Today was our first veggie pick-up through our CSA! The farm was lovely, and the bounty was amazing. Usually the first week of a CSA pick-up is slim pickings–some spring greens, herbs, maybe scallions or garlic scants. We expect it, as it’s all about eating seasonally. (And just wait until August, when no family–no matter how robust the eaters–can possibly keep up. It all evens out in the end.) But this was by far the most veggies I’ve ever picked up on a first day! Witness:
-lovage
-oregano
-catnip
-scallions
-red kale
-green kale
-kohlrabi
-Chinese cabbage
-pak choi
-mizuna
-arugula
-green lettuce
-red lettuce
-sugar snap peas
-radishes
-turnips
-parsley (six plants for planting)
-strawberries
Highlighted in red are the items that didn’t even make it home–they were promptly consumed. (Sweetest sugar snap peas I’ve had in a long time! And those strawberries! Wow!) Items are blue are those with which I am largely unfamiliar, and would appreciate any recipes or preparation suggestions you have. (Aside from eating raw or steam sauteeing in olive oil and topping with cheese, that is–just about anything tastes good that way!)
The green lettuce has already been turned into a tasty batch of lettuce kimchi (which is more like salad than kimchi–not fermented) and is half eaten. The Chinese cabbage–the hugest one I’ve ever seen!–is halfway through the initial preparations for traditional kimchi. (That was a lot of chopping and salting.) The fermentation will take up to a week, though, so there is no immediate gratification here.
Since I live near a bakery from which our farmers order bread for re-sale at the CSA pick-ups, I am picking up the bread for the farmers in exchange for a weekly rebate. If I do it every week all summer, it should end up refunding my entire share price. (For this, I am extremely grateful. There’s no other way we could have swung a CSA this summer.) I’d never been to this bakery before, and was glad to find it without trouble. I was also glad when the bakery owner handed me two loaves of bread and said, “These are for you. Pick your favorite, and I’ll give you a loaf of it every week.” Wow! Another unexpected blessing!
(The two loaves were challah and six grain. Which would you pick? We don’t typically eat white bread, so I chose the six grain. But the challah was so very, very tasty…)
Now I’m off to chop more veggies for the kimchi. Come on over and try some!
“Now I’m off to chop more veggies for the kimchi. Come on over and try some!” Oh, I wish I could! Heather will have to eat some for me….
Kohlrabi is a root vegetable and good for pot roasts along with other root veggies like potatoes and carrots, really any slow cooking crock pot meals. It’s so yummy raw though. It has the texture of an apple with the taste of cabbage…sounds weird, but it’s good. Enjoy your bounty!
I think we’ll do a CSA next summer. It sounds like an adventure, and being in my last 10 (or so) weeks of pregnancy with a new baby here in August and a sweet two-year-old to care for, I think I have my share of adventure for the moment. I’ll be making my Saturday trips over to the Farmer’s Market, though.
Enjoy your yummy food. I’ll have to try some of that kimchi if you have some when we eventually come to visit y’all out there. Maybe next spring or summer?
SursumCorda – you’ll just have to make some of your own, eh? Or hop on over to a quality Korean food store, where the resident matronly figure is likely to have stocked the fridge with some good jars of it. Hopefully!
Kate – glad to hear that someone likes it raw. I’m not a huge fan of plain cabbage, but I’m willing to give kohlrabi a go–raw, that is. I might have to chop it up and make it into kimchi if I can’t eat it unfermented. I read that it’s bitter when it’s bigger than a tennis ball, and mine are certainly bigger than that. We’ll see…
Tricia – definitely consider a CSA. You’ll not regret it, I expect. In some ways, it’s even better than having your own organic garden–usually it was picked the same day you get it, you buy it at far less than retail, and the farmers usually have far more experience growing it well than we do. (Not that I’m discouraging a garden, of course!) AND, come visit whenever you like! I’ll have a nice batch of kimchi waiting for you.
The only “red” one that I know anything about is turnips – and I like them just plain, mashed up like potatoes. Heather’s family thought they needed brown sugar.
“Heather’s family thought they needed brown sugar.” We did? I don’t remember that. But I was introduced to three new vegetables that Thanksgiving — turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas – so I may be confusing things. Except that I don’t remember thinking of brown sugar in connection with any of them. It’s true I put a little maple syrup in my sweet potato recipe, though…so it may just be faulty memory.
Maybe it was maple syrup instead of brown sugar? I don’t remember.
One of the farmers suggested the turnips be eaten raw, on salad. Maybe I’ll try that this afternoon.
I am excited to hear about your blessings – the rebates and the free bread. That’s so wonderful! I clicked on the CSA site you listed and see at least 2 places that would be near me. I’m not sure if I’ll do it or not, but it sounds like a great idea.