2015 CSA week 4
June 24, 2015
2014 CSA week 4 June 24th
In The Box
1 bag lettuce mix
2 lbs fava beans
1 bunch Italian kale
1 or 2 zucchini
1 French breakfast radishes
1 bunch spring onions (scallions)
1 bunch baby carrots
1 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley
A real family day on the farm today with everyone chipping in to get the harvest done ahead of the heat. With a couple of crew members out sick the usual frantic harvest pace was elevated to a new level. The heat of this early summer while welcome in a lot of respects has presented its own set of challenges to be overcome. One being the shortened morning window for harvesting and the frequency with which we have to run from the field to the sinks or walk in cooler.
The heat has also made greenhouse propagation tricky and the cool weather crops planned for June’s boxes struggle, hence the lack of broccoli and cauliflower so far. The tomatoes, peppers and eggplants along with the zucchini, cucumber and melons are doing really well and should be making an appearance in your boxes sooner than in recent years.
Working with children in the field while romantic in idea, definitely challenges the dynamic of getting 200 boxes worth of crops picked, washed, weighed and packed even on one of the longest days of the season. When you literally work from sun up to sundown (then beyond) the solstice is a double edged sword and makes for a long day when combined with kids that are seemingly simultaneously engaged and bored, weird.
A cut lettuce mix in your box today, the result of a small trial for one of our seed suppliers of the new generation of head type cutting lettuces. I’ve included a link to a video showing a good way to wash and dry these greens.
Wish us luck through the looming heatwave this weekend as our focus will be on non stop irrigation to make sure everything has adequate moisture. With temps predicted to go over 100 degrees (yeah that’s in the shade) I imagine the list of things we had planned to get done this weekend will be missing some check marks come Monday.
Enjoy,
Dave, Lori, Chloe, Ryder and “the crew”
LOGISTICAL NOTES
The Fremont Grand Central location has extended its hours through the summer staying open until 6:00 PM
Remember to return the empty wax boxes to your pick up site
All of our pick up sites allow us to use their space as a courtesy please respect their generosity by keeping the area neat.
We are hoping we have enough bread cards for every box this week if not we hope that Grand Central will be understanding until we get more cards in.
RECIPES
Link to salad greens washing video
http://food52.com/blog/6202-how-to-wash-greens-without-a-salad-spinner
MOROCCAN CARROT SALAD
Peel baby carrots, leaving 1/4 inch of stem attached. Cut them in half lengthwise and boil until tender in salted water with a crushed clove of garlic. Drain and cool to room temperature. Toss them with a little ground cumin, paprika, and salt, and a pinch each of cinnamon and cayenne. Toss together with lemon juice, olive oil and chopped parsley and set aside to marinate for at least an hour before serving.
Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters
CHILLED FAVA BEAN SOUP
2 pounds fava beans
1 bunch scallions
2 cloves garlic
1 quart chicken stock
salt and pepper
Shell the beans, parboil for about 1 minute, cool, then pop the beans from their skins.
Chop the onion. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Saute the onion in the olive oil until quite soft, 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 minutes more, and season well with salt. Add the fava beans, cook for 2 more minutes, and then add just enough stock to cover the beans. Chill the remaining stock. Cook the fava beans until tender. Puree in a blender until smooth, adding the extra cooled stock until you reach a consistency you like. Cool the soup quickly in an ice bath. Season to taste. Serve in chilled bowls.
Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters
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