December CSA

Month two of the Rainshadow Organics CSA is tomorrow. We are excited to see you all!

Did you know that our winter greens in the hoop houses can withstand freezing and thawing? Things like kale and green onions can take a certain amount of freeze and thaw and remain delicious, beautiful, and strong. If you harvest them while they are frozen, however, they become bruised as their cellular structure is crushed. This leaves them looking terrible and reduces their longevity considerably.

As the caretakers of winter crops, we sometimes have to make the difficult decision to not harvest greens. This is a difficult decision to make especially when we know that you all love greens and are counting on them for us. We are faced with this decision today. As I sit and type this the sun is starting break up the fog here at Rainshadow Organics and the temperature is finally beginning to creep up. If the hoop houses warm up enough, then we will be able to harvest kale and green onions for your monthly CSA. If the temperature doesn’t increase enough, then, unfortunately, we won’t be able to harvest greens for tomorrow. We have this afternoon and tomorrow before 1:30 pm, so we remain hopeful.

Whatever happens this is a great reminder of the fickleness of winter farming. We harvested all those root crops in storage. We planted all of our starts and successions. We have nurtured our little baby plants, but on harvest day, sometimes the time isn’t right and we have to leave vegetables that were perfect the day before. By leaving them, we are able to keep the plant growing and strong and have more to harvest next month. We always play the long game here and this instance is no different.

This is the first month in 8 years we have faced this decision and we very much appreciate you all and your understanding and support.

This Week’s Share

This month’s veggie CSA includes onions, garlic, daikon radish, sugar pie pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, and beets. We are hoping to include kale and green onion, but we are waiting to harvest these until it warms up outside.

The meat share this month includes a whole roasting chicken, 3 lbs of ground beef, and other steak cuts to round out the 10 lbs.

Recipe Corner

This weeks recipes are a throw back to classic cooking, whole roasted chicken and roasted root vegetables, and a go to recipe for a crisp, seasonally appropriate salad, daikon radish and carrot w/ a light vinaigrette.

Whole Roasted Heritage Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 stick butter, softened or 1/2 cup lard, softened
salt & pepper
chopped fresh herbs
White wine or chicken stock

Take the chicken out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 300F. Remove any remaining pin feathers, wipe chicken and pat dry with a towel.

Combine herbs, salt, and pepper and softened butter or lard. Slip butter or lard mixture between skin and chicken meat over breast meat. Season inside of bird with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan with sides. Add white wine or chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan in a shallow layer. If you have a rack, use it. If you don’t, don’t worry about it but forgo the liquid layer. Your chicken might be a tiny bit drier as a result.

Cook chicken for one hour at 300F, then turn oven temperature up to 400F for an additional 5-10 minutes to brown and crisp the skin. Heritage breed chickens require a long, low temperature to help break down the intramuscular structure. The chicken will be tough if cooked a a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time. Cook to an internal temperature of 165F.

Pull the chicken from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes at least before carving.

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley
(serves 6-8)

3 lbs root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes, celeriac, potatoes
1 small red onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves (or any other fresh herbs you have on hand)
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 425F with rack in middle of oven.

Wash 3 lbs of root vegetables, then cut them into rough 1-inch chunks. Cut red onion into 1-inch chunks. Place the root vegetables and red onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to evenly coat. Spread out in an even layer.

Roast for 30 minutes. Chop rosemary leaves while vegetables are roasting.

After 30 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven, sprinkle the vegetables with the rosemary, and toss to combine. Spread back out in an even layer. Continue to roast until the vegetables are tender and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Daikon Radish & Carrot Salad

2-3 carrots, washed and cut into matchsticks
1 radish, sliced thin & cut into strips
1-2 green onions, green & white sliced thin
2 Tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoon lime juice
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Add carrots, radish, and green onions to a bowl.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and add to bowl. Toss and serve.

Pick Up Schedule

Just as a reminder, we deliver the winter CSA on the first Thursday of the month, November-May. Our pick up schedule on Thursdays is:

  • Sisters: 2:30-2:40, on the south side of Oliver Lemon’s
  • Redmond: 3:30-3:40, at Centennial Park downtown
  • Bend: 4:30-5:30, 1300 NW Wall Street in the DOC Building parking lot

If you signed up for an On Farm pick up, then your CSA box will be ready on the 1st Saturday of the month, 11am-3pm.
Please EMAIL us if you have any questions about your CSA or if you can’t remember where you are scheduled to pick up your share.

Add On

Each month along with your CSA, we can deliver other Rainshadow Organics food stuffs. We spend the summer pickling and preserving. We grow wheat, corn, and buckwheat which we mill into flour. We make chicken, beef, and pork broth. Our bees produce honey. Pigs produce lard. These are great ways to enjoy the organic, nutrient-dense bounty of Rainshadow Organics.

Click the button above and let us know if we can do some shopping for you at our Farm Store. Try to get your orders in to us by 1 pm, and we will bring them with us to your CSA pick up.

Flours and Wheat Berries:

  • 2 lb bags hard red, hard white, soft white flour: $5/bag
  • 2 lb bag buckwheat flour: $7/bag
  • 2 lb bag corn flour: $12/bag
  • 3 lb bag hard white or hard red wheat berries $5/bag

Meat: we will have a variety of beef for sale (no chicken or pork at this time). Price/lb varies by the cut ($8-$15/lb):

  • $5/lb: beef liver
  • $8/lb: ground beef
  • $10/lb: chuck roast
  • $11/lb: cubed round steak
  • $12/lb: top sirloin
  • $13/lb: brisket
  • $14/lb: rib steak
  • $15/lb: flat iron
  • $15/lb: New York Strip
  • $19/lb: tenderloin

Broth: $8/quart: chicken, beef, pork

Pickles, Salsas, Preserves, Sauces: $5/half pint; $9/pint; $16/quart

  • spicy zuchini relish (pint)
  • turmeric pickled kohlrabi (pint/quart)
  • dilly bean & dill pickles (quart)
  • pickled hot peppers (pint)
  • tomatillo salsa, hot and mild (pint)
  • pickled beets (pint)
  • strawberry syrup (1/2 pint/pint)
  • tomato sauce (quart)

Honey: $10/pint; $20/quart

Questions or Comments?

Send us an EMAIL if you have any questions or comments about the newsletter, the farm, or the restaurant. We will answer as best we can. Chances are, someone else has that question too and we might address it in a future newsletter for everyone to learn from!