Tuesday 27 August 2013

Week #9 - FFF CSA Blog - A Time to Be Grateful


Hope everyone has been doing some bicep curls this week! As these CSA boxes get heavier and heavier, you are going to need some well developed muscles to lug them around. Each box is full of wonderful goodies!
 
Harvest time is one of my favorite (and definitely the busiest) times of year! Every day we are faced with a virtual cornucopia (I love that word) of treasures from our gardens. No longer do we go out with a simple pail or bowl to collect natures' creations.. Now we bring wheelbarrows full of goodies on each walkabout! 

This time of year so full of nature's gifts always makes me so grateful for the full, rich life we live. Hearing about the horrible experiences and living conditions elsewhere in the world, I am struck by a significant sense of good luck that I was born in this part of the world.  As we wheel our carts of food out of the garden, I know that there are so many others that have much less. I have no wise and sage words to fix what ails the planet but suggest a good start might be to give freely of our gifts and  always be kind!

So what does your cornucopia of goodness include this week?

Kale
Peppers (assorted sweet and hot)
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Carrots
Zucchini
Swiss Chard
Herbs (Basil, Parsley, Chives, Oregano)
Cauliflower
Ground cherries
Spring onions
Squash (assorted )
Tomatoes (a rainbow of varieties)

We have soaked the cauliflower overnight to ensure you have no "stowaways"
a.k.a. caterpillars.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Week #8 - FFF CSA Update - What is a "peck" anyway?

We all know that Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. You may not know that a peck a dry measure that equals about a 1/4 of a bushel.


Sweet Bell Peppers
 
Serrano Chiles
While you won't find that many peppers in your CSA box this week, there is a variety of peppers that are flourishing in our fields and thus have or will make their way to you over the next few weeks!
I thought it might help to walk through some of them to help you decipher the sweet from the hot (an important distinction for most of us).  Throughout this blog update you will find pictures of the different kinds of peppers we are growing this year.
 

Jalapeno
Sweet Bell Peppers: (we grow green, red, purple, orange and yellow)

Habenero
Serrano Chiles: long green chile (light green)
Jalapeno: short, dark green chile
Habenero: green to orange - pepper looks like its been crumpled - very hot
Red Chiles: - long, thin chiles - can be eaten either fresh or dried.




Medusa Peppers
Red Chiles


A couple of other items of interest related to this week's box.... bitter cucumbers? I have been researching this topic as it was driving me crazy and I thought I would pass along what I found. Every once in a while we would come across a bitter cucumber from the garden and I was trying to figure out whether the bitter ones are smaller? Larger? Less green? How can you pick them out?

Well what I found out was that the bitterness is caused by a actual chemical that is found in the stem, leaves and skin of the cucumber. Every once in a while the bitterness leaches into the flesh of the cucumber. Not a lot is known concretely about why this happens to one cucumber but not to others. However, when you are cutting a cucumber and discover that the stem end may be a tad bitter... keep cutting and you will likely get past the bitter part as it rarely affects the whole "fruit". You can also just peel a larger part of the skin and outer flesh off as the bitterness often is only around the outside.

Ground Cherries - each of you have a small sample of ground cherries in your boxes this week. These little nuggets of goodness come wrapped in their own paper husk. This berry grows on a bush and is in the nightshade family (same as tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos). You know they are ripe when they fall off the plant, the husk gets brown and papery and the berry is a deep yellow. Hope you enjoy!

What's in this week's box? Thanks for asking...
 Kale
Peppers - assorted - both sweet and hot!
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Carrots
Zucchini
Swiss Chard
Herbs (Basil, Cilantro, Chives, Parsley, Oregano)
Broccoli - for the half shares
Cauliflower - for the full shares
Ground cherries - a little taste for everyone!
Spring onions
Squash - assorted (spaghetti squash, sunshine, scallop and acorn)
Tomatoes - while most are red... you will find some purple and yellow tucked in!

Hope you enjoy your treats this week!
 

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Week #7 - FFF CSA - Think Purple!


Are you a one eyed, one horned flying purple veggie eater? This year we grew a few new purple veggies… besides the obvious purple kale, beets, turnip and eggplant we also grew purple beans, tomatoes, carrots, kohlrabi and peppers!
 

