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    My First CSA Box of This Season

    By trkingmomoe on Sat, 11/16/2013 - 9:52pm |

     

     

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    Today I picked up my first CSA box of vegetables, as you can see it covered my whole stove. The share was more generous then what I was expecting. This was also the first time I have been to the Geraldson Community Farm. It is located in a wonderful historic part of Bradenton, Florida. Just a stone’s throw from where DeSoto set foot on West Florida. It was a enjoyable ride for me to go out there on a Saturday morning. It had rained and everything looked fresh and the sea air smelled good.

     

    I was greeted by a friendly smile and asked my name. Because I was new the greeter explained how to pick up the vegetables and made sure I had brought bags. There was a clip board with my name on it to sign in. Then inside the barn everything was displayed beautifully in baskets with a little sign tell what it was and how much to take. I filled 4 plastic grocery bags and was glad I had brought a tote to put some of them in to carry

     

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    One of the tables set with baskets of produce just inside of the barn.

     

    Then I was invited to go out back to the herb garden to hand cut what ever herbs or flowers I want. I had brought a pair of garden snips with me. I mostly snipped herbs but I did get nasturiums because they are eatable for a salad. They make a salad special. They have a little spicy taste to them. I snipped a little of everything and they had them marked with wooden marker so you would know what they were. I forgot what some of them where because I am used to only seeing them as dried spices. When I got home I had to look them up by picture on the internet to identify them again.

     

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    Herb garden is planted in earth boxes.

     

      Here is the list of vegetables I came home with:

     

    Red Leaf Lettuce
    Arugula Salad Rocket
    Collards
    Kale Lacinato...
    Yellow Squash
    Zephyr Squash
    Dunja/Cocozelle Zucchini
    Eightball Round Zucchini
    Floridor Round Zucchini
    Mangan/Ping Tung Long Eggplant
    Bell Peppers
    Sungold Tomatoes
    Jalapenos
    Basil

     

    IM001644

    Basket of herbs and Nasturtiums blossoms.

      Some of the little snippets of herbs I chose:

      Lemon balm

      Dill

      Savory

      Thyme

      Rosemary

      I placed the herbs in a dry glass jar with out rinsing, then put a tight lid on. They will keep longer in a glass jar in the refrigerator if they are not wet. This was the way my mother saved her fresh cut herbs and I have always kept fresh parsley and other store bought herbs that way also. Now glass jars have been rediscovered to store salad vegetables in DYI ready to eat salad blends that keep for a week.

       

      IM001656

      Glass jar of small herbs, bag of basil and in the back arugula rocket salad.

       

      There was vegetables in this share that I have not seen before or tried. Arugula rocket salad is a mild salad green that is common in Italy. It is a mild green that reminds me of spinach but with a little stronger taste because it is part of the mustard family. The Asian pingtong long egg plant is new to me and according to the internet, it has a tender skin. I had to be careful not to stick my nails through the skin. It doesn’t get bitter or needs peeling. I have seen them in seed packets at the lawn and garden shops. That also goes for the round zucchini which is perfect for stuffing and baking. The most interesting new vegetable is the zephyr squash, which looks like half yellow squash and bottom half a green zucchini. Actually they did cross breed a yellow squash with another squash to get that 2 tone squash. Sungold tomatoes are sweet little grape tomatoes that are very sweet. It was nice to get a quart basket of them. I have been eating my own from my plants but mine are not as sweet. I planted them because they were recommended to me as a tomato to grow this time of the year in this area.

       

      IM001646

       

      I am going to have quite an adventure this week cooking all of this. We will be eating salad every day because the red leaf lettuce plant is 15 inches across. I have raised it in years past in my own garden but never had a plant this big. You just don't see them that large in the produce at the grocery store either. What is wonderful is that all of it is organic. I can't wait until next Saturday for more.

      I could use a few recipes for Asian egg plant.  Any ideas? 

      Comments

      I could use a nice hot cuppa lemon balm tea right now. smiley Send me off to dreamland.

      Now that is quite a haul! And useful stuff, too! Sorry, I have no hints or recipes for the Asian eggplant but I imagine there are loads of ideas on recipe sites.

      I like CSA-ing vicariously with you, momoe!


      by wabby on Sat, 11/16/2013 - 11:00pm

      I will have to research how to brew lemon balm tea.

      Most recipes I see on the first glance of the internet for Asian eggplant is Asian dishes.  Vegans like to use eggplant as a main dish so I have to dig around in their recipes for something the kids will eat.

      I hope you are feeling better.  Buying a CSA share was a real luxury for us.  It may turn out to be a better value then I thought.  Everything I read said that CSA was not about inexpensive food.  When I was first considering doing this, I went to a local organic store call Fresh Market and looked as prices of produce.  I was trying to visualize what $26 dollars of produce looked like in vegetables that grow well here in the winter.  That is about what it figures out to per week.  

