June 2, 2009

Greetings CSA Members,

Welcome to the 2009 CSA Season! Each week I will post on the website both the newsletter and a recipe to support you in your adventures in this CSA. In this letter I hope to supply you with some guidelines and practical details to help make the CSA as smooth as possible. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, however, for I am sure that I will have missed some pertinent information. One of the most important concerns is the respect and consideration of the distribution site. Please leave the distribution site clean and tidy for both the next member picking up and for the host who has volunteered their home for the CSA. At each site there will be a sign-in sheet on a clipboard along with a white board listing what is in your share.
If you cannot pick up your share on a particular week, we suggest that you ask a friend or neighbor to pick up for or instead of you. Just have that person sign in under your name. Bring your own bags if you can.
This year we are trying a new idea with the Herbs. They will be in bulk and in a tote. They will not be included in your box. Please take what you need and remember that there will be other members choosing from the selection after you. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as to the success or problems with this new system.

•Please remember your 2nd and 3rd installments, if you are using a payment plan.
•Check the website for updates and newsletters.- - www.denisonfarm.com
•Working Members should give a call a few days before they want to come and work. I will be sending out requests every now and then.
•Rebeca Torres-Rose, my CSA right arm, has volunteered to keep an eye on the new blog on our website – posting ways to use your share and chatting about recipes.
•CSA Member Handbook that you can download is on the website. Please read through it and enjoy Ali Farrell’s beautiful cover page.
•For those of you who are splitting your share, if you want to split up your share at the site, please remember to bring your own bags. Some of you might want to re-pack your share into your own bags for your convenience. Please remember to flatten your boxes and pile neatly.
•Remember that the boxes should be recycled from week to week. Please leave them neatly at your distribution site, flattened and stacked.
•Please be forgiving if we have made a mistake on this first pick-up!
•Please contact us if you have any questions.

Brian and I are very happy to provide you with a healthy share each week, but we are always subject to and working with the weather and Mother Nature. As much as we intend to provide you with bountiful shares week after week, please know that there may be hailstorms or blight on the tomatoes or raccoons in the corn. This is the moment where you our members step in and know that being part of a CSA means accepting some risks

Thank you all for your support this season. We are grateful for this partnership so that we can all eat locally and organically. Thank you for your part in this endeavor.

Looking forward to a bountiful season – Justine and Brian


Recipes and Tips on using the Greens

This week you will most likely find in your boxed share: A bag of Spinach, A bag of Garlic Scapes and Radishes, Turnips or Bok Choi, a head of Lettuce, and a bunch of Curly or Lacinato Kale or Collard Greens.

June marks the Greens time of year and that is what you will see for the most part in your shares for the next few weeks. The shares are light in weight and variety. But that all changes as the season progresses. By the end of September, the pendulum will swing and you will find a very abundant share. So please have patience with both the season and with us.

Spinach and Bok Choi are great for a quick stir-fry over rice. Try sautéing them with white beans or with your favorite sausage. We put Spinach and/or Bok Choi into our Sunday morning omelet!!

The turnips are great raw as well as cooked. I mash them alone or with potatoes, roast them, or I use them raw by grating them into a green salad.

And here is a great recipe for those curly garlic scapes. They can be eaten raw, but I prefer to chop them up and use them as I would use garlic, scallions, or onions in cooking. I love their refined garlic flavor.

“Scapes are the flower stalks found on members of the Allium family (onions, leeks, chives, and garlic). Garlic Scapes, which only appear on the finest hardneck varieties, curl upwards as they grow, ultimately straighten, and then grow little seed-like bulbs. When the garlic scapes are still in full curl, they are tender and delicious.” Mary Jane Butters

Kale and Scape Frittata

3 Tbsp. olive oil
10 eggs
1 cup (1/2 lb) chopped and cooked Kale (Collard Greens are a great substitute)
½cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. chopped Parsley, Cilantro or Basil
½cup finely chopped garlic scapes
½cup chopped scallions (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except the oil, scapes, and scallions.. Heat oil in a 10” ovenproof skillet on the stove. Add the scapes and scallions and sauté until tender on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Pour egg mixture in skillet with scapes and scallions and cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Place in oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until top is set. Cut into wedges and serve.


Stir-Fried Bok Choi with Roasted Peanuts
1-2 bunches bok choi
2 T peanut oil
3 T raw peanuts
2 tsp. roasted peanut oil
4 garlic cloves, minced – scapes will
¼tsp red pepper flakes
Salt work as well
4 tsp minced ginger
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 3 T water
1 tsp roasted peanut oil

Fry the peanuts in 2 tsp peanut oil until golden. Chop with the pepper flakes and a few pinches of salt and set aside.

Chop the bok choi stalks, but leave the leaves whole. Stir-fry the ginger and garlic in a hot skillet for about 1 minute.. Add bok choi and stir-fry until wilted. Add the soy sauce and cornstarch mixture and stir-fry for an additional 1-2 minutes until the leaves are shiny. Add the peanuts, toss, and serve. Serves 2-4

Quick Turnip Pickles

2 med. turnips
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs lime juice
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Peel turnips. Slice into thin rounds, then cut in half.
Toss turnips in bowl with salt and lime juice. Cover and
let marinate for 2-4 hours at room temp.
Shortly before serving, combine cumin and cayenne, and then add to the pickles.

*** Remember that the Turnip Greens can be eaten as well. They are great steamed or sautéed with olive oil and garlic (or garlic scapes)***