By tomorrow all CSA Members will have received their first CSA Box! The box contents have already changed. The chois are double their size and weight in just one week! A new vegetable was added this week, too. It is the light green “lettuce looking” item which is actually a Chinese Cabbage. You are also finding a bit of green and purple asparagus along with Tatsoi, Joi Choi, Ching Chang, mustard greens, turnip greens, baby collards, spring onions, and baby green and red kale. This is Salad Season! We make a salad each and every day. Sometimes it accompanies veggie pizza or a bowl of soup. Sometimes it is the main dish and sometimes it is a side dish. We LOVE Salad Season!
If you are looking for a quick, new salad dressing try this. Blend a large avocado with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 TBSP EVOO, 1 – 2 TBSP rice vinegar, 1 TBSP Liquid Coconut Aminos, and to taste: freshly ground pepper, Himalayan sea salt, garlic powder with enough water to make the dressing easy to pour. This will make just over a cup of dressing. If you want more double the recipe! If you have some lemon juice left over, freeze it in an ice cube tray and have it ready for the next time you need lemon juice.
The greens will be all bundled together and not separated. When they are this young, they are difficult to tell apart! If you taste the ends, you should be able to distinguish mustard from turnip, however, and the collard is smaller and more roundish. The photo Vegetable ID albums will help you sort out any unknown veggies. Everything mixed together makes for wonderful first salads of the season! Or if like your greens cooked, wash, chop and saute the bundle of greens. You will find recipes under “G for Greens” or “T for Tatsoi.” The first recipe under “T” is for Tatsoi Quiche Cakes. You will not need a pan as large as the one I am using! But we really like these, so I always make extra-large batches so there are plenty for the freezer.
In case you had any doubts, we are getting WAY TOO MUCH rain. We have received over six inches thus far in our micro-climate. When the ditches along the side of the road are brown with rotting grass as in the photo below, you know the crops are suffering as well.
Robert spent two full days ditching our areas which were holding more water. Some of the plants started to wilt, but with the sun shining again, they seem to have perked up. The truth will be told in the next two or three weeks. A special “thank you” to everyone who has been asking what the rains are doing to the gardens! We are happy to know that our CSA Members are making the connection between the local weather and local food and the “struggles” of your Farmers to provide that food. I always say the veggies come up from the garden like “magic,” but the reality is quite different.
One last thing, if you have not found these Jumbo bags in your grocery store, try a different store. I have seen them in many locations and they are large enough to handle anything we will send your way this season. Now, wash, chop, eat, repeat!
Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA 