Week Six

Fennel

• Fennel Slaw
• Roasted Fennel
• Orange and Fennel Salad

Dill

• Quick Dill Pickles
• Gravlax
• Baby Carrots With Dill Butter

Week Five

See earlier posts for recipes for all other produce. Can't wait to get my hands on those peaches. Enjoy.

Beets

• Raw Beet Salad
• Stewed Beet Greens
• Beet Hummus
  

Peaches

• Vanilla Roasted Peaches With Raspberries
• Grilled Peaches With Feta and Mint
• Peach Ice Cream
  

Lemon Basil

• Northeastern Thai Curry
• Lemon Basil pesto
• Lemon Basil Granita
  

Week Four

Recipes are below; check past posts for other produce, and enjoy!

Zucchini

• Zucchini boats
• Ratatouille
• Zucchini nut bread

Small Red Cabbage

• Red Cabbage and apples
• Red Cabbage Slaw
• Spicy Red Cabbage

Fava Beans

• A Little Sring on Your Plate (story by NPR)
• Fava Bean Puree
• Pasta with Fava, Tomatoes, and Sausage

Cilantro

• Cilantro pesto
• Black bean confetti salad
• Pico de Gallo

Week Three

Recipes are below - previous posts include recipes for all other produce - enjoy. 

Chard

• Sauteed Rhubarb Chard
  
• Spicy Chard With Ginger
  
• Sauteed Chard With Raisins and Pine Nuts

Mint

• Strawberry Mint Iced tea
  
• Orzo With Peas and Mint
  
• Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
  

Radish Greens

• Radish Greens Soup
  
• Roasted Radishes With Radish Greens
  
• Radish Toasts With Radish Butter
  

Radishes

• Arugala, Mushroom, and Radish Salad
  
• Fish Tacos With Radish Salad
  
• Asparagus, Peas, and Radishes with Fresh Tarragon
  

Week Two

Recipes are here.  Enjoy, and let us know what you did with your loot by commenting below.

Mixed Romaine Lettuce

• Ina's Grilled Lemon Chicken
• Grilled Romaine Salad with Spicy Caesar Dressing
• Spicy, Sweet, and Vinegary Noodles

Carrots

• Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes
• Carrot Ginger Soup
• Glazed Carrots

Rhubarb

• Rhubarb raspberry crisp
• PBJR&J (Peanut Buttter and Rhubabrb Jelly)
• Rhubarb Coolers

Kale

• Potato and Sausage Soup
• Lemon Kale Chips
• How to Cook Something Kale (substitute with smoked turkey necks or liquid smoke)

Garlic Curls

• Warm Potato Salad with Cilantro Sauce
• Broccoli and Garlic Curls with Pinenuts and Garlic
• Vegetarian Garlic Curl Scape Pesto

Herb of the Week: Rosemary

• Rosemary Crackers
  
• Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
• Rosemary Chicken

Some procedural modifications

We will be making some changes to the procedures based on feedback received from our first week. Below are some forthcoming changes; please use the comment section below to add any other requests or insights. Thanks.

• When the volunteers are not on shift (1 pm - 6 pm), the sign in sheet should be posted above the bags. You must sign in if you pick up your delivery. If you have any troubles, contact Julie per the below.
• Between 5 pm - 6 pm, the office may be closed and USH's doors locked. Please come back at 6 pm, when a volunteer will be available to help you.
• If you have any problems, pls email Julie at jdsteinberg@optonline.net, or text my cell at 973.517.2318.

Day one: Recipes and Suggestions

OK folks, here are this week's recipes.  Take a look and give some a try.  Send in your stories and pictures, and let us know how it goes. 

Lettuce heads

• Asian lettuce wraps
• Sauteed, blanched, or braised lettuce
• Lettuce soup

Sweet onions with their green edible tops

• Pissaldiere (french pizza)
• Baked onion rings
• Roasted balsamic sweet onions

Oriental Green bunches (red mustard, tokyo bekana, torazorah)

• About red mustard
• Steamed Asian greens with honey soy sesame dressing
• Asian pesto grilled chicken on soy wilted greens

Sunflower sprouts

• Black-eyed pea and jalapeno salad
• Miso glazed black cod with sunflower sprouts
• Carrot and sunflower sprout salad

Oregano

Note: Hyssop, a key plant in the bible, is considered by many scholars to be oregano.  For more, see my recent post on Chez Noonie.

• Chicken with roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette and fingerling potatoes
• Tomatoes with oregano and lime
• Onion and oregano bread

Garlic Greens

• About
• Chard and garlic greens frittata
  
• Garlic greens paste with romano and walnuts

Chard 

• Lemony swiss chard
• Chard gratin (love this post)
• Chard and artichoke white pizza

Images courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.com

T minus 6

Well, we are getting closer to our first delivery next week.  I am getting very excited to eat well, and am already clearing out the veggie drawers in my fridge. 

