Week 3 CSA Newsletter (July 1-7, 2023)

Farm Newsletter Week 3

July 1-7, 2023    |    “A” Week

Last week’s CSA box was a doozie!

What’s in the Box this Week?

FRESH GARLIC ~ Fresh garlic is garlic that has been recently harvested, before it is cured. It has a thicker skin than the cured garlic you find at the store, and you should refrigerate it and use it within 2 weeks, or it will start to mold. To use: cut the stem off and the roots. Remove the outer peel if damaged and then chop/mince like you would cured garlic. To freeze: Chop or mince and then flash freeze in a Ziploc bag.

RAINBOW SWISS CHARD ~ Chard is a leafy green with a similar taste to spinach. The stems are different colors. The stem is also edible — you can use it for a crunch factor in stir fries (or pickled). To store: Place chard unwashed, wrapped in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Best used very fresh, but may last for a week. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. Fold each leaf in half and slice out the stem. Then stack the leaves up and slice them diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips. To use: Saute in olive oil. Use in soups, spaghetti sauce, pesto, quiche, or dips. To freeze: Blanch washed greens for 2-3 minutes. Rinse in cold ice water to stop the cooking process, drain, and pack into airtight containers. Stems can also be frozen.

ASIAN GREENS  ~ Store unwashed lettuce in a Debbie Meyer Green bag or Tupperware FridgeSmart container in the refrigerator. Use within 4 days. To prep:Wash leaves in a basin of cold water. Dry in a salad spinner. To freeze: Not recommended.

CARROTS with tops ~ ! To store, first take the tops off your carrots and put them into a plastic bag in the fridge. The roots should be stored separately in the crisper in a plastic bag. If they get soft, just put them in some water to crisp them up again. Eat within 3 weeks. Don’t throw the carrot greens away! Use them to make carrot top pesto! Or dehydrate them on your counter and add them as a parsley-type herb to future dishes. Or throw them into a “veggie scrap bag” in your freezer (with other things like the tops of celery, onion skins, carrot ends). When the bag gets full, use it to create your own DIY veggie broth (which you can then freeze into ice cubes for later use!) Not sure how to make DIY broth?… grab our guide here.

Thanks to Tara Baranowski for this awesome idea to make chive blossom vinegar!

STEM BROCCOLI ~ Store your broccoli shoots in a plastic bag in the crisper of your fridge and try to eat it within 5 days. I like to steam the entire stalk/head for 4-5 minutes and then top with butter and salt. Blanch in boiling water for three minutes or steam for five minutes. Remove and dunk in ice water for 5 minutes. Drain. Individually quick freeze broccoli on a parchment-lined tray and then package into air-tight freezer bags.

RED BEETS ~ To store: If your beets still have greens attached, cut them off, leaving an inch of stem. Store the beet roots, with the rootlets (or “tails”) attached, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks. To prep: Just before cooking, scrub beets well and remove any scraggly leaves and rootlets. If your recipe calls for raw beets, peel them with a knife or a veggie peeler, then grate or cut them according to the recipe. To remove the skins, you can roast them in foil or boil them, and the peels will slip right off. To freeze: Boil or bake beets until done. Cool them in ice water or let them come to room temperature. Remove peels. Trim the beets into 1/4 inch slices or keep them whole (if they are small). Place in Ziplock freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze.

HAKUREI TURNIPS ~ also known as “Candy turnips” at our farm. Turnips are a root vegetable, related to arugula and radishes, which are members of the mustard family. Large or old turnips can be unpleasantly “hot” if not cooked properly or combined with the proper vegetables (like potatoes), but younger turnips add great zip to dishes. They are best in the fall or spring, when they are small and sweet. To store: Remove the greens from the turnips and store in a plastic bag to use within 3 days. The turnip roots should be stored in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge for up to a week. To prep: Cut off the green tops (which can be eaten as well). Wash and cut the white roots into wedges or slices. To cook: Serve raw with dip in a veggie tray. Or grate and add them to a salad. Turnips are delicious when roasted with other root vegetables (like carrot, potatoes, rutabaga, garlic). Add a turnip or two to your favorite mashed potato recipe. Or add them into soups and stews. To freeze: Blanch for 3 minutes in hot boiling water. Cool in ice water for 3 minutes, drain and pack into freezer containers or freezer bags.

