Category Archives: ginger

2017 CSA Spring April 22nd Earth Day

2017 CSA Spring April 22nd Earth Day

  • Baby Tatsoi
  • Tomatoes
  • Field Mix
  • Field Arugula
  • Dill
  • Chard Bunch
  • Pea Shoots
  • Micro Beets
  • Turmeric *
  • Ginger *

Earth Day: Most of you are familiar with our growing practices, compost making, certifications, awards, water and oil recycling, wetland reclaimation, etc. Most of you know that we will take back the packaging and cartons we use, that we switched to biodegradable straws at our markets. But did you know that we also recycle medium that has been used to grow mushrooms, thus innoculating our compost with helpful microbiological activity for creating nutrition at the root system? Did you know that our farm birds help in this cycle, eating up surplus greens and cuttings, also providing building blocks for nutrient rich soil that has been properly composted? This cycle is documented and inspected for our Good Agricultural Practices certification. Such attention to detail shines thru in the flavor and aroma. Recycling also won Michael an award in local farming for innovation in technology: before the water goes out to the water heater, it is piped in parallel to a heat exchange coil that is part of the refrigeration of our walk-in cooler, thus it gains heat, reducing the energy load on the water heater and by removing that heat from the refrigeration coil, reduces the demand for cooling. Heat from the refrigeration unit is recycled into hot water demands. A few ideas for easily helping the earth that don’t require a lot of effort: travel with your own containers for leftovers; carpool/walk/bike, etc.; your own metal or paper straws; and check out reusable utinsel sets to avoid plasticware. Carry your own water bottle. Stash a few of the compact, foldable shopping bags that can be machine washed to avoid plastic bags. Air dry laundry on a clothes line or drying rack. Just practical ideas! What are your suggestions? We’d love to know! Thanks for conserving petroleum and buying your food locally

 

 

2017CSA_Spring_Apr_15 Flower Salad

2017 CSA Spring April 15th Easter Flowers

2017 CSA Spring April 15th Easter Edible Flowers

  • Papaya
  • Baby Kale
  • Green Sorrel
  • Baby Red Sorrel
  • Field Mix
  • Field Arugula
  • Tatsoi
  • Spearmint
  • Mixed Edible Flowers
  • Micro Color Mix
  • Green Tomatoes
  • Parsley
  • Fresh Select Eggs
  • Turmeric *
  • Ginger *

So many suggestions for this week’s bountiful share: greens in a quiche or omelette that includes microgreen mix inside and more when plated, garnished with a few of the edible flowers. The eggs can also be blown out and used as ornaments. Try a creation with a dremel tool, carving out a design in the shell and painted with red sorrel juice for a fun project. The flowers can be pressed into service in between wax paper for lampshades, or try painting the violets with egg white and rolling it gently in a fine sugar for candied flowers. Of course, any salad you make can be garnished with both the microgreens and edible flowers for a bright and cheerful presentation. Papaya pie!Yeah, a little different, but I wanted to share my results: skinned, deseeded and chopped papaya was tossed with juice from 2 limes, !approximately ¾ cup of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey, 1 ½  tbs of corn starch, plus healthy dashes of cinnamon and vanilla. This was poured into a prepared pie shell and baked on a jelly roll pan at 350F for 30 minutes. I thought it looked a little runny at end time so I dusted the top with some more corn starch, used a spoon to gently fold that into the papaya filling and baked it for at least another 20 minutes. See the results in the photos and please overlook the tell-tale dusting trail…we thought it turned out very yummy! Maybe you will try it? It was very hard to not be fooled into thinking that this was a peachy experience. Try your papaya as a replacement for peach in recipes, adding citrus to help cinch the deal 😉 Try with your green sorrel. Papaya cooked with ginger and turmeric makes a very nice jam/compote/chutney for the table from toast to curries. Have a marvelous week!

Budding Turmeric

2017 CSA Spring April 8th Budding Ginger Turmeric

Budding Ginger and Turmeric

  • Baby Kale
  • Green Sorrel
  • Rainbow Chard
  • Field Mix
  • Field Arugula
  • Oregano
  • Mint
  • Edible Flowers
  • Epazote
  • Green Tomatoes
  • Turmeric *
  • Ginger *

*will select pieces from display to avoid over-refrigeration

Budding Ginger and Turmeric : When looking at this week’s CSA farm share, inspiration for green tomatoes three ways popped up immediately: as a pickle, infused with sprigs from your edible flowers; as a curry, combining with wilted sorrel and a mint yogurt garnish; and lastly as a stew with a southern flare, cooking with the spring oregano and epazote.  Serve either the curry or stewed tomatoes over rice.  Very special this week, we have for a limited time some ginger and turmeric that is perfect for grating into the pan for that curry, brewing into a spring tonic tea, or trying your hand at growing a piece. We have the best results when we use sterile pots and coco coir as the medium. Since these are tropical, they are not frost tolerant and require an average temperature around 75f so having these in pots means they can be moved to shade if we have a heat index of 111f as we did last summer, or moved inside to avoid freezing. Pots on a patio are also much less likely to suffer from soil borne diseases and pests. Turmeric has a downward growth energy so it is planted in fully filled pot near the top to allow fingers to form below. Ginger on the otherhand has an upward growth energy and we plant these very shallow in the pot in the middle of a several inches of soil. Later in the season as the rhizome pushes upward, more growing medium is added. If the ginger is not “hilled up”, it is more likely to push leafy stalks and a better yield is missed out upon. These rhizomes can be harvested in late fall, holding back some sections for future plantings. We are working on a new site, www.gingeru.com to facilitate education about growing these. Regardless, they’re delicious!

Budding Ginger

Budding Ginger