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Tag: garlic

Spring CSA Week 6

It is raining. Again. We’re not ones to complain–if it was a dry spring we’d be wishing for rain. We had enough of a dry spell mid-week to plant okra, corn, and purple-hulled peas, though they may not produce until late summer. This week: Cabbage for All! This is exciting for us; up until this year, bugs have always eaten our cabbage or the crop has failed for other reasons. One year, the hogs escaped and walked through the garden eating just the heads of the cabbages. What else is in the box? Read on!

Garlic: We really can’t call it spring baby garlic any more. Our babies are growing up!

Heirloom garlic scapes: These are special. Not only are they from out limited supply of heirloom garlic, they are only produced during a very short spring window. The whole scape is edible! We chop them and add them to eggs, to soups, over pasta–and don;t limit them to being a garnish: the scape can be the star! Follow this link for a list of seven ideas: we especially like using them in a pesto, minus the basil. Just garlic goodness!

Spring onions: Earlier this week Ted made dinner using these onions, leftover pulled pork, tomato sauce, and spices: Pulled Pork Tikka Masala. Substitute your favorite meat, tofu, or veggie if you don’t have leftover pulled pork barbecue:

Pulled Pork Tikka Masala

1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 head spring garlic
1 inch fresh ginger or 1 tsp dry ginger

1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 small container plain yogurt
8 oz tomato sauce
8 oz heavy cream or whole milk
1 lb leftover pulled pork
1 tsp garam masala
Thai basil, chopped

Saute the onion and cumin over medium heat until the onion is golden. In a blender, make a paste of the garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt, and pepper (add a teaspoon of water if needed). Add the paste to the onion and stir until it begins to brown. Add the cooked pork, yogurt, tomato sauce, and cream and stir to mix. Simmer 10 minutes. add the garam masala, serve with a little Thai basil on top.

Cabbage: If you are NOT eating healthy, try this recipe for Polish Bacon, Cabbage, and Potato casserole. If you ARE eating healthy, try grilled Teriyaki Cabbage Steaks.

Russian red kale: Kale is back! Ok–you’ve had a lot of kale, but it is versatile. Have you made kale chips yet? Please say yes… If not you should really try it: coat the leaves with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake them (or grill them) until they are crispy. This is a great side or snack.

Hot peppers: You are only getting one or two of these–they do have a kick; if you don’t like spicy, share with a neighbor. If you do, chop them and add them to anything!

Thai basil: Unlike its big-leaved cousin, Thai basil has smaller leaves with a complex scent of lavender, licorice, and basil. It is hard to describe if you’ve never had it–but it is a classic herb throughout southeast Asia. You can use this almost anywhere (see the pork recipe above), but it is especially good with garlic and just a little spice. Let us know what you think!

June 3, 2016
CSA Week 5: We got the beet.

There is a lot of love in this week’s box. It isn’t just that we love veggies, or that kale is showing us a lot of love this year. It’s the beets. We love beets. A few years ago we had the Year of the Beet, in which all of our beets grew to full size and customers got tired of seeing them. This year, three of our plantings of beets were washed out by heavy rains, and what you see this week is most of what survived. We debated leaving them another week in the ground, but they were calling us: “pull me!, pull me!” At least it sounded like they were calling us. Did I mention that we love beets?

We’ve heard rumors that some people dislike beets. To them we say, you might be doing something wrong. Now we aren’t ones to tell you how to cook, but if you hate beets and the only way you’ve had them is boiled or canned, try roasting them. Just cut off the leaves (save those!!) and the tip of the root, wrap each beet in foil, and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 45 minutes. Let them cool and the skin should slide off. From there you can cut them into chunks and serve with feta cheese and walnuts, put them in a salad, or eat them whole like an apple.

As for the beet greens, they are great raw or cooked. They are, essentially, Swiss chard (chard and beets are different varieties of the same species, Beta vulgaris.) The classic preparation is to saute them in just a little butter with onion and garlic just until they begin to wilt. For example, this recipe (which adds Parmesan cheese).

Enough about beets, though. On to this week’s veggies!

Clockwise from top: Lacinato kale, beets, spring garlic, green curly kale, green onions, “salad helper” bundle, basil in the middle.

Lacinato kale (or cabbage!): If you got kale last week, you will have cabbage this week–but for most of you you are getting kale two ways: lacinato (AKA Tuscan) kale and green kale, below. As it warms, try something cool like this cold kale and apple soup.

Green kale: Everyone gets kale this week! Here is one of our favorite recipes; please experiment and share! This is great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and can be made oversized to feed a group, tiny to feed one, or ahead of time for an event.

