CSA: Late Spring Session (Week 3); mama pig outside!

Arabia is enjoying her new pig pen...

Now that the piglets are older, we have moved their mama, Arabia, out into the field.  She has been absolutely loving the tall grass and has been rooting around in her pen (pigs are great at aerating soil).  Her piglets will be heading out to their pen soon, too!

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 15) is Week 3 of our Late Spring Session - I'm always excited to see cilantro appear!  Most people are fairly polarized in their opinions about cilantro, and according to some studies, there may actually be a genetic factor involved in that preference.  

This is what you can expect to see in Week 3's box:

Late Spring Session, Week 3: Box Contents

Spinach

Carrots

Cilantro

Apples

Eggs

Braising Mix

Red Chard

Crimini Mushrooms

Romaine Lettuce

Dandelion (Regular Shares only)

CSA: Late Spring Session (Week 1); animal update; tomatoes

Kohlrabi starts

Our Late Spring Session began on Wednesday, May 1st.  If you're interested in joining for the remainder of the season, you can receive a prorated share cost!  Also, if you'd like to come out to visit the farm, our May Day celebration on Saturday, May 4th would be a great opportunity.

Dandelion greens are nutritious and super yummy, though they tend to be rather bitter, especially for kiddos.  I've found that putting the greens in mashed potatoes or even scrambled eggs helps Micah to eat them, since their bitter flavor is balanced out a bit.

Late Spring Session, Week 1: Box Contents

Eggs
Beets
Garlic
Apples
Chard
Braising Mix
Spinach
Asparagus and Dandelion greens for Regular shares only
Bok choi for Three Quarter shares only 

Turkey chicks!

We brought home five peeping turkey chicks today!  They're currently staying warm under a heat lamp in the duck shed but will be out and about in no time.

The ducklings have continued to grow like crazy and are already outside...

Ducklings in their movable pen

They weren't huddling together for warmth in this picture - they're still awfully shy whenever someone steps into their pen, so they all cluster together in a corner.  All of the ducklings are doing well, and they have a small pool to practice swimming in.

Tomatoes in a greenhouse

 Several of our greenhouses are full of growing tomato plants.  I'm particularly excited about Green Zebras - these are my absolute favorite tomatoes, and I found myself eating them like apples last summer.

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 6); Late Spring sign-ups; May Day

Sorry for posting the box contents a bit late this week! :)

Wednesday, April 24 was the sixth and final week of our Early Spring Session this year.  Thanks so much to all of you who joined us!

The Late Spring Session will begin this coming Wednesday, May 1st!  If you'd like to join us for this session, please submit your application before Tuesday, April 30.

May Pole

Also, we will be having our annual May Day celebration on Saturday, May 4!  Hay rides start at 11 am, and the May Pole will begin at noon.  More information is posted on our blog.  Please come join us as we celebrate the warmth of spring!

Early Spring Session, Week 6: Box Contents
Radishes
Broccoli
Carrots
Yellow Onions
Bunched Arugula
Kale
Apples (Fujis and Granny Smiths)
Braising Mix

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 5)

Rutabagas

Thanks so much for your patience with this late Box Contents post!  

One of my favorite items in Week 5's box was rutabaga, which, like its strange cousin kohlrabi, is a cross between the cabbage and the turnip.  

Here's some interesting info featured in From Asparagus to Zucchini, which is a fantastic cookbook produced by the Madison Area CSA Coalition (we sell this in our market during the Summer Session; if you'd like to purchase a copy during the Early or Late Spring Sessions, let me know and we'll put one in your box!):

The rutabaga appeared suddenly in the middle of the 17th century and first became popular in Sweden.  In fact, rutabaga comes from the Swedish rotabagge, meaning 'baggy root.'  Rutabagas are also commonly referred to as Swedes or Swedish turnips.  They were among the first vegetables grown by colonists in America as they began farming the untilled land, because the large roots helped break up poor soils. [...] Rutabaga is high in carbohydrates, vitamins A and C, and some minerals, particularly calcium.  Rutabagas belong to a handful of cruciferous vegetables believed to be effective in cancer prevention as well.

