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Dear Common Thread Winter CSA Members,
Today is the last pick up day for the winter share! As you all know, it's been especially cold during these past two weeks with a lot of nights in the negative digits. The greens were too limp to harvest, but the last box has a good variety of storage crops! One other cold related issue - the drain below our root washer froze up last week so we weren't able to wash all of the veggies as well as usual. Please excuse the bit of extra dirt - although if you plan to save any of them for a while, a bit of dirt on the outside isn't bad for storage.
Thank you everyone who replied to our winter share survey - your answers are very helpful as we plan for next year. We have a follow up question - Tuesdays are a hard day for us to have the boxes ready. (It involved a lot of weekend work when the kids were not in school.) On the survey, it didn't sound like a switch to Friday next year would work well for as many people as we hoped. What about a switch to Thursday? Please give a quick reply to this email address and let us know if Thursdays would be a possible pick up day for you next season. One other response to the surveys... it was clear that many folks would like less cabbage in their share. We hear you - we will plan less cabbage for the boxes next year and also keep all your other suggestions in mind as we plan for next year.
Many thanks to Marsha Guzewich for helping us pack the boxes yesterday!
If you haven't signed up for the CSA for the 2015 main season yet, you can find forms on our website.
In this box: popcorn! They are un-shucked ears of popcorn, so they need to be shucked and shelled. But then it can be popped like any other popcorn. We use an air popper. To shell them, we use a hand sheller, but it's also reasonable, when shelling just a few ears, to roll a few kernels off of one side and then roll the lines of popcorn off the cob by pressing them towards the gap. We'll leave our hand sheller and a big bowl out in the barn today for anyone who wants to use our sheller though. In terms of storing the popcorn - it wants to be dry and room temperature. You can just leave it on the counter until you get to using it, or you can shell it and store it in a glass jar.
Gigante kohlrabi is a storage variety of kohlrabi that looks terrible but is a great, versatile vegetable. Small shares have the smaller purple kohlrabi today. Here is a link to several recipe ideas for kohlrabi
We have parsnips today! We had an insect problem with our parsnips this year so we've had a lot of rot in storage. We sorted out the bad ones but there may be some spots here or there that need to be cut out.
As we mentioned above, we know cabbage isn't everyone's favorite, but it is the one green that stores over the winter and therefore a great benefit when you are eating in season. Today's cabbages are a storage variety so you don't need to eat it right away, it will store for weeks, even months longer if kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Here is a nice looking slideshow with cabbage recipe ideas, including cabbage chips.
Some delicious looking recipes from Syracuse University students Lynsey, Megan, Alexis, and Rob:
Roasted Parsnips & Carrots
Ingredients:
2 pounds parsnips, peeled
1 pound carrots, unpeeled
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley
Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2) If the parsnips and carrots are very thick, cut them in half lengthwise. Slice each diagonally in 1-inch-thick slices. The vegetables will shrink while cooking, so don't make the pieces too small. Place the cut vegetables on a sheet pan. Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss well. Roast for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetables, tossing occasionally, until the parsnips and carrots are just tender. Sprinkle with dill and serve hot.
Roasted Green Cabbage Wedges with Olive Oil and Lemon
Ingredients:
1 small head green cabbage (about 2 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 wedges, core intact
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2) Arrange cabbage on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush both sides of wedges with oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3) Roast, flipping halfway through, until edges are brown and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.
4) Remove wedges, and squeeze lemons over cabbage.
Enjoy your winter veggies!
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