CSA for Thursday, August 2nd!

For those of you getting raspberries today, you have Thursday member Leanne to thank!  Leanne must be a raspberry fan 'cause she volunteered to come pick, and brought the family!  She brought dad Earl, and son Stephan, who is on vacation from a job in Taiwan!  Also in the 'crew' was Stephan's Taiwanese girlfriend Sarah, who had a peek at country life, Manitoba style!  Thank you so much to all four for coming to pick!  The raspberry crop is definitely waning, and it wasn't easy to find berries!

We've got a good pick on Kousa (Kusa) or Lebanese squash.  It looks like zucchini, but a lighter green with a net pattern on the skin.  It's a yummy squash: firmer than zucchini, with a mild 'wheatish' flavor. It is traditionally used small and stuffed, often with ground lamb and spices.  Here's a great link to a version: the 'hard' version is stuffing, the 'easy' version is the same ingredients just chopped and stir-fried!  Check it out here.  Another nice recipe is very similar to my Mother's version for stuffing a vegetable marrow: sausage and bread stuffing, find it here.  Oh, yes, and if any of you are familiar with veggie marrow and would like one, let us know!  We have a very small patch, mostly for us and my sister Keltie!

The potatoes are finally getting a bit beyond the baby stage.  Kind of a surprise to find some nice sizes in the Norland Reds today!  The Carlton Whites had the occasional monster in the mix!  We've been worried about the lack of moisture, but these are growing nicely!  These will be awesome sliced thick and roasted or tucked into tinfoil packs for the BBQ!

First good cut on the Swiss Chard.  We grow a variety called 'Bright Lights' with multi-coloured stems. We find it a bit milder and more tender than the big, old white-stemmed varieties.  Not familiar with Swiss Chard?  Treat it just like you might spinach.  It's good raw, excellent sliced a bit and put into stir fries.  The bigger leaves make good wraps, or treat like a vine leaf for moussaka!  We just steam up a mess of it: Farmer Man likes it with a bit of vinegar (like beet greens), I like it with too much butter and salt and pepper!

Thanks, too, to Thursday CSAer Deborah for coming and helping pick green beans this morning!  She got enough for everyone to get some, and then our workers Derrick and Henry got into the yellow French Filet and......the first pick on the Dragon's Tongue - our fav bean!  A heirloom Romano or butter bean, Dragon's Tongue is thick and flat, with purple stripes.  Don't over-cook this one: cook just long enough that the stripes are just beginning to fade.  This is a tender, largely stringless, awesome bean and does well in soups, stews and tin foil packs on the BBQ!  It's great raw, or simply steamed.  I know this one will make some of your very happy, because you've experienced it in previous years or tried it from us at the Farmers Markets!

So for the FULL SHARES:  3 lbs. Norland potatoes, Kousa squash ( heritage variety called Costata Romanesque from Heritage Harvest Seeds in Carmen, MB), a Magda Kousa squash, couple of Patty Pan, large 'Gold Rush' zucchini, edible pod peas, 2/3 lb. green beans, 2/3 lb. golden filet beans, Dragons Tongue beans, yellow cooking onions, Red Mammoth raspberries, bunch of Swiss Chard.

For the PART SHARES:  2 lbs. mixed Norland Red and Carlton White potatoes, Costata Romanesque Kousa squash, Magda Kousa squash, Papaya Pear squash, med. Gold Rush zucchini, 2/3 lb. Green Beans, 2/3 lb. golden filet beans, lb. Dragon's Tongue beans, yellow cooking onions, 1/2 basket Boyne raspberries, small bunch Swiss Chard.

For the SINGLE SHARES:  1/5 lbs. Norland Red potatoes, Crookneck squash, Magda Kousa squash, sm. Gold Rush zucchini, wee bag of shelling peas, 2/3 lb Green Beans, 2/3 lb. Dragon Tongue beans, yellow cooking onions.