CSA ~ Newsletter Week 1

This week is all about the greens!

Week one is finally here and our aim is to make sure we do a weekly newsletter to help give you ideas on what to do with your vegetables over the coming months.  This was going to come out via Mail Chimp but with having so many different member groups to e-mail we thought it would be simpler to post it here on our blog for all to see and maybe for the half shares who pick up every other week it will give you a few additional ideas of what to do with your vegetables.

In between rain showers and thunderstorms we have continued to plant out and all the main crops are now in the field, we just have all the succession planting to look after and the endless job of weeding and hand picking some of the bugs off our crops.  On the downside the humidity and rain we have had lately along with the fleece covers we use to help keep flea beatles off the crops has helped us create the perfect breeding environment for slugs and snails! So please check through your greens over the next few weeks or even soak them in cold salted water to help vacate them from your veggies!  I think we may need to start raising geese at the farm next year to help reduce our slug population!

We have a new stand this year and a huge thank you to Marj and Steven of Amazing Graze Alpacas who gave us our new canopy.  For any of our members who have ordered eggs the cooler box will be next to the chalk board list for you.

The early boxes are made up of lots of yummy greens and this for some can be the hardest time of year. The greens come with a bite in their tail that not everyone likes but we are hoping that some of the recipes we have found may help you enjoy these.  We have also created a pinterest page called CSA Cooking which has loads of recipe ideas for you.

Giant Mustard 

This weeks box:

Spinach - Please remember you will need to wash this and only wash when you need it as it will last longer.  It has been through two huge rain storms and has a lot of mud splatter on it so make sure you give it a good wash! Remember spinach is great eaten raw, cooked, steamed or if you are a green juicer add it to your morning smoothies.

Basil - If you do not use this fresh then place in the food processor with olive oil and blitz and then freeze in ice cube trays then it can be used in soup and sauces throughout the year.

Mizuna - This is the Asian version of arugula, this can be eaten raw in salads or cooked.  You can can stir-fry it with your pac choy.

Spring turnips - Can be grated into salads, roasted, or steamed cooked and caramelised with butter and maple syrup. Turnips this week are pink and white and both can be eaten the same way.

Giant Mustard leaves - These have a great peppery bite to them, we like to use them as bread replacement or as a wrap for burgers.  We found a really nice Pesto recipe for mustard greens this year 

Lettuce - Eat it any which way you like! We have heard that lettuce cake is rather good! 

Pac Choy - These have been attacked by the slugs so do make sure you check for slugs! 

Next week we will be seeing garlic scapes along with everyones love it or hate it vegetable Kale!