Here we go again!

Week 1 of a new season of our CSA program.

The 1st CSA applications starting arriving way back in January. Our 1st vegetables were seeded in the greenhouse in February. Early April was when we planted our 1st outdoor crop – snow peas (picture below).

But the 1st pick-up is when it feels like we’re really starting – when we hand over those 1st boxes with the 1st fresh vegetables of the season. It’s what we have been working towards and it’s what you have been waiting for.

We’re excited – and we’re ready! We know you are too!

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With a lot of rain in the forecast for Tuesday – our biggest CSA pick-up day – the decision was made to pick some of the vegetables for Tuesday’s box, today. So Amy picked while Lorie washed and bagged.

I spent the day transplanting. Two trailers full of seedlings were waiting for me.

Kohlrabi is a vegetable we don’t usually cover as bugs don’t prefer it – except this year! Our broccoli was also unprotected, and eaten. Both have had enough damage that they are no longer growing – a total crop loss.

But overall the vegetables are growing well & looking good.

What’s in the box?

Lettuce mix, other salad greens, radishes, green garlic, mint bunches.

• It’s salad time! All our lettuce and other greens have been rinsed once to remove most of the field soil. You may want to wash them more thoroughly, bag them & store in the refrigerator. They should last at least a week. Everyone will receive a bag of colourful & delicious lettuce mix.

• Each CSA share will also receive a second bag of greens. Tuesday’s box will contain a stir-fry mix. This combination of bok choy, Chinese cabbage leaves, spring raab … is a great start for a delicious stir fry. Add the radishes and green garlic too! The recipe for our favourite stir fry sauce is below.
• Thursday & Friday (and Saturday market) boxes may contain stir fry mix, or bok choy, or some other green. They are all growing so quickly now and we want to pick whatever is at it’s prime!
• The radishes could easily have been harvested last week – but nothing else was ready. They are plenty hot too! Soaking them in ice-cold water for 20 minutes will cut some of the sharpness & also make them crisper.
• Green garlic is a fresh garlic plant. At this time of year the bulb has not yet formed below ground, and the green top is still tender enough to eat, like a scallion or green onion. Green garlic is milder than fall garlic bulbs. Use them raw (eg. sliced into salads or mashed with goat cheese for a spread) or cooked (sautéed with scrambled eggs maybe) – anywhere you would use garlic. They are also delicious coated with olive oil & tossed whole on the barbecue. Store green garlic in the fridge.
• We love fresh mint! Delicious & refreshing in fruit salads, drinks etc. We often make a simple syrup with the mint leaves and add it to our iced tea. (recipe below)

MINT SIMPLE SYRUP   

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint, rinsed
• 1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

• Add sugar, mint, and water to a small pot.  Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat.
• Leave the mint leaves in the syrup as it cools for about 15 minutes.  Strain out the leaves, and bottle the syrup.
• Store mint simple syrup in a glass jar in the fridge.  Use within a year.(from https://champagne-tastes.com)

STIR FRY SAUCE

• 5 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon corn starch

Whisk ingredients together. Great on any stir fried vegetables.

*** As a member of our CSA you have access to http://www.cookwithwhatyouhave.com. This website has 900+ recipes, templates, storage and preserving tips, pantry stocking suggestions and vegetable prep videos, organized by vegetable and created using CSA Produce. Log in using the access key you received at sign up or ask us to send it to you again.

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Around the farm this week ….

Flynn waiting on the driveway to welcome all our CSA members to 1st pick-up.

See you soon!