We are not adjusting the pickup times on July 4th. Those who cannot make it that night can contact Corinna to move their pickup to Thursday or come pickup at the farm.

WEEK #3 ADD-ON SHARES: We are Week “A” 

Odd-numbered weeks of our CSA season (week 1,3,5) are called “A” weeks. And even-numbered weeks (week 2,4,6) are called “B” weeks. If you have any kind of non-veggie, bi-weekly share, you have been assigned to either “A” or “B” week for the season. If you get a cheese share, it always comes on Week “A.”

WEEK 3 FRUIT SHARE:

RED CURRANTS (HALF PINT) certified organic ~ (from Wayward Seed Farm, Fremont) To store: Store in the fridge. Do not wash until you eat them. These will last about 3-4 days. To prep: Rinse and remove stems. To freeze: Remove stems and lay flat inside a Ziploc freezer baggie. Pop into freezer.

SWEET CHERRIES ~ (from Eshleman Orchards, Clyde, OH) Sweet cherries will be either a dark red color, or a red/yellow blush color (the Rainier cherry) and are best for eating out of hand. Sour cherries are usually a bit soft, and are best used in baking pies or cobblers. Store cherries in your refrigerator in a plastic, perforated bag in the crisper drawer for up to a week. To prep:  Remove stem. Pit the cherries after washing. To freeze: Choose firm, ripe cherries. Pit cherries first (although you don’t have to). Flash freeze on a sheet pan. Then pop into a Ziplock bag. Freeze for up to a year.

BLUEBERRIES (PINT) ~ These are sourced from Michigan by Quarry Hill for us. To store: Store blueberries in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use a vinegar bath to kill off bacteria and lengthen their shelf life.  To prep: Rinse gently just before using

Gooseberries are a specialty crop available in July. These berries are sour, and are often used in baking. We are placing these in the online store.

CHEESE SAMPLER:

Street Ched ~ (UrbanSteadCheese.com) Award-winning traditional English-style Clothbound Cheddar aged a minimum of 12 months. This beautiful cheddar has a natural sweet and tangy sharpness with a savory, earthy finish that keeps giving long after you’ve taken your last bite.American Cheese Society 2022 Silver Medal Winner, Awarded Best Cheddar in Ohio & Reserve Champion at the Ohio State Fair Cheese Competition in 2021 & 2022. Ingredients: Pasteurized Local Jersey Cow Milk, Salt, Cultures & Enzymes

Gouda ~ (UrbanSteadCheese.com)This creamy traditional Dutch-style gouda evokes flavors of salted caramel and butterscotch with a remarkably long-lasting umami finish. Aged a minimum of 12 months. Ingredients: Pasteurized Local Jersey Cow Milk, Salt, Cultures & Enzymes

Sour cherry bourbon chevre ~ MacKenzie Creamery Blow your mind good goat cheese flavor. You can freeze this little cup of goodness!

Fresh garlic will be in this week’s box.

Ice Cream Flavor of the Week:

VANILLA BEAN from Knueven Creamery. Note: be sure to stop and pick up your ice cream from the Knueven milk truck at your pickup site! They will be located either right before or after your veggie pickup. Your farmers will not be passing this out in their delivery line.

Coffee Flavor of the Week:

Maddie & Bella Coffee Company ~ Brazil Bravo, intense cocoa, walnut, sweet finish

JOBS ON THE FARM: Tomato Staking

Every year around June/July, it’s time to stake our tomatoes. Why do we do this?

Well, tomatoes get heavy, and they’ll pull the plant to the ground if they don’t have something to lean on. We don’t want tomatoes touching the soil — it makes them susceptible to disease. You’ll often see tomato cages in home gardens. On a farm, we create a kind of trellis system. First we place stakes along the beds. Then we use something called “tomato twine” which is tied using the “Florida weave” method between the stakes. Tomatoes grow between the twine as they grow taller and taller. Usually there are three layers of twine by the time we are finished.