Crustless Quiche with Kale

1/3 cup cooked quinoa
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup parmesan
1/3 cup cheddar
Salt and Pepper to taste

We added:
1 cup chopped Kale
3 chopped mushrooms
1 chopped baby garlic

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a glass pie pan. Mix all ingredients, pour into pan, bake for 45 minutes. We actually baked it for 30 minutes, then turned off the oven and came back to the house an hour later, and it was fine. This is a forgiving recipe–play with it!

Beets: See the top of this blog post for recipe ideas.

Spring onions: Since you are getting these pretty much every week, here is yet another idea for green onions: green onion soup! Great as a starter or as a light meal–just be sure you wash the onions thoroughly to avoid any dirt!

Salad helper bundle: As we mentioned last week, the spring rains this week washed out most of our lettuce. Still, we can’t let the little bit that is left go to waste. These tiny bundles are enough for a salad for one–or to use as a “salad helper”. You can add kale and beet greens to liven them more. Included in the bundle: 1-2 radishes, tiny baby lettuce, spinach.

Basil: Unlike lettuce, our basil is starting to really take off. We included one sprig this week–not enough yet for pesto, but enough to chop and serve over a simple pasta dish, eggs, soup, salad, or in the quiche dish above.

Spring garlic:

Garlic Breath

by Shel Silverstein

Little Seth had garlic breath–
Said hi to his sister and breathed her to death.
Breathed on the grass
And the grass all died.
Breathed on an egg and the egg got fried.
Breathed on the air and the air turned green.
Breathed on the clock and it struck thirteen.
Breathed on the cat and the cat went moo.
Breathed on the cow and the cow gave glue.
Breathed on his brother,
His brother went blind.
Breathed on his mother
And she lost her mind.
Breathed on a top
And made it spin.
Breathed on the house
And the walls caved in.
Breathed on his feet and they ran from Seth,
Just to get away from his garlic breath

May 29, 2016
CSA Week 4!

Clockwise from top: Turnips, spring garlic, cabbage, spring onions, lettuce (tiny), radishes, herb fennel.

Welcome to the 4th week of the spring CSA! State of the Garden Every year is different. This year we have plenty of kale and cabbage (the cabbage is just starting to come in) but some of our old friends have suffered from too much rain at exactly the wrong times. Our first two plantings (and part of the third) of lettuce washed away along with some of our topsoil before they even sprouted. On the other hand, the lacinato (AKA Tuscan) kale seems to love the rain and is thriving and, as of now, largely bug free! While picking today we noticed the first few tiny baby squash and cucumbers, so unless the squash bugs outpace us you can look forward to that soon. Also coming soon: leeks, beets, kohlrabi, and basil. And, for those who stick with us through the summer CSA, tomatoes, peppers, squash, chard, and other summertime joys. We are also keeping an eye on our fruits. We have figs, blueberries, pears, apples, and peaches–much of which is too young to produce. Our figs have done well in the past but are still recovering from near death in a big freeze during the 2014-2015 winter. The pear tree is loaded–look for pears in the late summer.

In the bags this week:

Spring onions: We planted lots of onions, because they have so many uses–they should continue for the rest of the CSA! Have you tried them grilled?

Garlic: As with the spring onions, we believe that there is no such thing as too much garlic. Garlic is one of the food plants that is also used medicinally by many people, and our own anecdotal experience is that eating garlic helps with general health. Pro tip: when roasting garlic, seal it in aluminum foil or a clay pot. The oxygen in the atmosphere tends to make garlic bitter–but if you roast it in an air-tight environment it will be sweet.

Lettuce (Green Bibb): Salad. Of course, salad. But maybe, just maybe, you want something different? Like lettuce soup–this recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. Lettuce was one of the casualties of the spring rains this year. We are trying to rush another planting into production … stay tuned to the blog to see how it goes.

Turnips: The last of the turnips for this spring. Try roasted turnips with buttered greens (Hint: throw in some radishes to spice up the flavor!) We are sending out two kinds of turnips: “purple top” makes the familiar round turnip but the leaves aren’t as plentiful. “Seven top” makes loads of leaves, but the root is fibrous and should be peeled and cooked thoroughly before you try to eat it.

Purple top turnip

“Seven top” turnip

Radishes: As with the turnips, this may be the last bunch. After the recent rain, some of the radishes are cracked; this just means that they expanded too fast as they took on moisture. Wash and eat as usual. If you make roasted turnips and greens, you can add these to the mix: cook them the same as turnips and they will add a spicy zip.

