WINTER CSA Week 1

by | Jan 11, 2012 | CSA, Winter Share

Storage Vegetables

  1. Carrots 2#
  2. Red Norland Potatoes 3#
  3. Turnips 2#
  4. Garlic
  5. Onions
  6. Mixed Salad Greens: watercress, spinach, lettuce
  7. Butternut Squash: This is so sweet and delicious. Enjoy it steamed or roasted to savor its naturally sweet, wonderful flavor from storage!
  8. Mini Red Cabbage

Value-Added Items

  1. Roasted Vegetable Stock 1 Qt:water, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, w squash, leeks, turnips, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay, salt & pepper : Couscous with Apples, Rosemary, and Cranberies ( I loved this with orzo!)
  2. Broccoli Cheese Soup 1 Qt: broccoli, chicken stock, cheddar cheese, onions, cream, butter, flour, garlic, salt, white pepper (DON’T BOIL when reheating!)
  3. Roasted Tomato Basil Soup 1 Qt: tomatoes, chicken stock, onion, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, butter, salt, pepper, thyme
  4. sweet corn 1 qt (frozen): corn, butter, water, salt, pepper, sugar
  5. grated zucchini 1 qt (frozen): Zucchini Bread
  6. rhubarb 1 pt (frozen): chopped rhubarb: Rhubarb Raspberry Crunch adjust recipe by adding more raspberries and apples if you want the full 9 x 13 pan.
  7. raspberries 1 pt (frozen): whole berries, keep frozen until you want to use them.
  8. pickles 1 qt: cucumbers, onions, vinegar, water, salt, sugar, garlic, cayenne pepper, pickling spice
  9. Low Sugar Raspberry Jam (1 pint-every other delivery): raspberries, sugar, low-sugar pectin
  10. Eggs 1 dozen

Welcome to Suncrest Gardens WINTER CSA! This is our very first delivery of our new winter offering and I hope you enjoy its contents. The winter CSA was created from a personal desire to spread out the farm’s workload over the entire year. We are able to further utilize our wood-fired oven and licensed kitchen to process the abundance of seasonal produce we see during the main harvest season and freeze them for use later in the year. I hate to see anything go to waste, especially after so much labor and love was poured into it!

During the long winter span between the summer CSA program, I’d hear CSA members longing for fresh, local produce. People would ask me if I had anything they could get from the farm, and I felt a bit guilty since we eat from the farm all year long. Seasonal eating all year long just requires planning and storing things away so we don’t get too bored with our food. The winter share items reflect what we tend to eat at our house during the winter, and I hope you enjoy them as well.

There will be a variety of items in your box including raw storage vegetables, frozen soups, roasted stock, frozen vegetables and fruit, raspberry jam, eggs. I’m listing the ingredients used to create the soups/stocks/frozen items following each listed item above. Any stock base that was used in making the soups is MSG and Gluten-Free. However, some soups may contain flour and therefore would contain gluten for anyone regulating their gluten intake.

I will have links to recipe ideas following several of the items in your box. You can either use an item as is, or use it as a base for inspiration. The soups may need salt/pepper to taste. Either use them as is or as a base for creating a hardier soup by adding meat and other veggies, as the base to a sauce for pasta, or for whatever you may dream up!

Another tip to remember is that the vegetable stocks are not just for creating soups. You can use it to replace water when making rice, risotto, or rehydrating orzo (see recipe link above for a great orzo pasta recipe). Some folks use it to steam their vegetables in place of olive oil or butter when sauteeing. It works wonderful to make a sauce after you make a simple roux out of butter/flour.

The frozen items and stock may go directly into your freezer. Or if you plan to use the items within a week (less days for the zucchini), they may go into your fridge.

The mixed salad greens are a wonderful bag of greens that are such a treat in the winter. Yesterday was such an abnormally beautiful, warm sunny day that I picked watercress for this week’s delivery standing in the creek without a coat and bare hands for almost an hour…this is in January in Wisconsin! I promise that I won’t be able to do this every week!

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, please let Heather know.

Winter CSA delivery dates:

  • Jan 11th
  • Jan 25th
  • Feb 8th
  • Feb 22nd
  • March 7th
  • March 21st…final Winter CSA delivery

Ground Beef:

We still have 1# tubes of our pasture-raised beef available for anyone interested. 20# of burger fits within a half share box to give you an idea of how much freezer space this takes up. Our sale price is still $100 for the 20#.

Dinner on the Farm…Next date is Feb 11th

Reserve your place at the table for a five course meal inspired by the bountiful harvest grown by Suncrest Gardens Farm and other producers within 100 miles of the farm. We hope you’ll enjoy the surprise and diversity of the foods prepared in an uncomplicated, handcrafted style. $60 per person includes multiple course meal, beverage, complimentary wine, and music. Saturday, Feb 11th 5pm…Reservations Required and must be made no later than 1 week in advance.

Eat Well. Smile Often.