The staking process is step one. It can be done via machine using a stake pounder or manually — which is how we do it. We use a tool called a “stake pounder” — fit it over the stake and then using 5 swift strokes up and down, we pound it into the earth. That stake pounder is made of metal, so it’s pretty heavy.

Farmer Kurt helps pull garlic during our garlic harvest.

FARMER KURT’S FIELD NOTES

The air around the farm has been hazy from the fires up north in Canada. Unfortunately, my crew needs to soldier on and be outside, in spite of the poor air quality. Farming never stops. They have been amazing this week. In addition to the heavy harvest loads on Monday and Wednesdays (for CSA), I’ve had them do some tedious weeding in the currant patch. This was also the week for tomato staking! This is a 6 hour task, where my guys pound stakes by hand into the beds every few yards using a stake pounder. Each stake takes about 5 strokes — an up-and-down motion of the shoulders. It’s a tough workout, but my guys never complain. I’m so grateful for them. Farming is hard work, and it takes a special person to love being outside doing that kind of thing. These guys are just great! I took them out for a beer this week  — they appreciate our family’s efforts to get to know them as people.

The garlic harvest was pretty weedy!! But the stalks pulled out easily this year.

This weekend we harvested the garlic. I chose a hot day to do it, too. It was muggy and hazy out. First I chopped the tops off the garlic with my chopper. Then I run a plastic lifter underneath to loosen the soil. Then while Pedro, Jose, Polo, and Asuncion were trellising cukes, I took my boys and Noah and John, and we pulled garlic. We do this by hand. They came out real easy. I was happy with the size. The crew has to pull off the clumps of dirt from the roots and kind of clean up the bulb a bit. Then we sort them by size in black crates. They’ll need to cure for the next few weeks in a shady spot. During that process, the skin will dry up, and it will become shelf-stable. This week you’ll be getting some of the FRESH stuff — you can still eat it even though it hasn’t cured yet. I hope you enjoy it! I’m known for my garlic – -and I don’t grow an awful lot of it. I hope you notice a difference in the taste — as it’s not the cheapy stuff from China in the grocery store.

We harvested our first load of gooseberries, and they look great! I’ll put them into the online store, and I hope you have some fun ideas for what to do with them. My kohlrabi, kale, and swiss chard look just beautiful. The sweet corn is also “catching up.” We thought it might be a later harvest, but these hot days are accelerating its growth. I’m hoping to start pulling in 3 weeks.

Cucumber trellising. Each plant gets clipped to the trellis.

Our guys put up a trellis for the cucumbers this year. This is a tedious process with clipping each plant to an erected trellis on the bed. Didn’t help that I asked them to do it on a super-hot, muggy day! But they’re done, and that will make all the difference in increasing our yields and keeping disease off the plants. It’s an extra step, but I find that it’s worth it.

The boys took down the sandbox this week. I’m reusing the sand for sandbags!

The boys dismantled the old sandbox this week. That was a poignant moment. We have many memories of them playing with tractors, shovels, and earth movers in there. But for the last 3 years, it’s been growing over with weeds, so we’ve decided it’s time to pull it out. We’ll be taking down the swingset/playset next. It’s bittersweet passing milestones like this, that mark the passage of time. But at the same time, I love watching them get excited about other projects like building new planes.

June 30th was our wedding anniversary. My beautiful bride and I have been married 16 years. I took her out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. It just gets better and better! Love you, Corinna!

~Your Farmer, Kurt

WEEK 3 ANNOUNCEMENTS

NO CHANGE TO Fourth of July Pickup!

If you are a Sylvania or Elmore customer, your pickup this week falls on July 4th. There was some discussion over whether we might move it to an earlier time slot. After sending out a customer survey, we have decided to KEEP the pickup at the regular time of 5:30-6:30 PM. However, if you are not able to make it due to the holidays, you can reach out to Corinna via email and ask her to MOVE your pickup to the Perrysburg location on Thursdays OR request a DIY pickup at the farm sometime later that week. Please email Corinna with your request by Sunday at 6 PM.

Our Car Sign Contest Winners are announced!

