CSA For Tuesday, August 6th!

Niece Laura in the raspberry patch!

Today seemed like a hard day to get anything going!  Our Hort student from ACC had left a message last night that she couldn't work today so we were behind before we even started!  A little frustrating as we had stressed to her that Tuesdays and Thursdays were our priority - if she worked for us those were the most important days!  We had two 'volunteers' coming today - both who left early because it was too cold and damp this morning.  **Sigh**  So, we've done what we can, got a little help from some other pals and put visiting family to work!  Sister Keltie has weighed and bagged, niece Laura has picked raspberries and nephew Jack has weighed and bagged, helped find some great links for this blog and helped feed the goats!  It's good to have family around!

Speaking of help if you're a raspberry lover we could use your help to get more raspberries in the boxes!  As the soon moves on, picking takes a little longer so we won't have as much time for it.  If you want more berries and are free on a Tuesday - do help come pick.  Volunteers always go home with a little extra treat!

Another round of beautiful cabbage from Amanda and Ed today!  We've heard about lots of good coleslaws and braised cabbage dishes being made by CSAers.  Of course, some cabbage rolls and a cabbage roll casserole have been happening!  Some of the more adventurous, like Naomi, have been making versions of kimchi, a spicy Korean side dish.  Kimchi would usually be made with the curly Napa cabbage, but it's working well with this cabbage!  Try this simple recipe  for kimchi from Cultures for Health, a great website if you're interested in more info on the health benefits of lacto-fermentation.  Fermented foods are extremely popular in foodie circles right now - big health benefits, as well as great taste!  Reta has recently purchased Sandor Katz' book on fermented food and has been experimenting with fermented sauerkraut, - quite unlike the common vinegar pickled sauerkraut!

Since cabbage is coming in great right now another easy way to store some excess is to freeze or preserve it as shown how in this awesome blog post that is also about fermenting cabbage. A couple other good recipes I have found:  great sounding slaw that can be prepared and frozen for up to three months before you even need to use it. And, another awesome idea if you don't like sauerkraut is a nice cabbage soup, this one is a Scandinavian style that can be prepared quite quickly.

Zucchini is starting to come in now and there are a lot of nifty recipes out there other than just your usual stir fry, breads and muffins. An interesting one I've come across is silver dollar pancakes made out of the zucchini with a Dijon sauce on top. You can also try baking the zucchini with a number of herbs to be used on top of pasta or salad. Anyone who has a sweet tooth will appreciate this nice brownie recipe using zucchini and there is even a gluten free version too for anyone who might need it. Zucchini can even make a great snack like chips in this recipe. Now there isn't alot of zucchini right now but this is just the first batch of more to come.

So, in todays' boxes:

FULL SHARES:  Cabbage, Dragons Tongue beans, mixed yellow/green beans, 2 pints raspberries, zucchini, new red Norland potatoes, 'Red Sails' lettuce, Romaine lettuce, red onions

PART SHARES:  Cabbage, Dragons Tongue beans, mixed yellow/green beans, pint raspberries, zucchini, new red Norland potatoes, 'Red Sails' lettuce, red onions.

SINGLE SHARES:Cabbage, Dragons Tongue beans, pint raspberries, zucchini, potatoes, 'Red Sails' lettuce, red onions.