Week 8 (it really is week 8!): in your share

Beans! It is bean season, and you may see classic green beans, purple beans, "Tongue of Fire" streaked red-green beans, or Maxibel (a tiny French "haricot" type bean). Enjoy raw or lightly steamed.

Escarole: This buttery-tender leafy green head is closely related to lettuce and may be used in fresh or wilted salad, or cooked. It has a stronger, more bitter flavor (remember Cherie's article about Bringing Bitter Back?), and goes wonderfully with pungent flavors like balsamic vinegar or lemon.

Beets: Once again, the earthy root! You may see classic red, light red bulls-eyed "Chioggia," or long, slender "Cylindra." Try them grated over top of a cucumber -onion-dill salad for gorgeous color.

Cucumbers! wow, are there ever cucumbers..... time for non-lettuce salads: pickled or fresh cukes with any combo of other veggies, a simple vinaigrette or bona fide marinade.

Summer squash/zucchini- time to get out the grill for summer veggies! You'll see
big zukes later for zucchini bread; for now enjoy the delicate, tender young ones.

Sweet white onions- these sweet beauties are mild enough to enjoy raw, but of course can be cooked, grilled, or whatever you need them for.

Garlic- another fresh bulb. Please let us know if you like getting one bulb a week, a bulb every other week, a large quantity all at once, or a bulb or two tricked out at a time- we want to know what works best for you.

Week 6: In your share (last week!)

POTATOES! The first early spuds, nicely sized up, either Caribe (purple skin, white flesh) or Red Gold (red skin, yellow flesh)
CARROTS- more lovely roots, either classic orange ("Sugarsnax") or purple ("Purple Haze")
BEETS are back on the scene- you'll see more of these as the season progresses. Try roasting them whole on the grill, on a skewer, or in the oven, brushed with a little olive oil to keep moist.
RADISHES or BABY TURNIPS- delicate red radishes or sweet Japanese turnips- use fresh in salads OR roasted with other roots - you can also use the turnip greens fresh or lightly cooked.
lovely little LETTUCE HEADS- either deer tongue (the kind that resembles a sea anemone) or Batavian (a heat-tolerant lettuce that's in between a leaf lettuce and an iceberg in form, but much nicer in flavor!)
SWEET ONIONS- the first "big" onions of the season- try these sliced thinly with thinly sliced cucumbers, with a delicate vinaigrette marinade, OR grilled or any other way you like onions
GARLIC is still fresh and juicy, even though we've cleaned the bulbs- try some minced with your cucumbers and onions. :)
CUCUMBERS- the first of the season! Look for Marketmores (classic dark green cukes with small spines), Divas (smooth-skinned, light green sweeties), and Lemon Cukes (round and light yellow) this week. Be prepared; there are many more where that came from. If you're interested in pickling, let me know- there will be picklers available soon.
SUMMER SQUASH/ZUCCHINI- same (there will be more more more!). Look for classic green zukes, golden zukes, yellow crooknecks, and yellow and green pattypans ("spaceship" squash)
KALE or SWISS CHARD- we've been loading you down with greens so far; what's your favorite way to prepare them? Mine is a simple saute with onions and garlic, greens, dried cherries, and chopped, toasted nuts, then the whole thing doused with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice at the end. We'll ease off the cooking greens next week, but they'll be back!
OPTIONAL EXTRAS- baby greens, arugula, broccoli/cauliflower

This coming week: the Return of the Newsletter! it has been a nutty past month, and the newsletter has fallen by the wayside, but look in your inbox later this week for all the news that's fit to eat. and pictures.

Week 5: In Your Share This Week

Carrots! hooray, they're finally sized up- and some are a bit funny-looking, but we thought you'd probably appreciate that, so some folks have carrots with legs and arms and other appendages. Remove tops before storing.

Garlic- the very first "mature" garlic- compare to your memory of the "green" garlic of a few weeks ago. (Remember SUNDAY is the garlic harvest party here at the farm, to get the rest of it out of the ground).

Mustard Greens these were grown under reemay (that lightweight white frost fabric that happens to grow very tender greens underneath) so they are melt-in-your-mouth tender, but still a little spicy, so I'd steam or saute briefly, then toss with vinegar and oil. For the truly hardcore, chop up and add to salad.

The return of Baby Salad Mix- and a beautiful mix it is this week- five kinds of lettuce, baby kale, baby tatsoi, baby beet greens and chard, and maybe a few sprigs of purslane.

Big Lettuce- either green leaf or red butterhead (our new favorite this season)

Cilantro- nice big bunches; try cilantro pesto (freezes great)

Kale or Chard- your choice, either one is a wonderful cooking green; kale can also be eaten raw. Chard can be eaten raw, but the oxalic acid present in the leaves (also in beets and spinach, in lower quantities) may irritate the back of your throat, so go easy at first on raw chard.

Field Report: A Michigan Teen Farms Her Backyard

Check out this link from the nytimes global edition on an entrepeneurial 14 year old and her CSA here in Michigan :) Great recipes at the end that will work for your CSA goodies too! Cold Pink Borscht in a Glass anyone?

Happy reading and eating!

Garlic Harvest THIS SATURDAY!

It's time to pull the stinking rose.
Come out to Birch Point this Sunday from 11 a.m. til 3 p.m. to help harvest, bunch, count, and hang garlic in the red barn. Snacks and drinks provided- bring a picnic lunch if you like! Friends, family, folks of all ages welcome. Bring gloves, work clothes, weather-appropriate clothing (hats, long sleeves, and/or sunscreen), water bottles.

I know this is short notice, but the garlic is looking GOOD! and if we wait til next weekend, it may be past its prime. So come out for any or all of the 4-hour harvest party, and take home the first garlic of 2010.

Looking forward to sharing the tradition of eating one raw, fresh clove of the first harvest with you all,
Michelle

Katherine's favorite Arugula recipe

click here for the recommendation from an experienced CSA-er:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pasta-salad-with-goat-cheese-and-arugula

Purslane....

Thanks Katherine for the link! Purslane in the NYTimes....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/dining/07purslane.html

This week's items:

-KALE or SWISS CHARD!
-bodacious LETTUCE heads (Lettuce Wraps, anyone? Try using big lettuce leaves instead of springroll wrappers, and include all your favorite fillings, like rice noodles, kale, parsley, mint, dill, cilantro, peas, and purslane)
-beautiful SCALLIONS
-PURSLANE- not optional this week- and it is Excellent chopped up into your 4th of July picnic potato salad or egg salad, not to mention salsa, lettuce salad, and lettuce wraps. Google "verdolagas" for Mexican recipes using purslane
-PEAS- they just keep coming.... perhaps the hot weather this weekend will slow them down, perhaps not. Enjoy!
-HERBS: Parsley, Mint, or Dill
-optional cilantro, for your lettuce wraps, salsa, or salads (not for those who still have last week's bunch in the fridge- you know who you are) ;)

Remember to come to BUILDING 50 (the Mercato in the basement, on the back side, across from Pleasanton Bakery- if we're not in the basement, we'll be outside by the fountain near the salon entrance) between 8 and 12

Saturday Pick Up!

Hi CSA friends,
just a heads-up:
This Saturday July 3 CSA pick-up will be at Building 50 at The Village at the TC Commons (old state hospital). (click for map/directions)
The market will be in the basement (Mercato- enter from south side of building 50) AND just outside by the fountain (near entrance to Salone di Capelli. Come find us there- that's where your share will be.
We'll be taking orders for organic cherries (2 varieties of sweet cherries, $3 per lb) and Higher Grounds coffee, both to be picked up the following week.

Tuesday people: same as always; see you here!

cheers, Michelle