Week of June 23rd, First Week of CSA!

On behalf of everyone at Applecrest, we welcome you! Your support is crucial to us and we sincerely hope that you enjoy the bounty you are about to receive for the next 20 weeks of our harvesting season.

Below are all the things you need to know for your first CSA pick up of the season. Be sure to look at the information specific to your pick-up day and location.  If you’re unsure as to which location you selected when enrolling, please refer to the confirmation email you received when you first signed up.  Additional questions?  Always feel free to email us at CSA@applecrest.com or call us at 603-926-3721 and ask to speak to a CSA crew member or manager.

First Day of Pickup

On your first day of pick-up you will receive a custom-made wooden box containing all your freshly picked fruits and veggies. Please DO NOT throw this box away! Each week members are required to bring the empty box back to pick-up and swap it for your new, freshly filled share.  If you forget to bring your box the following week, you will get your share in a cardboard box or plastic bag.

******If you have missed pickup and not made prior arrangements, your share will be donated to a local food bank****** 

We pick our produce in the cool of first morning light, so please plan ahead and DO NOT leave it in the car. We recommend coming prepared with a cooler and ice pack to ensure quality and freshness if you are not planning on returning home after pick-up. We also strongly encourage Workshare members that don’t have access to a refrigerator or a cool place for storage, to bring a cooler to keep your produce in the best state possible.

Don’t forget about our Webstore feature folks! We offer items for you to purchase online in advance from your account or by clicking the link here . You can order items like organic eggs, milk, honey, maple syrup, fresh baked bread, peanut butter, or some tasty cider donuts that’ll be ready and in your share when you arrive at pickup.

What’s in this week’s share?

Veggies:

1 bunch Radishes

1 head Lettuce

1 bag Salad Greens

1 bunch Scallions

1 bunch Kale

1 bunch Rhubarb

Fruit:

Strawberries!

Plus a 6 pack of our homemade biscuits!

Storage, handling and general cooking tips…

Strawberries:

Storage and Handling- Use your strawberries as soon as possible (this usually isn’t a problem for me) as they stop ripening as soon as they’re picked.  Don’t wash your strawberries until you’re ready to use them, as moisture causes them to spoil more quickly.  Leave the caps on and store your strawberries in an uncovered container in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to use them, as they tend to have the best flavor and texture at room temperature. Rinse your strawberries gently in cold water and then pat them dry with a towel.  Finally, remove the tops with a paring knife or with a slight twist of the wrist, and they’re ready to eat or use in your favorite strawberry recipe.

Radishes and Radish Greens:

Storage- Remove the leaves from your radishes and store them unwashed in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the vegetable  crisper bin of your refrigerator. Radishes have a high water content, and thus tend to deteriorate rather quickly so store them dry and unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and make sure to use them within a week, or two weeks at the most.

Handling- It’s not necessary to peel radishes, just give them a good scrubbing and trim off any damaged areas, or rootlets that might be sticking out.  Most of the hot spicy flavor that radishes are known for is found in the skin however, so if you’d like to make your dish a little bit milder, you can always peel them before use.

Cook Tips- Try eating raw radishes as is, or sliced up into slaws or for dipping.

Steamed radishes can be delicious rolled in butter with a dash of salt and pepper.

Toss those radish greens into mixed vegetable, soups, stir-fries, or green salads.

Cook radish leaves just like your other greens, and try mixing them in with some milder varieties as they tend to be a little on the spicy side.

Lettuce and Salad Greens:

Storage- Store unwashed lettuce and greens mix in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried, roll the leaves loosely in a kitchen towel, put the towel in a plastic bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Wet greens will wilt quickly, so make sure they are good and dry before refrigerating them. If you have a salad spinner, wash and spin the greens before refrigerating them. Use lettuce within a week.

Handling- Salad greens are fragile, so make sure to be gentle with them.  For lettuce, slice the head at the base to allow the leaves to separate from each other.  Tear your leaves into smaller more manageable pieces for use.  Lettuce and greens can be washed by swishing them around in a basin of cold water.  If you see a lot of dirt settling in the water, wash them again, until they’re nice and clean.  The best way to dry your greens is in a salad spinner if you’ve got one, or if not, you can always pat them dry with a towel.

Kale:

Storage- Kale is super fragile, despite its heartiness. And because of all the grooves that some varieties have, it takes it forever to completely dry. Washing it before storage will only increase spoilage. You want to store kale in the refrigerator, but in the coldest part of the fridge. Kale tends to get more and more bitter the longer it is left at room temperature. Tightly wrap your kale in a paper towel and then place it in an air-tight (or as air-tight as possible) bag.

OUR FAVORITE RECIPES!

Crispy Kale Chips:

Ingredients:

Strawberry Salad:

Ingredients:

1 bunch lettuce mix

10 strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1 tspn salt

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 tbsp poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Gently toss lettuce and strawberries in a large bowl.

2. Place sugar, salt, vinegar and oil in a blender and blend until smooth.  Vigorous mixing will suffice if you don’t have a blender.

3. Stir in the poppy seeds and then pour dressing over the lettuce and strawberries. Toss and serve!

Radish Sandwiches:

A quick, simple, and delicious way to eat radishes
Ingredients:

6 radishes

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional)

salt

baguette slices

1. Wash your radishes and then chop off the greens. Thinly slice the radishes into rounds and then crosswise into small strips. Chop the greens into small pieces. About 1/2 cup of greens works best for this, so if you have excess try saving them for a salad.

2. Mix the butter and lemon zest until its nice and soft, then gently mix in radish strips, greens, and a few pinches of salt. Spread your mixture on slices of fresh baguette and enjoy.

Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar:
A simple and absolutely delicious way to enjoy your fresh strawberries.

Ingredients:

2 pints strawberries washed and dried

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup brown sugar

1.  Place your strawberries, sour cream, and brown sugar each in their own bowl.

2.  Take a strawberry and dip it in sour cream, dip it in brown sugar. Eat and repeat!

Part of the fun of being a member of a CSA is collaborating with your community, so always feel free to post cooking suggestions or feedback on recipes that we post, or favorite recipes of your own that you’d like to share!

Each and every week we do our absolute best to get to you the veggies we include in this newsletter so you can plan your week accordingly. Despite all our best plans and intentions, share contents are subject to last minute changes due to weather, field conditions and random acts of mischief by our beloved Mother Nature.  This means some weeks that half and full share compositions might not be identical and we will make up where applicable.

See you on the farm or on the road!

Cheers,

The FarmShare Team