Winter CSA # 1 2013

Winter CSA # 1

First winter CSA on what surely felt like the first week of winter! It was a sight to see and seemed to have everyone taking pictures! I was taken by it's beauty but also eating away at me was a little worry that it would somehow damage my crops.  It still amazes me as I sit here and write, in my snowy town of Stevensville tucked away in my backyard is a greenhouse full of bright crispy greens.  Each morning, I get all bundled up and walk down the snowy frozen path that leads to the farm to open the door of my greenhouse and see, yup it's still there! My husband still works at a school this year and this week they harvested and enjoyed some salad greens, people really are blown away by the fact that it is possible to pick something green and edible out there!

In your basket this week:

1 bag of Chez Nous Mix

1 Bag of premium Kale Mix ( i say premium because this kale has frozen a few times and is at it's sweetest!)

1 bag of Sunflower Greens

1 bunch of Swiss Chard

1 small bag of Beets

1 garlic

rosemary

 We also did a large Hakurei Turnips harvest this week. They were the nicest ever!

 When the weather gets colder and daylight hours get shorter not much growth goes on but greens are preserved and grow very slowly.  Our plan was to get as much growth as possible before the cold weather to maximize what we could get from the greenhouse space. Many of the greens in your Lettuce mix are larger leaves trimmed bite size.

 Mustards, Kales, Asian Greens all ready to be snipped for salad mix.

Crisp spinach

Some of the Swiss Chard is ridiculously big! They didn't fit in any bags we had!

So welcome to our first ever winter CSA! We are delighted to have you and see you next week!

Fall CSA # 12 2013

Fall CSA #12 November 22

Hello on this rainy afternoon and our last Fall CSA for the season.   People often ask us how our season was and i say that it's been our best so far, not because of the weather though..which i think has been the worst but because of our building knowledge and experience.  I already know that next year will be even better even if the weather doesn't cooperate.  Another comment we've been hearing is " you must happy things are slowing down now!" well not yet we have been really busy and i am looking forward to  a smaller winter CSA which starts next week.  Picking and washing greens and only greens is pretty time consuming as opposed to harvesting tomatoes and zucchini.  My husband has many outdoor projects to build and finish and i am needing to get on my plans for next year as well as work on the website.   I am putting together a recipe index for CSA, it will be a good reference for new members and avoid me repeating myself too much and boring old members with the same things. 

In your last basket:

1 bag of Chez Nous Mix
1 bag of cooking greens ( Napa Cabbage, Tokyo Bekana, Swiss Chard and Brussels Sprout Greens)
1 bag of Hakurei Turnips/ Jade Spring / slivers of garlic ( too small for planting)
1 bag of carrots/ Flower Sprouts

Greens in your greens bag

Napa Cabbage an amazing and prolific greenhouse crop. Pick it leaf by leaf and it just keeps giving!

Here's a photo of your Hakurei turnip, Jade Spring and garlic bag

Tokyo Bekana -salad or cooked

Jade Spring, such a yummy little treat! Stalks cook fast and are best a little firm.

While I was researching recipes i came across one that blew me away, one because the combination was so crazy and  another because it was some of my favorite things.  Hot sauce and goat cheese with Hakurei Turnips!  I eat hot sauce with everything and i would never have thought of this.  Half way through washing turnips today I just could take it anymore and had to come into the house and quickly try this recipe:

  

http://www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com/2013/06/hannahs-buffalo-style-hakurei-turnips-3/


We usually just saute Hakurei turnips with garlic and olive oil or bacon and sometimes add a little organic Ponzu sauce or Tamari but this recipe really kicks things up and is great if your looking for something unique. If you like spice or hot sauce you will love this! If you don't, consider it with a sauce you do like! But please, cook your greens!  I cooked mine beforehand and set them aside with a little garlic, olive oil and a dash of Ponzu then prepared the turnips and then served the hot-sauced veggies atop and of course used my own hot sauce...

My lunchbreak from washing Hakurei Turnips...was eating Hakurei Turnips....these suckers were hot and warmed me up on this cold wet day!

I am not usually one for pre-made sauces but this ponzu sauce available at Healthier You 1237 Garrison Road Fort Erie is often just the right amount of flavor for veggies letting their flavors shine through.

Always a huge thank you for your support.  For those who are on for winter we will be sending out an email soon.  Keep an eye out Jan 1st for our 2014 CSA sign up with some changes. We are looking to have a + greens add-on for all you juicers or big green eaters!  If ever you are wondering what we have in store - don't forget to check our "What's Available Today" page.