Cabbage (OR Lacinato Kale): Hey! This is new! The cabbage is starting to come in, but we counted today and we don’t yet have enough for all customers (we had enough for 3/4). Since the ones that are ready may not make it another week we are giving them out randomly and keeping track of who gets them. If you don’t have cabbage this week, you will get kale–and next week that will be reversed. NOTE: Wash the cabbage well! Cabbage heads form from loose leaves and tighten up as they ripen. No pesticides, but there is likely some garden grit inside each cabbage. What to do with cabbage? Slaw is great, but try stuffed cabbage for an adventure.

Cabbage: Don’t throw out the exterior leaves! They are delicious!

Herb fennel: This is great trimmed into tiny bits as an accent in a salad, over a soup (try it with the lettuce above), or even over vanilla ice cream. Fennel has a gentle licorice flavor that some people love even if they hate licorice. Herb fennel is a different variety of the plant that produces fennel bulbs.

Reminder: Please return your bag when we deliver new veggies each week. If you keep returning them, you will have two bags to keep at the end of the season. If we didn’t get a bag from you last week, you are getting your veggies in plastic this week–and that is not our preference!

May 20, 2016
Spring 2013 CSA: Week 1
We had a rocky start to the day, but boxes are in are shareholders’ hands and everyone seemed happy with their shares! Every box smelled divine — green garlic and onions mingling with kale, fresh lettuces, and herbs. If you took home a box for your very own, here’s what you got:

Clockwise from top: Bibb lettuce, spinach, arugula, Lollo Rosa lettuce, garlic, onions, kale
- Kale: This variety, Russian Red, has loved our wet weather and is taking off, so expect more in the coming weeks. Saute it in a pan or make one of our all-time favorites — Kale chips! Guilt-free snack food at its finest, and so easy to make!
- Bibb Lettuce: This loose head lettuce has a buttery consistency and makes a lovely salad.
- Lollo Rosa Lettuce: This leaf lettuce has a sharper flavor and adds texture — great for holding on to salad dressings.
- Green Garlic: Young garlic has a delicious mild flavor when you use it in a saute. Use the whole stem in a soup or broth, or use the stiff neck like you would a leek. Green garlic doesn’t last like cured, mature garlic will; try to use it in the next week or so. If it starts to go brown, make your own garlic powder!
- Spring Onions: Use like a regular onion. Chop them up in sautes and casseroles, or use them in salads. You can also use the stem like a scallion — chop it up and use for garnish or in soups. The bunch in your box contains a mix of red, white, and yellow green onions.
- Mixed Herbs: Rosemary, oregano, mountain mint, and sage. Use together or separately… Boil green beans in water with sage and mountain mint, use rosemary with potatoes or pork and oregano in any Italian food or salad dressing. If you’re feeling adventurous, put your sprig into moist soil and see if it roots — before you know it, you’ll be growing your own herbs on your window sill!
- Arugula: This lovely spring green has a bracing bite. Use a little in your salad for a big kick.
- Spinach: Rich, green spinach has been happier in the wet cool weather than it usually is in the Memphis heat — enjoy! Cook it in a saute pan and serve as a wilted green or use it fresh in a salad… we love it under salmon or tuna with a corn salsa over the top.
Left to right: oregano, mountain mint, rosemary, and sage.

Once Upon a Time…

…Not so long ago and very, very close to home, we had a workshare volunteer (Bobbie Ann) help us harvest and wash a ton of fresh greens. We tucked them snugly into bed in the new CSA-only refrigerator for the night, thinking that we had a leg up on the Saturday delivery. Imagine our alarm when, the next day (Saturday) all those greens were stiff and frozen. Lesson learned! Our fairy tale first pickup may have turned out to be a parable, but it still had a happy ending. Our loss is your gain–we bring you vegetables that are fresher than even we expected! Luckily we overplanted by enough that reharvesting shouldn’t cut into future harvests. If you are a geek about such things and wonder just how we schedule planting and harvesting, you might look at these spreadsheets from North Carolina State University that we adapted to develop our own schedule.

Wash those veggies!

Remember, even though we don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, these veggies are fresh from the ground–they may come with some rich soil still attached. We give everything a rinse in clear, cool water before it goes into your boxes, but we recommend that you wash again before you cook or eat. Especially in the wet weather we’ve had, dirt tends to cling. For your eating pleasure, wash them in cool water to avoid grit.

Don’t be a hater…

Is there a bug on your greens? Cool. That’s how plants naturally grow in a healthy environment that encourages a total living ecosystem: with some bugs here and there. Any hitchhikers should come off in the wash.

Let us know how it goes!

If you have a great recipe to share with the CSA community, you can post it here or on our page on The Facebook.
May 11, 2013