CSA goodies this week

Bob Terwilliger said:

I shared this week's box with my girlfriend; the list below is what *I* got.
She got much of the same but she also got beets and cilantro, while I got
summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all of which she dislikes.

I got:

<snip>

I'm jealous!! Not a single CSA in my area, although there are many
farms.

Quoted message said:

The sunflower greens are a puzzle: if you look on the web, they seem to have
a kind of New-Age-hippie following who claim the greens are "strong in life
force." But I've seen similar claims applied to blue-green algae, and I
remain unimpressed. I'll play around with them to see what they're good for.

Are they sunflower sprouts? Those are absolutely killer on a sandwich
made of good, grainy wheat bread, aged sharp cheddar cheese, ripe
avocado, and homemade mayo. The ultimate veggie sandwich.

Quoted message said:

I think the basil and tomatoes will go toward a pizza margherita. Maybe I'll
pile arugula on top, like some Italians do.

I like to roast arugula along with tomatoes, garlic, kalamata olives,
anything else I feel like (mushrooms, basil, capers, anchovy,
breadcrumbs) and use it as a topping for pasta. Nice way to make a
different type of tomato sauce.

Quoted message said:

I'll have to do some thinking about what I'm going to do with the oranges
and squash. And I'm not sure if I want to do anything more elaborate with
the melon than slicing it and eating it. Maybe with cottage cheese for
breakfast? Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.

Bob

I found a recipe for a wonderful salad recently. It used a natural
pairing of melon and cucmber. It had watermelon,cantelope, and honeydew
with slices of seedless cuke tossed in a light lemon vinaigrette with a
little fresh mint. It was incredible. You could make something like
that, with oranges, melon, 'lemon' cucumber, and a lemon dressing -
either vinaigrette or yogurt based.

Squash are good so many ways. It's summer - I'd grill em and eat em
that way, or in grilled veggie sandwiches. Sometimes Ishred raw squash
into salad for a cool texture.

Or maybe a chilled buttermilk-squash soup? With some of that dill?

Or of course there's a million ways to casserole a squash. Or skewer
them onto kebabs with the cherry tomatoes and grill them.

I wish I hd a csa box of my own =(

Jude said:

Are they sunflower sprouts? Those are absolutely killer on a sandwich
made of good, grainy wheat bread, aged sharp cheddar cheese, ripe
avocado, and homemade mayo. The ultimate veggie sandwich.

They're not sprouts, they're leaves. I'm not sure whether they need to be
cooked or not.

Quoted message said:

I found a recipe for a wonderful salad recently. It used a natural
pairing of melon and cucmber. It had watermelon,cantelope, and honeydew
with slices of seedless cuke tossed in a light lemon vinaigrette with a
little fresh mint. It was incredible. You could make something like
that, with oranges, melon, 'lemon' cucumber, and a lemon dressing -
either vinaigrette or yogurt based.

I think I *will* try something along those lines! Thank you!

Quoted message said:

I wish I hd a csa box of my own =(

Aww...

http://www.biodynamics.com/csa3.html lists a CSA farm in Cologne; I'm not
sure if you're too far away for them.

Maybe you can try contacting the farmers directly. Check out the
farms shown here:

http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?lat=36.81109&lon=-76.33465&scale=1.158912&ty=0
(Whaleyville Farms in Suffolk shows up in lots of CSA databases.)

If you go to http://newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php and put in that you're
looking for farms within 60 miles of ZIP code 23451, it says that there's a
farm right in Virginia Beach.

http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown leads to information about some farms
in Suffolk and Virginia Beach which sell directly to the public.

Hope this helps!

Bob

Bob Terwilliger said:

I [snip about bountiful haul]

Quoted message said:

I'll have to do some thinking about what I'm going to do with the oranges
and squash. [snip]

Valencias are best for juice, but you can get a little more than that
out of them. Peel the oranges thinly, put peels in low oven to dry.
Save for some Chinese beef stirfry. Make smoothies: 1/2 cup of juice
and 1/2 cup of diced orange, a peeled banana, some frozen berries and
1/2 cup of yogurt into a blender. Whoosh and enjoy. -aem

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob Terwilliger' virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

I shared this week's box with my girlfriend; the list below is what *I* got.
She got much of the same but she also got beets and cilantro, while I got
summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all of which she dislikes.

Have you ever taken a look at the Kitchen Garden Cookbook? It would
be perfect for so many of the selections you are posting about.

Quoted message said:

I wish I had some mint; it's a natural companion to a bunch of things on
that list. (It pairs well with basil, cilantro, melon, and cucumber. I've
never seen mint paired with dill, but they seem similar enough to be good
together.)