Have a wonderful night!

Shirley and Rick
Chez Nous Farms

Fall CSA # 11 2013

Fall CSA # 11 November 16

Good morning everybody! Well, the Fall season is winding down and next week will be your last basket in this 12 week membership.  This week we got a good portion of our garlic planted and i made a big batch of red hot sauce which needs to sit for 2-3 weeks before i decide if i am happy with the flavor after which it will go out in the store. People keep asking us if things are slowing down now...not at all! Lots of little projects are getting attention and with the limited daylight hours they seem to take longer.

In your basket this week:

2 bags of Chez Nous Salad Mix
1 bag of spicy China Rose winter radishes
1 bag of carrots
1 bag of gorgeous Kale mix

In your Salad Mix this week, I added a few new items: small strips of sorrel which has a sour lemony taste, some mint and some strips of very purple Flower Sprout Leaves- they are so sweet and delicious!

As for the winter radishes, the recipe that i shared in CSA#8 newsletter for radish top soup really surprised me- it was delicious and even my son loved it! I realize that there aren't as many leaves on the radishes at this point since we remove any that have had frost damage but it's still worth a try! I love radishes in salad as well as roasted. I made the allrecipes version for my soup but used the food and style recipe for the roasting of the veggies.

http://foodandstyle.com/2010/11/15/radish-top-veloute-and-slow-roasted-radish-roots-with-fennel/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/radish-top-soup/

See you next week!

Fall CSA #10 2013

Fall CSA #10 November8

Quick one this week....

In your basket:

1 bag of Chez Nous Mix
1 bag of turnips
1 bag of mixed cooking greens
1 bag of carrots
garlic
leek
parsley

Amazing lettuce mix....so much variety 

I don't know which i love more the greens or the turnips....you'll find these in your lettuce mix and your turnip mix

Some items from your cooking greens mix this week. As always, cook any stems first and greens later. Our favorite cooking method is to steam in a pan with a lid and once cooked through remove let all water evaporate and add flavoring of oil or butter.

Most all outdoor greens changing texture and color with colder temperature but the plus is sweeter greens, cooking times increase but it's so worth it! These are collards with pink developing.

All the water this year is less than ideal....

Flower sprouts just taking it's sweet old time ...roots are too wet. Last year we had so much and were whole-selling quite a bit so this year we grew a little less but even with the nice mild temps growth has been slow because of all the water. 

Brussels Sprouts 

Our lunch greens mix bag all chopped up and cooked with mushrooms- always seems to taste the best when you eat it by itself...

Fall CSA # 9 2013

Fall CSA #9 November 1st

Windy one today! I do all weather without a question but wind is my least favorite!! Glad most of my harvesting was already done and it was a day of packing.  My husband however, is harvesting Kale as we speak. We each have our crops and I like it that way- it splits up the CSA load and we each become an "expert" of that crop makes it easier!  As for the CSA newsletter, I write and Rick sends..after I remind him and well, last week I forgot to remind him! The newsletter is always available though even if you haven't gotten the link we just do that as an extra reminder.  I have noticed that sometimes the links on the website don't show up and I will have to work on that when things slow down.

This weeks basket :

1 bag of Chez Nous Mix
1 bag of Curly Endive - getting sweeter as the temperature drops...when searching for recipes the term                               escarole can also been googled for recipes as the two are similar
1 bag of Napa Cabbage
1 bag of Kale
Carrots
Leeks  (Cream of Leek and Potato soup is delicious and thyme is a wonderful herb to flavor it!) Can be an               onion substitute -is sweet and mellow
Thyme

Arugula with Napa Cabbage growing in the backround

Really, really loving our green juices and smoothies lately. Picking greens while drinking greens it's a beautiful thing! 

Greenhouse is bursting at the seems! Wanted to save all it's contents for when nothing was left outside but we have had no choice but to harvest some to make room.

Crisp spinach.

Purple Peacock Broccoli Kale, Mizuna and lettuce

You may have notice some fernlike licorice tasting pieces in your salad mix it is fennel pictured above.

Have a great week!

Fall CSA #8 2013

Fall CSA #8 October 25

This week was all about chicken - our Chanteclerc Heritage Chickens we cooked 5 in 3 days and sold more than we should have! We were so happy with this endeavor and are looking froward to  a great season next year! I am in the works of writing a post about it and it should be posted on the site soon.

