June 23, 2016            Common Thread CSA
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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,

Finally a mid-70 degree day!   It's been chilly or melting hot recently, so nice to have a comfortable day.  The crops are mostly doing well.  We've been able to get the crops in mostly on time this year due to a not overly rainy spring.  The early spinach crop was spotty but later plantings are looking more full, including some summer spinach.   The cucumbers and broccoli are starting to come in in greater quantities and the zucchini and summer squash will be in soon.  Looking ahead, there are flowers on the eggplant, the tomatoes are growing well, the onion patch looks great and the potatoes have been hilled a couple times already.  We have several successions of beans growing - the picture above shows some germinating, which I love to look at as they look like little dragons emerging from the soil. 

We still have CSA shares so please keep spreading the word about the CSA!  If any folks with small shares would like to upgrade to standard size, we can do that.  We will pro-rate for folks who start late.

You can find out what the vegetables for the week are by going to our "What's In" page on our website and checking out the PYO page on our website.   

We planted the cucumbers in the hoophouse in the beginning of May and they are now starting to come in.  In another week or so the field cucumbers will start producing and then we will need to start to get creative with our cucumber recipes. For now, I'm just eating them like apples.  Although we have made a couple of cucumber salads, which Asher especially loves.  One has diced cucumbers in plain yogurt with salt, mint, and garlic.  Another is sliced very thin and doused in vinegar and salt.  A third is sliced with a vinegrette and tomatoes.  

Kale is a super-vegetable, full of vitamins and nutrients.  One of our CSA members mentioned last year that she had been anemic when she started the CSA but after several weeks of eating our greens was no longer anemic.  Lucky for us, kale is also very tasty and versatile.  It can go into soups and omelettes.  It can be eaten fresh in salads, sauteed, or made into kale chips or pesto or added to smoothies.  My kids enjoy it most as kale chips.  I strip the kale off the stems, break it into pieces, massage it with olive oil and salt, and put it on a couple cookie sheets so it's not too thick then bake at 375 degrees, turning a few times with a spatula.  ohsheglows.com has some good tips for making kale chips, including a bake temperature of 300 degrees which I am going to try next time because I do have issues with some edge pieces getting a little too brown/burned.  

Fresh broccoli is the best, so tender and flavorful.  Important tip:  peel the outer skin off the stem and the inside is wonderful cooked along with the broccoli tops.  I use a paring knife to separate the tough outer skin from the stalk.  We like to saute the broccoil with an allium (this time of year scallions or garlic scapes).  We also make a beef, bok choi and broccoli stir fry that is delicious.  Broccoli goes well in a lot of different dishes including pasta, soup, quiche, casseroles, stir fries and pizza. Here is a nice looking soup from naturallyella.com:

Broccoli Soup with Ginger and Lemon

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 small heads of broccoli, with stems
  • 1 medium shallot, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk 
toppings
  • coconut milk
  • scallions
  • sesame seeds
  • roasted broccoli
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F. Remove broccoli florets from the stems and cut into small pieces. Peel the stems, discarding the outside, then dice stems and set aside. Toss with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and spread into a single layer on a sheet tray. Roast until broccoli is tender and starting to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
  2. While the broccoli is roasting, heat olive oil over medium low in a medium stock pot. Add in minced shallots. Cook for roughly 4 minutes then add in the ginger, cooking for one more minute. Stir in the broccoli stems followed by 3 cups of broth, lemon zest, juice, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until stems are tender and roasted broccoli is done.
  3. Add in the roasted broccoli, reserving a few smaller pieces for topping the soup. Transfer to a blender to puree the soup. You will want a solid blender for the job (high-powered if you have it). If soup is too thick, add enough vegetable broth to thin it down to a good consistency.
  4. Transfer the soup back to the pan if using a blender and add in the coconut milk. Heat the soup over low until ready to serve.
  5. Divide soup into two bowls and top with the saved roasted broccoli, sesame seeds, scallions, and extra coconut milk.
NOTES
+ make sure the stems are cooked through and if you blend the soup and find the texture not smooth, pass the soup through a sieve before returning to the pot.

Yours in the field, 

Wendy and Asher