Also, I'd like to remind everyone that next Wednesday (April 24th) marks the sixth and final week of the Early Spring Session.  The Late Spring Session begins on Wednesday, May 1st - if you're planning to join us for that session, please send in your application (if you haven't already done so)!

Early Spring Session, Week 5: Box Contents

Cauliflower
Braising Mix
Watercress
Collards
Lettuce
Fennel
Apples
Eggs
Leeks
Rutabaga
Garlic

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 4)

Delicious sorrel!

Week 4's box has a great assortment of produce.  Although technically a vegetable, rhubarb is often considered a fruit because of the way it's used (in pies and so forth) - while we're craving sweet fruit during the winter & early spring months, it's such a relief to have rhubarb appear.  

Mizuna (a peppery Japanese green) is reminiscent of arugula.  Raw, it adds a lot of flavor to salad; it's also great in stir-fries.

The aromatic herb fennel (I love that smell!) is fairly versatile - the bulb can be eaten raw, sauteed, braised, etc.  I'll be posting a great soup recipe that uses fennel later this week.

Sorrel has quickly become one of my favorite herbs - it has a crisp lemony flavor.  To make a quick and easy sauce that's great for poached fish, I just cut out the tough center stem, chop the leaves up, and saute them.  As they cook, the leaves break down into a thick sauce, which can be served as-is on top of cooked fish.  I like to add some cream to the sauteed sorrel.  (In this week's box, a bunch of cut sorrel - freshly harvested here at Jubilee - was packed in a plastic bag.  It looks a bit like spinach, which was loosely packed in a banded-bunch in the box).

Early Spring Session, Week 4: Box Contents
Chard
Mizuna or Red Mustard
Fennel
Rhubarb
Collard Raab
Yellow Onion
Crimini Mushrooms
Sorrel
Granny Smith Apples
Spinach

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 3)

Although there's nothing particularly out of the ordinary in this week's box (aside from raab), I do want to emphasize how delicious cipollini onions are; they're sweeter than normal onions and are perfect for roasting.

Early Spring Session, Week 3: Box Contents
Eggs
Kale
Granny Smith Apples
Red Cipollini Onions
Red Savoy Cabbage
Beets
Carrots
Broccoli
Raab

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 2)

Purple sprouting broccoli

For Week 2 of our Early Spring Session, we added purple sprouting broccoli to the Regular Shares - this variety was a bit of an experiment for us, so we are hoping to just try it out in a small quantity this week and get some feedback on it.  Purple sprouting broccoli, which is an old English heirloom variety of broccoli, overwinters and then is ready for harvest in the spring.  The broccoli heads and kale-like leaves add a lot of color and taste to a salad, but there are some delectable recipes posted here in case you'd prefer to cook it. We're curious to hear your opinions on this variety!

We'll be adding recipes to the blog periodically, and if you have one that you'd like to share, we'd love to post it!  Just send us an email with your recipe (and a photo, if possible), as well as a citation for the recipe, if you found it online or in a cookbook.

Early Spring Session, Week 2: Box Contents

Kale
Chard
Braising mix
Granny Smith Apples or Fuji Apples

Leeks

Watercress

Garlic

Crimini Mushrooms

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Regular Shares only)

CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 1)

kale raab

One of the more unusual items in this week's boxes is kale raab (fresh from Jubilee).  Brassicas like broccoli and kale send up shoots of delicious flower buds when they are going to seed after the winter, and these buds are called "raab."

They're very sweet and are even tasty when added raw to salads.  For a quick lunch today, I just chopped them up and sauteed them with garlic in olive oil.

Early Spring Session Week 1: Box Contents
eggs
broccoli

cauliflower

chard

shallots

beets

apples

carrots

pears

kale raab