CSA - What's in your basket? [General]
2015 Jun 24
We just joined the biweekly program with Juniper Farm in Wakefield and received the following in our first basket:
- baby spinach, kale, Boston lettuce, green onions, beets, radishes, a type of salad that looks like dandelion greens but is milder, and cilantro.
We went biweekly to begin with to see how fast we can get through the basket and how well we would incorporate the veggies into our meals and so far so good. We can really taste the freshness! There is an optional mushroom share add on.
- baby spinach, kale, Boston lettuce, green onions, beets, radishes, a type of salad that looks like dandelion greens but is milder, and cilantro.
We went biweekly to begin with to see how fast we can get through the basket and how well we would incorporate the veggies into our meals and so far so good. We can really taste the freshness! There is an optional mushroom share add on.
2015 Jul 2
@felinefan I have never cooked collard greens. I would like some recipes, please.
I heard you can stir fry the kohlrabi with minced meat. Or make a sort of scalloped kohlrabi but I guess I will try it raw too. :)
It's fun to try different vegetables! And they taste so good being so fresh!
I heard you can stir fry the kohlrabi with minced meat. Or make a sort of scalloped kohlrabi but I guess I will try it raw too. :)
It's fun to try different vegetables! And they taste so good being so fresh!
2015 Jul 7
Here is today's basket: hakurie turnips, bok Choy, broccoli, kohlrabi, garlic scrapes, cilantro, basil, a beautiful lettuce and green onions. I did get Swiss chard but I exchanged it for the bok choy. Everything is so nice and fresh! One mistake I won't make again is to let the turnip greens go blah. From the last basket, I rescued the ones that were not too bad, gave them a good soak in cold water, rinsed them and lo and behold they were refreshed as the nice perky leaves they were when I first got them. They were delicious.
2015 Jul 17
Those look like hakurie turnips although I have never seen red ones. They are delicious and very mild tasting. The greens are also excellent. There is a recipe on epicurious that you might like to try that utilizes both the greens and the turnip in the same dish. If you are interested, I can post the link. Very nice basket.
2015 Jul 17
www.epicurious.com
Here you go. It doesn't look like much, that's for sure, but it is delicious. I mispelled it, it is as you can see, hakurie, not hakurie.
Here you go. It doesn't look like much, that's for sure, but it is delicious. I mispelled it, it is as you can see, hakurie, not hakurie.
2015 Jul 21
Here is today's basket. Red onions, patty pan squash, zucchini, beets with greens, swiss chard, green beans, snap peas, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, Italian basil and Thai basil. There was an eggplant that I traded for the broccoli. Everything looks amazing.
Francis, what have you been getting in yours? Our basket this week is very similar to RiceLover's.
Francis, what have you been getting in yours? Our basket this week is very similar to RiceLover's.
2015 Jul 31
I guess I have a mixed review of our baskets from the aquaponics place in Edelweiss.
First of all the aquaponics isn't going yet, so this is produce from the garden.
Second, the quantities were less than we expected.
Third some of it should not have been delivered: bolted lettuce that we couldn't eat, radishes that were hollow . . .
But the farm is run by a nice young couple and I realize organic farmers are at the mercy of the weather and probably need a few years to really get going. If we don't support local organic farms . . . what's left? Monsanto?
Anyway we will see out the year, and decide at that point . . .
First of all the aquaponics isn't going yet, so this is produce from the garden.
Second, the quantities were less than we expected.
Third some of it should not have been delivered: bolted lettuce that we couldn't eat, radishes that were hollow . . .
But the farm is run by a nice young couple and I realize organic farmers are at the mercy of the weather and probably need a few years to really get going. If we don't support local organic farms . . . what's left? Monsanto?
Anyway we will see out the year, and decide at that point . . .
2015 Jul 31
My wife found another organic farm in the Outaouais that delivers baskets and has been in operation 20 years, and doing great:
www.fermehlf.com/
www.facebook.com
I think we will give them a try . . .
www.fermehlf.com/
www.facebook.com
I think we will give them a try . . .
2015 Aug 3
Francis, it's too bad that you are a bit disappointed in what you have been given. Are you able to change your CSA in mid-steam, so to speak? Or are you looking at the new place for next year? We have been very pleased so far. I am picking up another basket tomorrow but will be skipping the next one as we will be away.
