Hello Everyone,
Well, here we are in week 3 of the CSA. We haven’t been posting CSA emails on our blog, in part because it makes it a two-step process and we’ve been really short on time, and in part because demand has been so high for our products, we felt bad flaunting sold-out shares. Also, shares haven’t always been the same on Tuesday and Thursday this year, more so than in previous years, and people complaining about fairness in the CSA makes us crazy.
But, the Ashland Farmer’s Market is now open, and although it is different this year, you can still get tons of great farm products (snacking on an egg on locally-grown-whole-grain-sour-dough-toast from Crust right now). As always, we do our best of prioritize our CSA members, but we also love our farmers market customers, and we are excited that production (after a weird and wild spring) is finally ramping up.
This week’s share has the first carrots and peas of the season, as well as more delicious salad and cooking greens and kohlrabi!
What’s in the share:
Carrots (tender, baby – don’t cook, just consume!)
Kohlrabi
Head Lettuce
Salad Greens Choice: Micros, Arugula, Mild Mustards/Mix
Cooking Greens Choice: Bok Choy, Kale, Swiss Chard, Escarole, Frisee
Peas/Strawberries: (some amount of either or both)
Broccoli (for Tuesday)/Zucchini (for Thursday). Lots more zucchini on the horizon.
Garlic Scapes
RECIPE CORNER
| GARLIC SCAPE GREEN GAZPACHO | Perfect for a steamy night! You can use pretty much any combination of greens in this so it’s a great way to use up any extra greens you have. | |
| ABOUT GARLIC SCAPES | Garlic Scapes are the curly stems that shoot up out of garlic bulbs. They will eventually flower but they are typically trimmed off to allow the garlic plant to use all of its energy on making a delicious flavorful garlic bulb. Scapes taste like a cross between garlic, onion and scallions and are fantastic sautéed with eggs or to top pasta, made into pesto, grilled or added to a soup or stir-fry. | |
| KOHLRABI FRITTERS | Kohlrabi is something that I wasn’t familiar with until I started getting a CSA share but now I get it whenever there is a choice. Also called a German Turnip, kohlrabi is in the cabbage (Brassica) family and has a mild flavor like a cross between a cucumber and a turnip. The whole plant is edible and can be eaten raw but I typically strip off the stems and leaves and if the skin is feeling on the tough side I peel it with a veggie peeler. We love to make these fritters with them and I frequently mix half kohlrabi and half shredded carrots if we have them on hand. Scallions or scapes would be great in here too and I think this week I’ll add some shredded kale too. | |
| 19 NEW WAYS TO EAT LEAFY GREENS | If you ever start feeling overwhelmed by greens, don’t despair! There are so many ways to use them up without having salad for every meal. | |
| QUICK SAUTEED ENDIVE, ESCAROLE AND FRISEE | You can either use a combination of Endive, Escarole and Frisee in this or just pick one or two depending on what you like and what you have on hand. | |
| ENDIVE APPLE AND CELERY SALAD | I love a crunchy salad and this one has loads of crunch and a fantastic combination of flavors. | |
| SNAP PEA SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK DRESSING | Crunchy and delicious snap peas served over a super simple buttermilk dressing. It will look like you were in the kitchen slaving for hours! | |
| WILD RICE GRATIN WITH KALE, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, AND BABY SWISS | This is a great recipe to have on hand because you likely have all of the ingredients in your pantry or can easily swap them for ones that you do have. The wild rice could be swapped for pretty much any kind of rice and it would be equally delicious with cheddar cheese, fontina or feta if you didn’t have swiss. |
Upswing Farm 