Over the past few weeks, we've tucked some purple beans into our CSA boxes. As many of you likely have discovered, they are magic beans… purple when raw but they turn green when cooked. This week you will find purple carrots to try and some of you will even find a purple pepper!
 

Last month CBC reported on research that has been done citing that people who eat purple vegetables and fruits have reduced risk of high blood pressure and lower cholesterol and are less likely to be overweight.


Why so special? Purple vegetables have a plant compound called anthocyanin in them. Its what makes them purple! This compound apparently is good at collecting all those free radicals in the system and is great for soothing inflammation. It is also reported to boost the immune system and improve memory and brain function.

Wow! Who knew! Never mind telling your kids to eat their greens! Think purple!


Next year we will have to try purple cauliflower and potatoes! What do you think? Would you eat a purple potato?

What's in this week's box?
 
Kale
Lettuce
Peppers - assorted (some purple!)
Potatoes
Beans
Turnip
Cucumbers
Carrots (purples ones!)
Zucchini
Swiss Chard
Herbs (Basil, Cilantro, Chives, Parsley)
Broccoli or Cauliflower (for full shares only)

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Week #6 - FFF CSA - Extending the harvest

Whether you are a CSA share holder or just have your own garden from which you harvest your own vegetables, you will sometimes get into situations where you have too much of one thing or not enough time to cook or use something right away. Today's blog is going to be focused on some tricks and ideas you can do so that that lovely produce doesn't go to waste and in fact you can extend your season of enjoying them all into the winter months.

Drying

While nothing beats fresh herbs sometimes you just can't use them in time. Instead consider drying them either by hanging them in a cool, dry place (upside down) or drying on very low heat on a cookie sheet in the oven. Once they are fully dry, you can crumble and re-fill those spice jars with the intense flavours of fresh dried herbs. You can also dehydrate or dry other items such as tomatoes, melons, berries, etc.

Freezing

Our CSA shareholders have been getting loads of fresh beans. If you are actually tired of beans or want to save them for later - freeze them! Wash and trim the ends and cut to the desired length, then blanch them (dip in boiling water) for 3 minutes.  Blanching is an important step as otherwise the beans will lose color and nutrients after only 4-6 weeks in the freezer. Blanching stops enzyme action that causes them to lose freshness and flavor. (Note: each vegetable may have a different time period that it should be blanched for best results). Directly after blanching, immerse in or run under cold water to cool them quickly and stop them from cooking. Then you can freeze them knowing that they will last long into the next season.

You can freeze lots of other veggies - also after blanching - such as cauliflower, broccoli, peas, carrots, etc. As mentioned there are different time periods of suggested blanching so take a look at this link for the right time:  How long should I blanch?

Pickling

You can also pickle just about anything these days - beans, carrots, of course cucumbers are frequently pickled but I've even heard of pickled cauliflower, beets and onions. I am in no way an expert in pickling so I don't speak from first hand experience. There is a tonne of resources on the internet on recipes and how to guides for pickling... take a look and give it a try!



Storage

There are all kinds of tricks about storage and I will pass along only one today... produce bags! I am not in anyway employed by the company or paid for this endorsement... I've just used and like these bags. At most supermarkets you can pick up produce bags - usually in with all the other zip lock bags. These bags are plastic ziplock bags specially designed with holes that allow moisture out and therefore keep produce fresh much longer. We use them all the time and they do work! The other trick is to store your veggies uncut and unwashed - hence dry and only wash and cut once you are going to cook or prepare them.

OK.... What's in this week's box? Week #6 FFF CSA box holds the following treasures:

Lettuce
Kale
Herbs (Parsley, Basil, Chives, Cilantro, Oregano)
Carrots
Zucchini
Potatoes
Beans (yellow & green)
Turnip
Cucumber
Peppers (jalapeno or banana peppers - its a surprise)
Swiss Chard

So I want to go on record.... I'm sorry for complaining about the heat... I really am! Please tell the heat to come back! I'll be more grateful! I'm sure you all agree that its been a tad cool these past few weeks. Here's hoping we are not done with heat for the summer!

Our garden is growing well despite the cool temperatures. The frequent but not too heavy rains are helping! We have tonnes of tomatoes ripening on the vines and we are really excited about our watermelons that are growing so fast!

Anyway, that's all for now... take care until next time! Happy eating!