      I had no idea there was a CSA farm in my area until I stumbles over it on the internet.  I had watched a You tube video about Florida tomato growing.  There is a native everglade tomato that grows well here year around.  I was looking for the seed and instead also found a listing of all the CSA farms in Florida.  I never did order the seed but may still do that.  


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 9:27am

      You may prefer your Mom's method, but most fresh herbs also can be kept like cut flowers in a glass of water. Especially if you've cut them yourself and the cut is a fresh cut. But I do it with grocery-store bought too.

      Basil will grow roots in water very quickly! Often I have cut a bunch and put it in water on the sill or kitchen counter, use a couple of leaves off the bottoms or pinched off tht tops as needed, and in less than a week I have rooted new plants before I've been able to use it all.

      Mint will grow roots pretty quick in water, too, but not as fast as basil.

      Rosemary, tarragon,lavender, the woody ones won't grow roots but they stay quite nice in water for a couple weeks as long as you don't have leaves below the water line.

      Fresh dill, if you get some in the future, can go in a glass of water too but that likes the refrigerator as well, stays better cold, wilts in a hot kitchen. Stays for weeks in a glass of water in the frig, as long as you change the water like with flowers; snip off the tops when you want some. It is great for things like pasta and potato salads and soups.

      I just had to pick a huge crop of dill before frost and I can't use that much in weeks so I looked up on the net how best to freeze it. It looks like it's going to be okay but not as good as fresh.

      Parsley is another one that loves the cold, will keep well in  a glass of water in frig or out. but prefers the frig. (It cannot even be grown in the heat, it dies back and starts growing again when it's cool.)

      I also dry some of my herbs for storage and use year round. I have only had fresh sage the last year. It is a small plant and I haven't used any fresh, so I am drying it. I have found it takes a long time to dry, so it probably keeps very long in water.

      I've have good luck with keeping big leaf lettuces and chard and kale a couple days standing in water like flowers, too, if I don't have room for baggies of them in the frig right away. Or if I don't have time to wash and dry it all. I grow it crowded and have to pick too much sometimes and give it to neighbors in baggies after I wash it. Washing lettuce when I have to harvest a lot of it is the one thing that makes me start thinking I should stop growing it! It is a chore that seems to take forever (and uses so much running water) and so does either air drying it or using a salad spinner.

      Did I mention that all of these look great standing around in the kitchen? And that having them out like that inspires you to use them?

      I love the taste of arugula and grow it a lot. (Most descriptions call it spicy, not mild.) It's a quick crop and I reseed it often. It likes cool weather. That is one that does not do as well standing in water. It stays well if you dry it well after washing and keep it tossed with lots of air in a sealed baggy in the frig. It gets water logged and bruised easily if you soak it in water too long or don't air dry it well enough before putting in a baggy. But if fresh, will last for a couple weeks at least if stored this way. (Watercress is similar.)

      If you have a chance to get lemon basil, grab it! It is the finest herb you can get, mho! And everyone I have ever given it to agrees once they have used it. Don't know how to describe it, but suffice it to say it does not really have the strong flavor of basil nor of lemons, but a little bit of both. And it perks up nearly any dish.... (Has small leaves. Breeders have managed to make all kinds of flavored basils, all of them with the small leaves. But the lemon basil is by far the best.)


      by artappraiser on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 9:18am

      This arugula is not the spicy one that I have growing in my garden right now.  I first thought it was spinach after I got home.  I washed some and tasted it.  But I looked it up and it was pictured just like what I had but a different type from my garden. It was labeled arugula. I only have a little bit of lettuce that came up and it is still very small.  

      The basil was included in the box. I have 3 different plants of my own in pots. It is a perennial here and I need to repot a couple of them. When basil goes to seed here, babies come up all over the ground. I have a large pot of mint and spicy oregano that need to be repotted from this year.   I clipped the mint back last week and it is hanging in the kitchen drying for Xmas giving. It is already bouncing back with new growth.

      I will be able to cut herbs every week.  They have planted plenty but they are just too small to cut.  This is a long growing season so I am sure there is many kinds to come.  I am going to try freezing them in blends in a ice cube tray.  There is a you tube out on that.  Trader Joe sells frozen cubes of herb blends and this is a DIY recipe. It will be nice to have a baggie of that in the freezer. 

      My heatmaster tomatoes are just about done for the season.  The sungold tomatoes are 6 feet tall and producing right now.  My Mr. Stripy has green tomatoes on it.  The 2 types of Black Russians are still small.  One is a Krimi the other is a Prince.  They are a short day tomato plant from Russia for mild weather.  They will give me tomatoes in the very early spring,  I have small plants of patio tomatoes transplanted now in small pots that I will use later in the season. I did have some fungus but copper spray took care of it. I drove through some farms on my way yesterday that was loaded with tomatoes.  These are coastal farms that have hung on and not been developed into McMansions. 

      I froze my sage.  I bought some at the farmers market a couple of months ago that was already cut.  I like to mix it with butter to use to roast chicken or turkey. I tuck it under the skin like Martha Steward. When it is frozen it crumbles in the baggie so you don't have to worry about chopping it.  