In your basket this week:

1 Chez Nous Tomato Sauce
1 bag of Arugula
1 Bag of China Rose Winter Radishes / baby Hakurei Turnips (all greens edible)
1 bag of Carrots
1 bag of Brussels Sprouts Greens ( Taste like Brussels Sprouts)
Rosemary (perfected for roasted potatoes or vegetables...roast...last a long time!)

Much like last year this Fall has seen quite a bit of rain, after 2 years in a row of this you can bet nest year I will be getting that garlic in extra early since the saturated soils make it hard to plant them now. I have my fingers crossed that we are able to plant soon we have some really nice seed this year.  All the water, has also caused us to start pulling our carrots out early since they are getting damaged by all the water.  They are so tasty but you might get the odd one with a bit cut off!

We finally got some fantastic carrot beds...only to have them receive too much water. You will see some unique carrots shapes!

Needing to free up some room in the freezer, it was time to pull out some of our Tomato sauce which counts as 2 items.  We make it with a mixture of all our tomatoes- every color, shape and size and add organic onions and our garlic fried in organic olive oil or organic coconut oil and herbs.

China Rose Radishes are pretty spicy. They should be separated from the greens. The greens can be cooked or juiced. When making soup- it is surprising how the greens lose their spiciness and prickliness and become soft and delicious! See recipe for soup. The roots really last a long time and can be eaten raw or roasted.

Here are two different radish top soup recipes:

http://foodandstyle.com/2010/11/15/radish-top-veloute-and-slow-roasted-radish-roots-with-fennel/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/radish-top-soup/

I included some baby Hakurei Turnips. I think cooking these whole would be great and look really nice!

That's all! Have a great weekend!

Shirley and Rich

Fall CSA # 7 2013

Fall CSA # 7

Hello everybody!

We're done a little early today! We hope you enjoyed your carrots and potatoes last week! We really didn't have much of those so we saved them for our CSA members as well as a little for ourselves... There will be more carrots but we are waiting for a little frost before we harvest them because it sweetens them up!  

In this weeks baskets:

1 bag of Chez Nous Mix
1 bag of Flower Sprouts
garlic
1 bag of Pea or Sunflower Shoots
Hakurei and Scarlet Queen Turnips ( can be cooked or eaten raw-leaves are also edible)
Peppers
Winter Squash

Flower Sprouts

You have already received some Flower Sprout Tops and this week we are sending out the actual sprouts.  These are suited to all green recipes and especially Brussels Sprouts recipes.  Our usual way of cooking them are to drop them in boiling salted water or stem them just until a fork easily goes into the stalk.  You will notice they smell quite cabagey cooking and turn the water purple (so take note if you are adding to soup!) but they are delicious and a green kids usually like!

Last week we went out for my birthday dinner and I was delighted to have my meal come garnished with Pea Shoots. A little while later, the table beside us was served and each person removed their pea shoots! It was hard to contain myself! I wanted to tell them your supposed to eat that! Pea Shoots and Sunflower Shoots are a new addition to our farm, they grow well, don't take much space and are highly nutritious!  Up to now we have mostly been enjoying them raw, in salads,omelettes, in sandwiches and in juices or smoothies but there are still many more options to try ... check out the recipes on this site! 
http://www.peashoots.com/peashoots-recipes.htm

I also enjoyed a wonderful winter squash soup as part of my meal.  I have had and made many winter squash soups but this one had my attention, it was really quite plain but delicious.  I made some this week and think i got it perfectly! Squash soup is really quite easy.  All you need to do is cook your squash-cut it in two and scoop out the seeds.  Rub with butter or oil and roast until cooked.  Once cooled remove flesh and it's ready to use for soup, breads or pie. For soup, brown a little onions and garlic (or use roasted garlic which can be made when you are roasting squash) add chicken broth and squash then some milk or cream a nice amount of cinnamon, some nutmeg and salt.  Puree and eat!

Red Kuri Squash (orange) Butternut (peanut), Acorn and Luxury Pie Pumpkin below. 

Here's two other recipes i use every year when i have Winter Squash I posted this last year:
http://www.cheznousfarms.com/2012/09/csa-18-and-our-busy-busy-week.html

Today we harvested all the sweet peppers. They are still green but starting to blush with a little color most will ripen when they come in but you can use them green also! We are smoking some Jalapeno's, Paprika peppers and Poblano's today. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

For those interested here's some items in your lettuce mix this week: top to bottom-left to right. Curly Endive, Spinach, Kales, Arugula, Napa piece, mustards, turnip leaf, asian greens, lettuce, sunflower green, pea shoot, radish green, herbs-lemon basil, parsley and fennel

Thanks and see you next week!

Shirley and Rick