Category Archives: Cucumbers

Fresh Baby Ginger

2016 CSA Summer September 10 Ginger

2016 CSA    Summer  September 10th Ginger

  • First Harvest Baby Ginger
  • Bell Peppers
  • Eggplant
  • Okra
  • Yellow Squash
  • Gold Bar Zucchini
  • Tomatoes
  • Gourmet Cucumber
  • Patty Pan Squash
  • Sorrel bunch
  • Beet tops bunch
  • Dill
  • Baby Salad Mix

Woot! It’s the first harvest of the season for our baby ginger! You will find that this ginger is unlike any kind you have bought at a store. It is very aromatic, tender, almost buttery, without the stringyness or toughness that is found in commercial ginger. Keep your ginger wrapped in the refrigerator until ready to use. Yes, we leave the stalks and the leaves on because the whole plant can be utilized in the kitchen. One chef that uses it skewers it into his roast so that as it is cut, little round medalions are embedded throughout. The leaves can be laid out in aluminum foil, glass baking dish or the like and used as a wrap to infuse your meat or veggies. Ginger is a phenomenal digestive aid, anti-microbial, and great tonic for the body. Try cutting some, including rounds of the inner stalk, into stir-fry for a punch of flavor and to enhance wellbeing. We like to brew it into tea and we also grind it with honey, making it easy to add a dollop to hot water for that cup. To your health and your pleasure!

2016csa_summer_sept_10-red-sorrel

2016csa_summer_sept_10-baby-salad-mix clusters

Ginger Harvest

2016 Ginger Harvest

2016 Ginger Harvest

2016CSA_Summer_August 27 on hydro house Mike

2016 CSA Summer August 27th

2016 CSA Summer  August 27th

  • Green Beans
  • Bell Peppers
  • Roasting Peppers
  • Baby Arugula Box
  • Tomatoes
  • Potatoes
  • Okra
  • Eggplant
  • Squash
  • Gourmet Cucumber

2016 CSA Summer August 27: Care and protection are reflected in the flavor and healthy benefits of what some have called “medicinal quality” products.  This mindfulness is also revealed in the distinctive methods used to tend the soil, via compost, some no-till, and an ecologically based focus all the way down to microscopic levels.  Michael picked up some spawn to set spores in his compost, courtesy of Sharondale farm’s Mark Jones.  They have long enjoyed sharing insights about permaculture and biology.  Both also explore the habitat and relationships of microbial action in their climates. The spawn to seed the compost was the “garden ally” stropharia rugoso-annulata which according to Mark’s website “attracts earthworms, captures phosphorus in the soil, and eats coliform bacteria”.  The journey began for this strain at another friend’s farm: Ted’s Last Stand.  They are just one aisle over from us at the Saturday market in Charlottesville.

This week’s tender baby arugula is an all time favorite for many.  The flavor does not have the big spicy bite of adult arugula, but rather a sweet nuttiness.  We hope you enjoy!

2016 CSA Summer August 20th okra beans

2016 CSA Summer  August 20th okra beans

• Green Beans
• Okra
• Chard
• Lacinato Kale
• Bell Peppers
• Specialty Peppers
• Eggplant
• Dill
• Thai Basil
• Yellow Squash
• Gold Bar Zucchini
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers

Now into green bean land! There are so many ways to enjoy green beans from tempura (photo from recipegreat.com), casserole (photo preventcancer.aicr.org) to salad (photo delectablyfree.com), but i did not find any recipes using raw green beans, and we do enjoy them raw ourselves. All of the salad recipes called for the beans to be blanched, cooked to the tenderness of your liking.

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans tempura

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans tempura

But the recipe that really caught my eye was a homemade version of green bean casserole from scratch, from the previously mentioned preventcancer.aicr site, photo above left.  Ingredients: 1 lb of green beans, oil, ½ cup chopped onion, ½ cup panko breadcrumbs, 8 oz chopped mushrooms, 1 clove of chopped garlic, 2tbs of flour, 1 ½ cup milk, salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne. The recipe says to cook the green beans, 5 min, set in oiled baking dish; sauté the onion and mix with the breadcrumbs for topping; then cook the mushrooms 2-3 minutes before finishing with the garlic, add to the green beans in the baking dish; then add a bit of oil and the flour, scraping bits together from the pan and add the milk, stirring vigorously; simmer until thick enough to coat spoon, or until stirring with the spoon creates a wide swath, from 5-7 minutes, and add the seasonings. Mix this with green beans and mushrooms, spreading into an even layer.  Sprinkle with the topping and bake for about 10 minutes or until top is crunchy….Doesn’t that sound good! Much better than casserole from a can J.

 

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans growing

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans growing