      .  


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 10:37am

      oregano

      Oh I forgot about that. I started a couple years back with one small pot. When I would have to thin out the pot, I'd throw those roots somewhere  in the ground or bottom of the pot and now I got it growing allover the goddamn place. smiley I got like 3 years supply of dried, too, don't need no more. 32 degree night killed a lot of stuff but not the oregano....even though I like Italian food, I am not a big fan of oregano...they say mint is invasive, jeez..well, I figure it repels insects...

      On arugula

      Yeah, I know there are different varieties.

      Also I do think the soil and amount of water, sun, etc. can change the strength of the flavor.

      I have tried the "wild arugula" seed. The catalogue said it was the true roquet from France and that it was used as an herb, not a salad green. It has much smaller, very serrated skinny leaves. And if you don't pinch it, the leaves continue to come out along the end of the stems until you have an almost vine-like situation. It's much more heat tolerant than the common stuff and the plants last much longer. And it definitely has stronger flavor. It is quite nice for things like a big sprinkle of it on top a sandwich or soup, like you would use sprouts, but bigger than sprouts. Pretty, too. It's a pain to pick but I would still be grateful I had planted it when the regular arugula bed had petered out.

      On ice cube method

      I do that with stock (which I make with the leftovers from store-bought cooked whole chicken and whatever veggie trimmings are around and, of course, fresh herbs.) And  I read about it for herbs when looking up dill methods. But I decided against it because I like to use herbs more in a fresh like state if I can. But then I don't cook as much as you do! I mostly make things stir fry style or pasta salads or sandwich stuff like tuna or chicken salad. I can see how for a dedicated cook, it would be fun to make cube bouquet garni.

      I chose to freeze the dill loose on cookie sheets, then transferred to baggies. They turned out looking pretty good, though I haven't used any yet because there still is fresh yet. Remains to be seen if my lousy old freezer that burns not just meat but frozen veggies from the store will keep the sprigs from becoming mush.

      On tomatoes-

      Ooh, you've got to get that year-round seed! Lucky you that it's possible to do such a thing!

      My tomato plants always get some kind of disease or another by the end of the season. I used to spray but now just as often I just give up. Because: they still produce tomatoes! I used to want to keep the plants looking nice for ornamental purposes. But then I discovered if you just cut off the worst infected leaves they will grow new fresh green sprouts and look pretty again in a couple weeks. Over the years I found that the most troublesome disease, especially if you grow in pots, was blossom end rot (with the blackened area at the bottom of the fruit.) I even bought the calcium spray once that claimed to stop it. But then I really researched it and found that it was caused by uneven water at the time fruit was setting. That it's real important not to overwater or underwater but keep water consistent amounts. And ever since I learned that, I don't get the blossom end rot anymore--no more drowning the tomatoes because it's hot nor skipping watering either.


      by artappraiser on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 11:33am

      This area has been a major tomato winter farming for the last 100+ years.  Tomato fungus is in the air so you have to stay on top of it if you want tomatoes. I haven't seen any blossom drop.   


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 12:18pm

      "Actually they did cross breed a yellow squash with another squash to get that 2 tone squash."

      Don't tell Richard Cohen ... he'll want to gag or something.


      by Donal on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 12:20pm

      The squash we are talking about is Zephyr squash. I just looked up the growing cycle and it is 54 days to maturity. It was crossed between a yellow summer squash and a winter squash Delectable. 


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 6:05pm

      Another great post from you, Momoe.  We don't grow anything but some scraggly cherry tomato plants up here in the woods, but when we lived in the city we always had nice summertime crops.

      My husband was the gardener and he really misses his garden.  Our biggest problem up here is that we live where the incessant northwest winds blow, and where there are only a few spots that get sun for any length of time.  Other people who live farther inland and away from the trees manage to grow some things but they too are limited by short growing seasons.

      I love the CSA idea and want to read more about it.  Getting your kids to eat the good stuff is a universal problem but you seem to be pretty clever about making everything look like something good to eat.


      by Ramona on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 1:23pm

      I just googled Upper Michigan CSA farm.  I got a long list.  I also got a long list for North West Michigan so they are around.  Most CSA farms have pick up points so you don't have to go to the farm.  I just wanted to go to the farm because it was the same distance to a pick up point.  I also wanted the fresh herbs.  Hunt around on the internet you may find one that might work for you.  My CSA is just vegetables but many are co-ops that include fruit.    


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 6:32pm

      AMAZING!

      Congrats!


      by Richard Day on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 3:43pm

      Richard you can also google for your area for CSA farms.  All of them offer a half share or subscription for small families of one or two people. I got a full share and the half share people only pick up every other week because that is way they set it up.  But some I have read have weekly half share that gives a smaller amount. There are several types of CSA models according to the Nations CSA Association. The way you pay can be different from the way I had.  I could divide mine up in three monthly payments or pay for the whole thing at the beginning of season.  


      by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/17/2013 - 8:08pm

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