CSA Week #3

Summer is here! Week 3 hails the salad days of early summer and brings the last of our bountiful early lettuces, while welcoming in the bounty of pea season!

CSA Newsletter Week #3 ~ featuring: farm news, featured veggie: Radish, intro to garlic scapes, recipes for: 'garlic scape pesto', 'radish butter', 'braised peas with spring onions and lettuce.'

In the Box: Bunch of kale (or chard), radishes, green shallots, herb bundle--mint & parsley, quart of shelling peas, garlic scapes, red and green summer crisp lettuce, pair of kohlrabi, pint snap or snow peas.

Green harvest! Bounty of kale and first of the Swiss chard.

Radishes add lovely color and heat to our plates!

Kohlrabi aliens are a refreshing addition.

Find Alternative Roots Farm at the farmers' market every Saturday 9:00-12:00 in the Cash Wise parking lot! Don't forget your reusable bag! ;)

What's @ market: Apple butter, garlic scapes, shell peas, snap peas, snow peas, fresh greens and herbs, radishes, rhubarb and more!

CSA • Week #1 • Let's get this party started!

What a beautiful day Wednesday was! Our first round of CSA harvest completed and 28 boxes of seasonal, organic, fresh, gorgeous produce delivered to our members. It feels good to be back folks - thank you for the support, enthusiasm and humor!

Week #1 CSA Newsletter ~ featuring: farm news, freezing rhubarb, rhubarb tips, shallot vinaigrette, handy tools for the kitchen, recipe sources.

CSA Box #1 • June 14, 2017

In the Box: 'Winter Density' heirloom romaine, chives, 3/4lb rhubarb, apple butter, kale mini bunch, 'Pirat' heirloom butterhead lettuce, All Hail! Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam , green shallots, spinach, CSA newsletter, veggie storage guide, ARF produce seasonality chart.

When life gives you hail, make strawberry-rhubarb jam! With having hail 4 times so farm this spring, it's a miracle the strawberries were the only thing really affected. With the multitude of bruised berries members received some jam this week, in place of fresh berries!

We kick off the year with salad season! Whip up some vinaigrette with the fresh shallots and chow down on some greens.

Some humor shared during delivery from rockstar CSA member Pat. Thanks for the chuckle! :)

CSA Week #1

It sure felt great to get this started again yesterday! Being back in the delivery routine was very refreshing. It takes a lot of planning to make a CSA happen, so it just feels wonderful delivering produce to excited folks, in compliment to the planning, weeding, planting, etc.

So, Week #1 is complete! I have already had reports of members eating their fresh, organic goods from the farm with dinner last night - greens in taco salad and strawberries in white wine. I love hearing what folks use their food for!

In the Box: French Breakfast heirloom radishes, pint ARF apple butter, a bunch of spinach, 1 head each red and green heirloom romaine, bunch beet greens, pint heirloom strawberries, rhubarb, spring shallots and half shares received a couple garlic scapes. The lettuce head are FULL this year! Looking and tasting fabulous. 

Week #1 CSA Newsletter

Here are a few more photos during my day of harvest and prep for delivering the first boxes:

Radishes are harvested, bunched, sprayed off, them hydro-cooled to preserve freshness.

You can see the flowers starting at the top of the shallot leaves, cold weather early on caused them to "bolt" or go to flower, which means we must harvest them early, instead of curing them for storage. Making the most of it they become a great spring treat for members!

Lettuce is harvested, bad outer leaves removed, washed once to remove dirt, them hydro-cooled and sanitized in a second tub of water.

We are very happy with this start to the season and look forward to next week already! Peas will be starting soon and more garlic scapes are coming in. Spinach and strawberries will last just a little bit longer.

CSA Week #1

Hooray! It's great to have the first week of CSA deliveries done. I always LOVE handing a box of fresh produce to an excited customer. Yesterday I had one customer open their box right in front of me and start snacking--awesome. I feel fortunate that we had good weather yesterday morning for harvest. Early Tuesday morning CSA harvest is a time John and I both enjoy together, out in the field, talking, drinking coffee and harvesting fresh food. I hope everyone is enjoying their goodies, and I can't wait for next week!

Week #1 CSA Box • June 25th, 2013

In our Week #1 boxes: French Breakfast radishes, green romaine (Winter Density) and red romaine (Rouge d'Hiver) lettuce, spinach, beet greens (yummy thinnings from the beet patch), Amish snap peas and apple butter from our 2012 harvest. We also included our newsletter, a MN Grown seasonal chart, and a guide on 'How to Store Fruits and Vegetables' from the Berkeley farmers' market.

CSA Week #1 Newsletter, June 25th, 2013

Red and green romaine lettuce, ready for packing.

 Beautiful colors in the box this week! Greens in varying colors of red and green (they are complimentary colors you know).

Bull's blood (red) and Detroit Dark Red (green) beet greens.

 I love beet greens sauteed!

French Breakfast radishes.

 The heat brings out the spicy flavor radish lovers adore!

CSA box assembly line.

Harvest begins at day break, everything gets time to cool in the walk-in cooler, and then gets packed prior to delivery in the afternoon.

A view in a box packed and ready for delivery!

 From planning starting in mid-winter, to beginning seeding inside in March, to beginning seeding outside April 29th, to the dinner table in June. Hooray.