CSA Week 18

When the CSA shares first started back in June, I always tried to have both crispers pretty empty when I picked up the weekly share. It didn’t work this week because I was away for too much of the week. I had Romaine lettuce, green beans, hot peppers, and escarole left (having made kale chips to get the kale out of the refrigerator earlier in the day!). All that fresh produce filled almost an entire crisper.

Unfortunately - all the items for week 18 are in the refrigerator now along with what is left from week 17. The crispers are overflowing with the added:

• Red leafed lettuce (upper right)
• Red Russian kale (lower left)
• Rainbow chard (yellow and pink stems at the top)
• Broccoli (upper left)
• Arugula (lower right)
• Scallions (the green tips peeking out to the left of the broccoli)
• Eggplant (purple and white with an elfish looking cap)

I managed to eat the last of the green beans, a hot pepper, two chard leaves, and some arugula in a stir fry for dinner which helped the crowding a little. Then again - the crowding is really bounty worth celebrating...good eating in the days ahead.

CSA Week 2

My husband and I managed to eat everything from week 1 portion from the CSA except for 2 cups of frozen Romaine lettuce stock in the freezer - averting the disaster of the head of Romaine lettuce freezing in the overfull refrigerator. What did I find the best aspects of the week?

• Garlic scapes - Excellent chopped up to use for scrambled eggs.
• The smell - Somehow the smell of the fresh veggies reminded me of childhood summers when I visited by grandparents. Both sets had large gardens. It took me almost a week to recognize that aside from enjoying the wonderful flavors from the CSA produce (which I had anticipated) - it was the smell that was a pleasant surprise.
• Cilantro - It is probably my favorite fresh herb. I enjoyed all the CSA provided…and cut more from the pots on my deck (that was already beginning to flower…and planted some more seeds in pots whose seedlings did not survive the hail several weeks ago.

I also learned the lesson that I simply making a list of the veggies may not be quite good enough to identify everything. When I went to pick up the week 2 portion yesterday, I took my camera.  The list for the medium share was quite different from last week.

Dandelion greens were somewhat new to me.  The leaves were a lot bigger than the dandelions that normally grow in my yard!  I enjoyed them as an addition to tomato soup last night (along with some broccoli); I put a chopped scallion on top. So I am off to a good start enjoying the week 2 produce.

Salanova baby lettuce was also new to me; it was a small head of tender leaves….it will be gone quickly!

The challenge for me this week is going to be the beets. I can remember my grandmother growing them but I don’t remember every eating them myself!  The CSA does have an exchange table but I am intent on trying the ‘new to me’ veggies! I’ll report on my beet experiences next week. The do have a wonderful color.