2015 Aug 3
I think we will stick with them for the rest of this season and decide then. The HLF place looks pretty good and we will try that next year too.
We we were away we asked the vegetables to be delivered to the neighbour across the street, but I know other people just skip a basket and ask for a bit more on downstream deliveries.
It wasn't all disappointing from the aquaponics. We got very tasty tomatoes and some nice beet roots that were really sweet and crunchy. I thought they were large radishes at first because they were both white and read inside. We really liked those.
We we were away we asked the vegetables to be delivered to the neighbour across the street, but I know other people just skip a basket and ask for a bit more on downstream deliveries.
It wasn't all disappointing from the aquaponics. We got very tasty tomatoes and some nice beet roots that were really sweet and crunchy. I thought they were large radishes at first because they were both white and read inside. We really liked those.
2015 Sep 8
Oopsie! I took a picture of last week's basket and forgot to post it. I got an eggplant in that basket and it is something I generally don't care for. I googled around and found a recipe for balsamic roasted vegetables with basil and thyme which called for the eggplant, zucchini, red onion and red, yellow and orange peppers. I have to say the dish was very good.........but despite how good it was, I still don't like eggplant.
2015 Sep 25
Oooh, yes. Jamie Oliver's book Save With Jamie has a recipe for whole roasted celeriac that is divine. He HAD the recipe on his website, but I guess it was taken down recently.
I did find a riff on it though eatsimplyeatwell.blogspot.ca
I did find a riff on it though eatsimplyeatwell.blogspot.ca
2015 Sep 25
Celeriac can be peeled and eaten raw as well. You can julienne it and toss it in salads or coated with a simple vinaigrette and eaten as a side dish. You can also make a celeriac remoulade which is a personal favourite. I usually use mayo, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard eyeballing all ingredients but if you would like to follow a recipe this one is pretty well like the way I do it: www.davidlebovitz.com
2015 Sep 25
One of my favourite recipes for celeriac is this Celery Root and Apple Soup: www.epicurious.com
I first saw the recipe in Laura Robin's Deadline Dinners column in the Ottawa Citizen. It was her favourite soup of the previous year and she said you can skip the chive oil except for company but don't skip the pancetta. Well when I didn't have pancetta or bacon or chives I've still enjoyed it dressed with green onions, sheep feta and black pepper. If the soup needs thinning some stock, milk, cider and/or some white wine all do nicely.
RiceLover, I find it best to use the celeriac up fairly quickly as they don't keep really well.
I first saw the recipe in Laura Robin's Deadline Dinners column in the Ottawa Citizen. It was her favourite soup of the previous year and she said you can skip the chive oil except for company but don't skip the pancetta. Well when I didn't have pancetta or bacon or chives I've still enjoyed it dressed with green onions, sheep feta and black pepper. If the soup needs thinning some stock, milk, cider and/or some white wine all do nicely.
RiceLover, I find it best to use the celeriac up fairly quickly as they don't keep really well.
2015 Sep 30
I've seen people make celeriac chips-that would be good.
For eggplant there is a salad where you roast the eggplant and then add vinegar,garlic,tomato and red pepper and eat that cold.
Cedar's grocery sells it and they called it Mamaghanoush? but it is really a salad that also has another name.
What about eggplant parmesan?
For eggplant there is a salad where you roast the eggplant and then add vinegar,garlic,tomato and red pepper and eat that cold.
Cedar's grocery sells it and they called it Mamaghanoush? but it is really a salad that also has another name.
What about eggplant parmesan?
2015 Oct 14
Here's by first basket from Bluegrass Farm, they offer a Winter Veggie CSA share.
Our first basket was delivered last night and it looks awesome! It's got chard, spinach, bok choy, arugula, leeks, beets, radish, onions, carrots, garlic, dill, kohlrabi, and a sugar pumpkin.
There are 10 deliveries every 2 weeks, starting now.
For our family, buying this share each year is a great way for us to procrastinate on building cold storage to store our own veggies in.
www.bluegrassfarm.ca
Our first basket was delivered last night and it looks awesome! It's got chard, spinach, bok choy, arugula, leeks, beets, radish, onions, carrots, garlic, dill, kohlrabi, and a sugar pumpkin.
There are 10 deliveries every 2 weeks, starting now.
For our family, buying this share each year is a great way for us to procrastinate on building cold storage to store our own veggies in.
www.bluegrassfarm.ca
felinefan