There are now officially 188 CSA members, as we continue rolling along picking up a few more each week. What usually happens is you take home your share and unpack it and a friend witnesses the beauty and abundance and says, can I get one of those? And you say, yes, of course, just sign up, it’s so easy and fun! The cost of shares is pro-rated as the season moves along. So it’s fair.
This week is the first week that we will be putting slightly different items in some of the shares. You may have noticed the ambiguous title “Asian Greens” in the list of what’s in the box this week. That’s because we have three types of Asian greens in the field and not exactly 188 of any which one of them. So we divided the number of CSA shares by three to get the harvest number, and some of you will get Baby Bok Choy, and others will get Yukina Savoy, and others will get Win Win Choy. All of these can be steamed, stir fried, or enjoyed raw. They are all so good for you, rich in calcium, vitamin A, B-complex, C and some minerals. We generally attempt to harvest the same things for all the CSA shares, to keep things streamlined and simple, but on occasion, our fields dictate otherwise.


That reminds me of a time one of my farmer friends asked me how it was working with my husband, if we fought over what to do, who decides which crops to plant or tend from day to day. I knew right away that the fields decide. Always. Colin and I make plans in the winter months, adjusting what we want and how much and when. Then we follow our own instructions and the crops each need tending in their turns and generally we just follow along. We get along pretty well. In the winter months of planning we do argue for more or less lettuce or spinach, but not with much tempest. And in the day to day crunch of time and work, we do on occasion become snippy, but again, not that much, not so bad. We really like each other and we like our work, so we don’t have so much to fight about. Sometimes I am jealous of him because he does most of the tractor work, and whenever I do get to do some I think that it is so much fun. Right up until something breaks, then it stops being fun and turns into a repair project that I have no idea how to go about doing. Then I’m not so jealous.

Cilantro Pesto Bon Appetit, Jan.2005
This easy and unique pesto tastes great on plain steamed vegetables, with fish, or on brown rice. It’s a very potent and fragrant pesto, so you don’t need much to give your vegetables some pizzazz.
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts, toated, any nut will substitute fine.
1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 bunch fresh chives, coarsely chopped, about 1/3 cup
1/4 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp. Chopped, seeded jalapeno chile
1 small garlic clove
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Store in the refrigerator for a week in a container with a tight fitting lid, or freeze in little patties on waxed paper for later use.
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Green Garlic is a lot like a leek. It’s just a young garlic plant that is tender juicy and completely edible, all the parts. You can chop it up from base to tip and saute as you would garlic or onion or leek.

BEETS! No need to peel, only scrub clean; trace minerals lie just below the surface of the skin. Grate beets into a salad, cooked or raw. Cube beets into veggie soups or stew. Serve steamed beets sliced at room temperature tossed in olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper, or use a simple vinaigrette. To bake: cut off leaves and wash roots. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours or until easily pierced with a fork. Rub off skins and cut off roots. Serve whole or sliced. Young beet greens can be enjoyed tossed raw into a mixed green salad. Try beet greens steamed or sautéed, or in any dish calling for a mild, tender green such as spinach.
Quick Beet Greens – A. Donsecz, Vegetarian Gourmet, Spring 1993
1 pound beet greens, shredded, 1 garlic clove, minced, 2 tbsp. Olive oil, 2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted, Toss beet greens, garlic, and oil in a large sauce pan or skillet. Cover and saute until greens are just wilted. Add a splash of water if necessary to prevent greens from sticking to pan. Toast seeds in dry skillet or hot oven several minutes, tossing often and stir into green. Four servings.

CSA member Kate Chan has a great blog called Gluten Free Gobsmacked! You can find her recipe for savory radish cakes there by going to http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/csa-week-2-radish-cakes/. Another friend recommends making refrigerator pickles with radishes and carrots and jalapenos and vinegar, and keeping them in a jar so that any time you have tacos, you can have those nice pickles with them. You could cook up a brine and do it that way, too.