A couple of notes:

• First delivery is Tuesday June 8th.  Pick up is from 12:00 pm - 7:45 pm.
• Here is what we can expect for the first delivery:

1-2 lettuce heads

Sweet onions with their green edible tops

Oriental Green bunches (red mustard, toyko bekana, torazorah)

Sunflower sprouts

Oregano

Garlic Greens

Chard ??? Farmer Rich is not sure if it will be ready for delivery.  

There may be another item or two depending upon his rounds through the fields and what might be ready.

• Each share must volunteer for at least one shift during the season.  You are more than welcome to volunteer more often.  We currently have 40% of the slots filled; please sign up as soon as possible for a shift. 
• Procedures for working the shifts are now available on the google group forum.  Please review them, as they provide a lot of good detail on how things should be executed during the volunteer shifts, and what to expect work wise.  
• We ordered eco grocery bags, which are corn based and break down after 45 days. Rabbi Scheinberg is going to pay for the bags through his discretionary fund. We then need to reimburse him for the funds. He will then take the funds we pay back, and donate them to a charity of his choice. Thanks Rabbi for this thoughtful offer. Each share owes $5. You can either pay cash or check when you see us on Tuesday (leave the money with Laura in the office), or send funds to my paypal account (you can locate it using jdsteinberg@optonline.net).
  

Finally, here is a little something from Soni Basi, CSA member:

I wanted to recommend a book for people who are new to this (like me) - a book I was introduced to last weekend by a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/Asparagus-Community-Supported-Agriculture-Coalition/dp/061523013X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275533158&sr=8-1

It was put together by another CSA group, and is available on Amazon for a pretty decent price.  It goes through most of the veggies, alphabetically, gives a little bit of information about it, talks about storage options, and also provides recipes.  It doesn't have all the "exotics", but it does have the major veggies covered.

Another great one is Farmer John's Dirt on Vegetables - that was similar to the above, but I thought it had fewer thoughts on freezing than did the one by the CSA group.  Neither had photos of cooked food :)

Making The Most of Your CSA

Great piece from Serious Eats on how to pan for and make the most of your CSA share.

Deadline extended to May 10th

The deadline to return the check and form to Catalapa Ridge has been extended to May 10, 2010.  Please send them as soon as possible.  Thanks.

Catalpa Ridge is on the news

Catch Farmer Rich's interview on Channel 2 News.  Enjoy.

Sowing the Seeds: USH CSA 2010 Season

Welcome to the USH CSA blog.  We will be using this as a place to update you on our progress, develop community, and share recipes and stories.  

Sign up is now underway through April 30th; to apply, please complete our form.

Following are some links that may be of interest to you as a prospective member:

• Catalpa Ridge is our CSA provider for the 2010 season. The season lasts from June - October.  Their 2009 growing season matrix should give you an idea of what to expect, and when. Catalapa Ridge also provides produce for the annual Heirloom Tomato and Garlic Festivals.
  
• The committee did a high level RFP assessment of several providers, including Catalpa Ridge.  Once we selected a vendor, a formal proposal was submitted to and approved by the USH Board.
• The USH CSA was inspired in part by Nigel Savage of Hazon.  Hazon also runs a terrific food blog called The Jew and The Carrot.

Some FAQ's:

How long is the share season?

June - October 2010

What will I get, how much, and when?

Take a look the 2009 season schedule and current harvest schedule to get an idea of what produce is available, when, and total delivery weight. 

http://www.jerseygrown.net/2009SeasonOverview.htm

http://www.jerseygrown.net/HarvestSchedule.htm

Is it organic?

Details are on their website, at 

http://www.jerseygrown.net/ReOrganicCertification.htm

When is it delivered?

Weekly, on Tuesdays from June - October. Pick up will be from noon - 7:45 pm.

What happens to the produce that doesn't get picked up?

It will donated to a shelter. 

What if I don't like/am allergic to something in the weekly delivery?

You have two options.  1) You can donate it to the shelter. 2) You can use the swap box and choose something else.

How much does it cost?

$575/share

What is the volunteer requirement?

The total volunteer requirement will be based in part on total enrollment.  As of now, it looks like 2 - 3 hours per share; this is the total estimated time required for the entire season. Again, please note final volunteer numbers will be announced once we have a complete share count. 

Shifts are 2 hours each, on Tuesdays either from 11 am - 1 pm or 6 pm - 8 pm.  If you cannot make these, please detail on the enrollment form how you could help, and when.  Selection for applicants is based in part on availability to volunteer. 

Please note that this time is separate from the USH membership volunteer requirements. If you are a USH member and a CSA participant, you will have 2 distinct volunteer responsibilities.

You can sign up for shifts online by visiting our USH CSA 2010 Volunteer Schedule.

If you would like to add a post, please email Julie Steinberg at jdsteinberg@optonline.net

Thanks for visiting and we hope to hear from you soon.

Image: vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net