Week #3 - FFF CSA - Herbs 101

Each week you've been given a bundle of various herbs in your CSA box.  For some these are familiar items that you use every day, for others you may be less aware of each herb and what you can use them for. This week, I thought I would spend some time identifying each herb that you might find in the box and some its potential usage.

Basil (my personal favorite):

Basil comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, we will have a few varieties but the ones that you are getting right now and is the most popular is the Genovese Basil
Chives or Sweet Basil.

Basil has a wonderful aroma and is very versatile. Throw it in pasta sauce, chop it with garlic, nuts and olive oil for a quick pesto, and of course you will need it to make wonderful salsas when our tomatoes begin to ripen.

Oregano:


This leafy friend can be thrown into anything Italian. You will likely be familiar with the dried
variety as it is commonly called for in many recipes. However, you can't compare the zip and zest you get from using fresh oregano with the dried variety!


Cilantro: (OK, maybe this is my favorite!)

Cilantro and Coriander are actually the same plant. Eat the leaf as you will find in your CSA box right now and its Cilantro, while later when it goes to seed, those little
pods when ground up make the spice called coriander. Both are yummy! I find you either love cilantro or hate it. If you enjoy the taste, there isn't much you can't add it to. We throw it in salad, salsas, tacos, pasta sauces, soups, you name it. You don't need a lot as it is quite intense however, if you really enjoy the flavor... a lot won't ruin a dish either!

Parsley:

We have tucked both the curled version as well as the flat Italian into your boxes lately. Parsley is well known and in my opinion wasted as a garnish! It again is often called for in recipes and can be added to almost all dishes to add flavour, colour and zest. Parsley is very good for you, delivering a significant dose of Vitamins K and C - amongst others. Parsley also is very easy to grow both inside and out. A small pot on your window sill will provide parsley all year round for your table.


Chives:

Chives are essentially small edible onions. They have beautiful flowers making them a great perennial to add to your flower bed which has the fringe benefit of provide tasty leaves (long hollow tubes) that you can add to many dishes. Cut some into your salads, soups, garnish that baked potato with a few bits of chives, or eat as my children do... plain from the garden. The plant will endure quite a bit of pruning of leaves and still grow quite well.


So...

What's in the Box? Week #3

This week we everything you had last week... plus.... PEAS! yum!

Lettuce (mixed greens)

Swiss Chard
Kale
Herbs (Parsley, Basil, Chives, Cilantro, Oregano )
Radishes
Beets
Carrots
Zucchini
Peas

Please remember to wash/rinse your vegetables. While we don't use any chemicals, we do use all natural fertilizer (a.k.a. manure) so its always advisable to give everything a rinse.

So Philip is on week two in Japan and is having a great time. He is enjoying the Japanese cuisine very much! Wandering through the farmer market out there, he discovered that cantaloupes are $30 in Japan! Also they buy their eggs in groups of 10s instead of 12s? These can be purchased in bags, buckets or cartons. Honey is $37/kg! Very interesting! Philip is bringing home all kinds of ideas on what we should grow next year. Saturday he is going to a farm.  Hopefully he doesn't try bringing home any stray animals he finds.

The garden is growing quite nicely. It has enjoyed the frequent rains and the sultry heat. (so have the weeds by the way!). We have quite a few green tomatoes and tons of tomatillos coming. When the beans form we will have tons as the plants are covered with flowers. We are growing both green and purple beans this year. Did you know that purple beans actually turn green when you cook them?

Well that's all for now... see you in a little while.