3rd CSA Week

What a beautiful evening out there!!!  A nice breeze and such clear air.  It was a busy harvest day today but everything ran pretty smoothly.  The peas are on full force which is great news for all you eaters but not great news for us pickers!!  They are a very time consuming crop to pick but they sure add a nice crunchy treat to the early season baskets.  I am hoping the peas that we left on the plants will mature quickly in time for Thursdays harvest!!

This weeks large share had 1/2lb snap peas, 1/2lb snow peas, baby carrots, lettuce mix, spinach, green onions, kohlrabi, garlic scapes, green cabbage, broccoli and baby hakurei turnips.  The grab box had Chinese cabbage, bok choy, beets, beet greens, swiss chard, purple top and red scarlet turnips.  It's a nice variety of veggies this week and much lighter on the "greens".  The herbs are coming but not quite ready yet. Hopefully next week.  Cilantro was requested alot today!!!

Things are growing really well.  The potatoes are just about to blossom and are looking really good.  I haven't dug up any as I"m sure they are still just tiny little specs yet but they'll be here before we know it!!!  We are now into baby carrot season.  We had our first harvest of these little beauties for restaurants this week and they were really lovely!!

So here is a bit of a break down on some of the different veggies in this weeks CSA baskets. 

Kohlrabi.  It kinda looks like a space creature but its down right delicious.  We were harvesting this morning and I cut one up with my knife and we ate it in the field.  It was so mild, crisp and yummy!!!  It tastes between broccoli and a mild turnip!! We all enjoyed them.  We grow two varieties and harvested one today while the other is still growing and is too small yet to harvest.  It was a bit disappointing as many of the kohlrabi's had "exploded" from being too mature!!  I had not looked at them lately and was sad to see so many that were beyond their "best before date". 

Garlic Scapes.  These cute little spiral beauties grow out of the top of the garlic plant and we cut them off so that the plant puts all its energy into the bulb and not into the scape.  Chop it up like a green onions and put in any recipe that calls for garlic.  It's lovely fried in butter with some onions and mixed in with potatoes!!  Also great just chopped and added raw to a salad.

Snap & Snow Peas.  So what's the difference??  I really like snap peas much better, so much more flavour.  Snow peas are typically harvested very "thin" and before the pea develops inside. I prefer to wait until the peas develop slightly as the flavour is much improved.  The snap peas are best when the peas have developed quite a bit.  You eat both pod and all!!!

Spinach.  We are harvesting two batches of spinach right now and some of it is a bit on the bigger side.  It might not be ideal for spinach salads but is excellent for wilted greens or throw some in your lasagne. 

Baby white hakurei turnips.  We've had these in past weeks but these little babies are the perfect size to be fully enjoyed!!!  When I was harvesting today I was really dehydrated and I just pulled a few and ate them right in the field.  They are so sweet, crunch and filled with so much water!!!  Instant relief!!

Here's a recipe that I shared last year that was very popular for using up that green cabbage!!

Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole

4 slices of bacon, diced
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
10 oz (1 can) condensed tomato soup
10 oz canned tomato juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 cups cabbage, coarsely shredded
1/3 cup uncooked long grain rice

Cook bacon in large frying pan until browned.  Drain.  Remove to plate.  Scramble fry ground beef and onion in same frying pan until onion is soft and beef is no longer pink.  Drain.  Add soup, tomato juice, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Layer cabbage in ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Pack down.  Sprinkle with rice.  Scatter bacon over rice.  Spoon beef mixture over top.  Cover.  Bake in 350 oven for 1 1/2 hours.  Serves 6

Well, I should get to bed as my little "monster" alarm clocks will be going off at 5:45 like it or not : )  So nice to see everyone today, thanks so much for your support!!!  Below are some pictures from today's harvest and some pics taken from around the garden. 

Garlic Scapes

So yummy

Kohlrabi - beautiful

Kohlrabi - when its not so beautiful

Baby hakurei turnips headed for the restaurants

Baby purple tops

Baby carrots

Peas

Tomatoes in the greenhouse

Young broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower

Kale

Things are growing well

Have a great week!!