Thanks to everyone who had fun with this. These four winners will get a pint of ice cream from Knueven. Please reach out to them and place your order online per their instructions. Our farm will cover the cost!

1. 1. Elmore: Tasha Rothert
   2. Sylvania: Dianna Vasquez
   3. Perrysburg: Debbie Ponzio
   4. Port Clinton: Samantha George

Our NEXT CONTEST!! Play SLFarms Bingo with us this month!

From July 1 – July 21, you are encouraged to compete in our SLF Bingo Board competition. Download this PDF file of our Bingo Board. Fill in as many of them as you can over the next 3 weeks! Some of them are EASY (you may already have done them), and some are little more challenging. Once you complete 20 of the 25 spots, post a picture of your Bingo board in our Facebook group with the hashtag #CSABingo2023, or send me an email that you’ve completed it. I’ll choose 2 random winners from this pool of submitted boards on July 22nd, and you’ll receive a box of baked goodies from the Occasional Baker!

SAVE THE DATE: FIRST FIELD TO TABLE DINNER is JULY 29

Chef Joseph from Cork and Knife Provisions will be leading TWO farm dinners for us this season — one small table event with only 20 guests, and the other will be a larger affair in the fall. The first dinner is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, at 6:30 PM, at the farm. Details will be in next week’s newsletter, as well as the opportunity to pre-buy tickets. Seating will be limited for this first event. We wanted to offer two distinct dining experiences. Stay tuned!

Our store link is super easy to remember: www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/store. Just be sure to select the right pickup site that coincides with your pickup location. If the pickup option is greyed out or not available, it means you missed the window to order. You need to place your order 36 hours before your site. We harvest the product on Monday and Wednesday mornings — early. This week, the store will have:  carrots, white scallions, gooseberries, red currants, red beets, hakurei white turnips, dinosaur kale, head broccoli, green kohlrabi, red radishes, Rainbow Swiss chard, curly kale, garlic scapes, SLF swag stickers, honey, and maple syrup.

Now in Season: Wild Alaskan Salmon

from Citizen Salmon Alaska

Our Community Supported Fishery is now shipping wild alaskan salmon. Corinna’s wrangler group picked up the first round of deliveries this week! Place your order for salmon, halibut, or scallops now at www.CitizenSalmonAlaska.com. You can order ANY time of year while supplies last.

The fish is SUPER fresh — processed and blast-frozen within 5 hours of the catch. Aaron processes it into smaller cuts (individual portion sizes) and each portion is vacuum-sealed. It arrives frozen on your doorstep, or your money back. And you’ll get a notification from Aaron once it’s shipped so you can keep track of its progress.

As a CSA member you get a 5% discount on ALL online orders with CitizenSalmonAlaska.com through December, 2023. Use the coupon code we gave you in your email. Note that the price of overnight FedEx shipping is included in the cost you see per pound on the website. You get a significant savings the more fish you buy. So a 40 lb. order of salmon will be much less than a 15 pound order. CSA members are organizing group orders right now inside the CSA Facebook group. So if you only want 20 lbs, you can partner up with other folks to get to the 40 lb. level and get the big discount.

Marisa Burkhardt had this great idea to cut up garlic scape compound butter into COINS and freeze it in Ziplocs. Brilliant!

WEEK 3 CSA RECIPES

Members: You can download these recipes as a PDF here.   These recipes are designed to inspire you to use your box this week! Please check inside our private Facebook group to find your fellow members sharing ideas for what to make with their box! Share a photo and you might be featured in next week’s newsletter!

Homemade Ranch Dressing
Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins
Raw Beet Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese
Glazed Hakurei Turnips
Shaved Turnip and Radish Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Roasted & Raw Carrot Salad with Avocado
Sunshine Salad Dressing
Carrot Top Hummus
Rainbow Chard and Carrot Hash
Raw Garlic Dressing
Oven Roasted Carrots and Kale
Grilled Beef with Broccoli
Ginger Beer Cherry Vodka Soda
Fresh Red Currant Yogurt Cakes
Red Currant Clafoutis
Cherry Basil Lemonade Spritzers
Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar