Week #2 - FFF CSA - What's in the Box - Dr. Seuss knows best!

To perhaps re-phrase a rather famous children's book....would you eat green leaves of kale, would you, could you from a box? How about our CSA box?

For those of you who have not tried kale before, I thought it might be helpful to get a bit more information about this highly nutritious leafy green that you will find in your CSA box. Kale is a brassica - so in the same family as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.

 

Kale when young and tender is great in a salad. Many people add this leafy green to their daily smoothies for a super boost of nutrition!

 

We particularly love kale when baked or dehydrated into chips - simply toss in olive oil and add salt and/or other spices (garlic powder or curry are great), spread on cookie sheet and bake until crispy on a lower temperature to avoid burning. If you have a dehydrator you can also use that to create yummy kale chips. Kale can also be cooked, sauteed or stir-fried much like spinach can. I've included a link below to 20 Top Kale recipes for further ideas.

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables/greens/kale/top.aspx

 

Kale can come in green or purple colours and can be curly or flat. The variety we are currently harvesting is green and purple curled kale.

So will you try green leaves of kale? Dr. Seuss is always right… try them, try them and you may... like them... that is!

 

What's in the Box - Week #2

This week you will find in your box:

Lettuce (mixed greens)

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

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.

For the next few weeks, Philip is away in Japan so I'm a "single farmer" as it were. I'm off from my other job so I'm enjoying the routine of animals, weeding, watering... repeat!  But it is hard to have my partner in crime away! He is off chaperoning 10 youth (17-18 year olds) on a 4H exchange trip to Japan. For years, we have hosted Japanese youth at our house, so its quite a thrill for someone in our family to get to go over and experience the culture first hand! Can't wait to hear all about it when he returns.

The veggies are coming along nicely albeit slower than we would like. The hot weather can slow some things down and create issues for flowering plants such as tomatoes, etc. However, at this point we are not overly worried. (Who am I kidding, farmers worry about everything!)  Some cooler days like today are a welcome relief for both plants and us humans!

Hope you enjoy your veggies and that they inspire you to try something different this week!