I use mint and dill together frequently, usually to season meat, and
it is wonderful.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Bob Terwilliger said:

Quoted message said:

I found a recipe for a wonderful salad recently. It used a natural
pairing of melon and cucmber. It had watermelon,cantelope, and honeydew
with slices of seedless cuke tossed in a light lemon vinaigrette with a
little fresh mint. It was incredible. You could make something like
that, with oranges, melon, 'lemon' cucumber, and a lemon dressing -
either vinaigrette or yogurt based.

I think I *will* try something along those lines! Thank you!

Let me know what you make. I've used a lot of cucumber-melon scented
products, so the salad recipe was a d'oh! moment. Of course they would
taste great together! And they did.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wish I hd a csa box of my own =(

Aww...

http://www.biodynamics.com/csa3.html lists a CSA farm in Cologne; I'm not
sure if you're too far away for them.

Too far =(

Quoted message said:

Maybe you can try contacting the farmers directly. Check out the
farms shown here:

http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?lat=36.81109&lon=-76.33465&scale=1.158912&ty=0
(Whaleyville Farms in Suffolk shows up in lots of CSA databases.)

Shows up all over. No longer has a CSA; I've emailed them. They will
deliver orders over 50 lbs for $9.95. Not what I need for my little
family; I'm btter off driving to the farmstandf every couple days and
refreshing my stocks.

Quoted message said:

If you go to http://newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php and put in that you're
looking for farms within 60 miles of ZIP code 23451, it says that there's a
farm right in Virginia Beach.

Farms a-plenty. None with CSAs. One did an article on the paper about a
planned CSA, and I emailed them that very same day. They told me I
could go on a waiting list. Why did they do a big feature story if they
weren't interested in new customers?!?!

Quoted message said:

http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown leads to information about some farms
in Suffolk and Virginia Beach which sell directly to the public.

The ones I freqwuent. But we're a city of urban sprawl....to get to the
good farms, it's a good 40 minutes down one-lane back roads from here.
Opposite end of VB. A hike saved for free weekends.

Quoted message said:

Hope this helps!

Thanks for tryin'!

Bob Terwilliger said:

I shared this week's box with my girlfriend; the list below is what *I* got.
She got much of the same but she also got beets and cilantro, while I got
summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all of which she dislikes.

I got:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

4 Valencia oranges

What a great list! It's nice to see they give it to you in manageable
quantities. I was just looking in my refrigerator at all the produce I
bought on Sunday and haven't touched yet...I tend to buy too much at
one time and can't use it all up fast enough.

Are the Valencias grown near you?

Sandy

Sandy said:

What a great list! It's nice to see they give it to you in manageable
quantities. I was just looking in my refrigerator at all the produce I
bought on Sunday and haven't touched yet...I tend to buy too much at
one time and can't use it all up fast enough.

Heh... I've still got a couple squash and a bunch of pea sprouts left over
from last week, and a big pot of gumbo z'herbes that I need to put into
freezer bags and get into the freezer.

I forgot to mention on my list that I also got a gorgeous full-sized bok
choy, and I'm racking my brain for something that I can do with it before I
get tired of it. One nice thing about belonging to a CSA is that it makes
me creative: One of the bok choy ideas I had was something I've never seen
done: I plan to make a dish with spicy seared scallops and stir-fried bok
choy stems; I think those two things would combine very well. I'll use the
bok choy leaves to make cabbage rolls of a sort, wrapping the
lightly-steamed leaves around a shrimp-based mixture and steaming some more.

Quoted message said:

Are the Valencias grown near you?

Yes, all the items in the box are grown within a 15-mile radius of my house.
I'm lucky to be situated in a great agricultural area! (Even so, I'm looking
forward to getting my box of Rainier cherries from Harry & David next month.
They're located about 300 miles north of me.)

Bob

On 13 Jun 2006 15:39:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

I shared this week's box with my girlfriend; the list below is what *I* got.
She got much of the same but she also got beets and cilantro, while I got
summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all of which she dislikes.

I got:

<snip>

Bob, would you be willing to share the details of this CSA with me?
I'm interested, and as you know, I'm fairly close to where you live!

TammyM
Sacramento, CAlifornia
tdmcniff at ucdavis dot edu

p.s. you mentioned not having mint in your assortment. Grow it! But
grow in pots or you'll be sorry, it'll take over your garden. Trust
me, I know whereof I speak ;-)

Bob Terwilliger said:

I shared this week's box with my girlfriend; the list below is what *I* got.
She got much of the same but she also got beets and cilantro, while I got
summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all of which she dislikes.

