Storage roots for the win!

I don’t know about you, but we are blown away by how long and how well our storage crops are doing! With only May left in our 2020-2021 Winter CSA, we couldn’t be happier with how everything is going. The foundation of our Winter CSA are roots we harvested last fall, August-October, and have been storing in our potato barn and mill building. While their aesthetic might change during the course of the winter, these roots continue to be full of nutrients and flavor. 

Once we started seeding alliums in late February it has been game on in the seed starting world. Lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, kohlrabi, tomatillos, fennel, carrots, spinach, green onions, kale, chard, hakurai turnips, yod fah/broccolini, napa cabbage, celeriac, celery, and summer squash have all been seeded. Over the next few weeks they will continue their progression from germination chamber to halfway house and in April, May, and June, into their homes in the hoops, the 2-acre garden, and our 25 acre field. These starts are foundations of our Summer CSA and our winter storage crops. It continues to blow my mind what these little seeds can do!

The Crew at the top of the Diving Board in Grand Canyon.
Here is the cost per day of each of our 18 week CSA shares (June 2-September 29, 120 days):

Small Veggie – $4.17/day
Large Veggie – $5.50/day

Small Meat – $3.25/day
Large Meat – $6.20/day

Small Veggie & Meat – $7.29/day
Large Veggie & Meat- $11.58/day

Part of how we ensure that you are getting produce all CSA long is by hand sorting our storage crops. Before each CSA, we take a look at all the options and decide what needs to be used first and what can be saved for another month. This ensures that you get a bit of variety during the course of the CSA, we use the things that need to be used first, and we save the items that are storing best for later. (Remember the sweet potatoes in January and how quick they had to go?)

As the winter progresses and our storage crops age and dwindle due to usage and time, we end up handling each item individually to gauge its quality. An example of this would be the onions. This month, we touched every onion in the place, took the ones that needed to be used first, and tossed the ones that had turned too far. Based on what we find during this exercise, you might receive a lot of something (last month it was garlic). This personalized quality control ensures that we can keep our vegetables through the entirety of the winter.

In the February Winter CSA newsletter we talked about starting our allium crop. We have moved those starts out of the 4-season green house and into the halfway house. We give them hair cuts to keep them from getting too wild and tangled. We water them and make sure they have fresh air. We maintain their temperature as best we can. But these starts won’t go into the ground until mid-May. 

It takes everything in my power to keep my brain from exploding as we sort through onions in April that were started over 12-months ago while nurturing infant onions that aren’t even plantable yet. Storage crops are such an investment of time and space and labor. We LOVE that you believe in us and this investment!

This month’s veggie share includes: 

  • beets
  • carrots
  • onions
  • garlic
  • potatoes
  • kale (not shown)
  • green onions (not shown)

A few reminders about vegetables this month:

  • If your garlic or onions are sprouting, use them first.
  • Store your potatoes in the fridge this time of year to keep them longer. Peel them if they have a tint of green.
  • When you get your greens home, give them a rinse and store them in a Tupperware or plastic bag to keep them fresh. 
  • If you don’t plan to use your green onions immediately, store them with their root ends in water. This will keep them crisp and perky longer. 
  • If you notice little sprouts on your carrots & beets, trim them off and use as usual.

This month’s meat share includes:

  • chicken
  • ground beef
  • steak cut

Recipe Round Up

Web Recipes
Roast Chicken
Roast Chicken & Carrots

Quick Pickled Beet 
Quick Pickled Beets & Red Onions
Cook book recipes
Grated Carrot Salad with Scallions, Walnuts, and Burrata
Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables, Joshua McFadden
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 bunches scallions (about 16), trimmed (including 1/2 inch off the green tops)
3/4 pound carrots, trimmed and peeled
1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped so that some are quite fine and some are still chunky
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1/2 cup lightly packed very roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1 ball burrata or very fresh mozzarella

Instructions

  1. Heat a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat (or heat a grill). Cut the scallions into lengths that will fit into the skillet, or leave whole if you’re grilling them. Char or grill the scallions–dry, no oil–turning them frequently, until they are blackened on the outer layer and very soft and collapsed and juicy inside, 8 to 10 minutes. Chop the scallions into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
  2. As the scallions are cooking, prep the carrots by grating them on the large holes of a box grater or shredding them using a mandoline or other appliance. You can also cut them into julienne by hand, but the finer, the better, because the seasonings will penetrate more deeply into the carrots when cut to a finer gauge.
  3. Put the carrots in a bowl and add the scallions, walnuts, anchovies, parsley, lemon juice, chile flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and about 20 twists of black pepper. Toss well and let the salad sit for a few minutes so the seasonings can marry and teh salt can draw out a bit of the carrot juices.
  4. Toss again, taste, and dial in the flavors so they are really lively by adding more of any of them. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and toss. Taste again, then distribute on your plates or a platter.
  5. Pull the burrata or mozzarella into shreds or little blobs and distribute it over the salad. Drizzle on a more oil to finish and serve.
Roasted Potato Salad with Caramelized Onions, Feta, & Thyme
Ruffage: a practical guide to vegetables, Abra Berens
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes, unpeeled and cut into wedges
Neutral Oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
5 storage onions, cut into thin slices
2 teaspoons salt
a few fresh thyme sprigs, removed from stems and chopped, or a few shakes/sprinkles of dried thyme
feta cheese, however much you want

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 400F. Toss the potatoes with a glug of oil, a big pinch of salt, and several grinds of pepper. (A little extra pepper will help balance the sweetness of the caramelized onions.) Transfer to a baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Roast until the outside is crispy and the inside is tender when poked with a paring knife, about 40 minutes.
  2. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a large wide pan over medium heat and add the onions and salt. Stir to combine. Cook until deep golden brown, scraping the bottom as you go.
  3. Toss the potatoes with the onions and thyme, crumble the feta on top, and serve.
Kale Sauce with Any Noodles
Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables, Joshua McFadden
Serves 4

Ingredients
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound kale (any variety), thick ribs cut out
1/2 pound rigatoni, pappardelle, or any noodle
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt.
  2. While the water is coming to a boil, put the garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil into a small heavy pot or skillet over medium heat and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle. Reduce the heat to low and gently cook until the garlic is light golden, soft, and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the oil and garlic into a bowl so it can cool quickly.
  3. When the water is boiling, add the kale leaves and boil until they are tender but not mushy or overcooked, 5 minutes or less. Pull them out with tongs or a slotted spoon and transfer them to a blender. It’s fine if they are still wet.
  4. Add the pasta to the still-boiling water and cook until al dente. With a ladle or measuring cup, scoop out about a cup of the pasta water, then drain the noodles.
  5. Process the kale in the blender with the oil and garlic, adding just a bit of water to help the process along and to make a nice thick purée. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Transfer the drained pasta back to the pot and pour in the kale purée. Add half the Parmigiano and toss well. Add a touch more pasta water and toss until the pasta noodles are well coated with a bright green, textured sauce. Serve right away with a big drizzle of olive oil and the rest of the cheese.
Not going to make it to your pick up?

That is okay! We know week days can get busy. Please email us so we can coordinate an alternative date/time if possible. Picking up at the Farm Store on Saturday, 11-3, is always an option. Won’t make Saturday? See if a friend will help you out and pick your share up for you. Just let us know their name.

I won’t make it for my scheduled pick up!
Question for Us?
Do you have a question about your CSA? Rainshadow Organics? The Farm? Farming? Cooking something? Timing of vegetables?
Email us your question and we will answer it. Whatever your question, chances are someone else has it too.
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