share (it’s sold out!) you can join us at the Hopkinton Winter Farmer’s Market, starting Saturday December 15th 9-1 once/month until May. We’ll also be at the two pop-up Ashland Markets in February.
That’s enough talk, I’ve got to get this email out – it was a long day harvesting, washing and sorting veggies for the share tomorrow.
What’s in the share:
3# carrots
6# butternut/carnival squash mix and match
4# sweet potatoes
2# onions, red and yellow mix and match
1/2# mini lettuce heads
1 bag pea tendrils or micro greens (great for salad or to top a soup, stew, or on a sandwich)
1/2# spinach
1 bunch hakurei turnips (very sweet, can be eaten raw in salad like radish, or sauteed or roasted or steamed. Don’t forget to eat the greens!! They are tender and super healthy)
1# leeks and beets mix and match
1/2# kale
1# fingerlings (this variety is called papa cacho, its a long, funny heirloom that tastes great!)
1 pint of garlic/shallots mixed
Recipes:
Garlic Roasted Potatoes – Ina Garten
Roasted Carrots – Ina Garten
Butternut Squash Lasagna (this is very trendy right now)
Sweet Potato Dumplings
Sweet Potato Noodles (for all you spiralizer fans)
Butternut Squash and Kale Gratin (a great way to hide your kale if that’s your style!)
Left-over Mashed Potato Pancakes (I had something like this at a hipster diner once and it was great. You could probably use sweet potatoes too, maybe up the flour a little bit.)
Cook the whole turnip bunch!
I hope this gives you some good ideas. I LOVE when CSA members share recipes that they love. It makes my job easier and it’s just fun to hear what you are enjoying. Please send me an email or reply to the blog if you’ve got a recipe you think others would love.
Enjoy.
Upswing Farm 