I got:
1/2 bunch Basil
1 bunch tatsoi (a salad green new to me)
1 bunch Chard (BEAUTIFULLY fresh gargantuan leaves)
1/2 bunch arugula
1/4 bunch of dill
1 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 cucumber
3 "lemon" cucumbers (so-called because they're rounded and yellow)
1 bunch of sunflower greens, which are new to me
1/4 bunch of Red Flame grapes
1 small honeydew melon
4 Valencia oranges
1 pint each yellow and red cherry tomatoes

snip terrific sounding ideas for use.

My CSA package yesterday had:
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Kale
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 onion
2 pounds new potatoes
1 head Savoy cabbage
1 head Napa cabbage
5 summer squash (2 zucchini, 3 yellow)
Broccoli
1 head Cauliflower
Parsley
Dill
dozen eggs

I'm in the Midwest (Kansas City), so we're just beginning to get into
the real growing season. This is the last week for broccoli,
cauliflower and all greens -- got too hot too soon. Still about
another month or 6 weeks for tomatoes, but cucumbers should be coming
by next week.

The Swiss Chard and the broccoli are already gone. They were part of
last night's dinner. Tonight I'll use the cauliflower and the lettuce.

Anyone have ideas for the Napa cabbage? There's only 2 of us, and 2
heads of cabbage in a week can be a challenge.

Bob Terwilliger said:

I'm lucky to be situated in a great agricultural area! (Even so, I'm looking
forward to getting my box of Rainier cherries from Harry & David next month.
They're located about 300 miles north of me.)

Bob

Lucky indeed! I bought my first bag of cherries on Sunday. I saw a
tip in this month's MS Living magazine: serve the cherries in ice
water. The intense cold makes the cherries firm, almost crunchy --
really great. I've been munching on them like that all week.

Enjoy your produce! And keep us updated on future deliveries.
Sandy

Tammy said:

Bob, would you be willing to share the details of this CSA with me?
I'm interested, and as you know, I'm fairly close to where you live!

www.naturaltradingco.com/home.html is the web site for my CSA farm.
According to localharvest.org, the Natural Trading Company does have drop
points in Sacramento, but you'd have to contact them to make sure.

There are CSA's closer to you; check out http://tinyurl.com/lzxga. If I
lived in Sacramento I'd definitely be interested in Eatwell Farm in Dixon,
since it's year-round. Most of the CSA's around here are only 20 weeks
long.

Quoted message said:

p.s. you mentioned not having mint in your assortment. Grow it! But
grow in pots or you'll be sorry, it'll take over your garden. Trust
me, I know whereof I speak ;-)

I've got a patch of weeds growing outside my fence; I was thinking of
planting mint there as ground cover. Do you think it could work its way
through the fence and start displacing my lawn?

Bob

Quoted message said:

Anyone have ideas for the Napa cabbage? There's only 2 of us, and 2
heads of cabbage in a week can be a challenge.

I like to make Ma Po tofu and serve it on a bed of lightly-stir-fried Napa
cabbage instead of rice.

Bob

On 14 Jun 2006 09:31:01 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Tammy said:

Bob, would you be willing to share the details of this CSA with me?
I'm interested, and as you know, I'm fairly close to where you live!

www.naturaltradingco.com/home.html is the web site for my CSA farm.
According to localharvest.org, the Natural Trading Company does have drop
points in Sacramento, but you'd have to contact them to make sure.

There are CSA's closer to you; check out http://tinyurl.com/lzxga. If I
lived in Sacramento I'd definitely be interested in Eatwell Farm in Dixon,
since it's year-round. Most of the CSA's around here are only 20 weeks
long.

Thanks very much! Since I work in Davis, I could perhaps even pick up
from the Dixon location. That would be veyr nice.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

p.s. you mentioned not having mint in your assortment. Grow it! But
grow in pots or you'll be sorry, it'll take over your garden. Trust
me, I know whereof I speak ;-)

I've got a patch of weeds growing outside my fence; I was thinking of
planting mint there as ground cover. Do you think it could work its way
through the fence and start displacing my lawn?

In my experience, Bob, mint is pretty damned invasive. If your
location is in full sun, it probably won't make it anyway. Maybe you
could try creeping thyme as a groundcover? I can't remember at the
moment if it's a sun tolerant plant or not. But DO grow some mint in
a couple of large pots, you'll never have to worry about buying it
again. I always chortle when I see a puny bundle of mint for sale at
the store for $2.75!

best,
TammyM