CSA - 2021, Week 1 - Thought 4 Food

CSA – 2021, Week 1

About the CSA

Elysian Fields Farm was one of my favorite vendors at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market. I’d visit their stall almost every Saturday morning. When COVID-19 struck in 2020, Elysian Fields Farm went 100% CSA, and their shares sold out before I was even aware. I’ve really missed them. For 2021, they’ve expanded their CSA and I was lucky to be amongst the first group of new invitees. I jumped at the chance.

CSAs in general are a wonderful thing and I’d encourage anyone with the opportunity to join one. Elysian Fields Farm’s CSA is so well administered. They offer Wednesday or Saturday pickups. For me, Wednesday is great. I’ll still visit the farmers’ market every Saturday. Getting a fresh produce refresh mid-week will be great. They offer 7 different pickup locations, with one right in my neighborhood. They offer regular shares and large shares. I went with the regular share because I’m only cooking for two and I consider this as a supplement to my farmers’ market addiction. They offer week by week online share customization. If there’s a veggie that you just don’t like, you can remove it and double up on something else. And, if you will not be able to pickup up for a week because you are traveling, you can cancel for the week. You also get an email each week which describes the produce along with storage information and recipe suggestions. What’s not to love about this?!

The CSA will have 30 deliveries over a 34 week period, with a break during the month of August. I plan on sharing information about the share each week. If you aren’t familiar with eating locally and seasonally, you will be able to follow along and see how the produce changes with the seasons. I’ll also talk a bit about the more interesting items and I hope to share an ad hoc recipe featuring produce from each share.

So here we go, Week 1: Spinach, Collard Greens, Carrots, Hakurei Turnips and Green Garlic. Let me talk a bit about the last two.

Hakurei Turnips

You can see in the photo that I got ahead of myself and cut the greens away from the hakurei turnips before I remembered that I wanted to photograph the share every week. But, yay, it lets me provide a good general piece of advice. Whenever you get a root vegetable with the leaves attached, you should cut the greens off immediately and store the two separately. If you leave the greens attached, they will go limp much faster than if they are separated. Also, whenever you can get root vegetables with leaves attached, it’s a bonus two for one. Turnip greens are delicious. Hakurei turnips are a tender, sweet salad turnip. They rarely need peeling, so they are quick and easy. They are wonderful raw: shaved into a salad, shredded into a slaw, or quartered and served as a crudité. And they can also take the heat of cooking. Their greens are also wonderful, with a little spice. More spicy than spinach, but less spicy than mustard greens.

Green Garlic

The most exciting thing in this week’s share, for me, is the green garlic. Green garlic is a wonderful. It’s simply a young garlic plant that hasn’t yet started to divide its bulb into cloves. The whole thing is edible. I just slice off the tiny bit with roots at the base, slice the main stem away from the leafy tip, slice that main stem in half longways, and then chop it all from there. It’s milder than mature garlic, and you don’t have to deal with peeling cloves. Use it anywhere you would consider leeks or shallots or garlic or onions. Why I’m so excited about seeing it in this week’s share is it’s the first sign of Spring! The other four items have been available at the farmers’ markets over the winter months, but green garlic is a single season crop. Enjoy the heck out of it during the months of Spring!