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| Pure Michigan! |
Greetings 2015 CSA members! Or should we say Greenings CSA
members! The copious rainfall has made the greens very happy, and you’ll see
that reflected in your share. But berry season might end quickly due to the rain, so enjoy them while you can!
Here’s the rundown on the rest of the box:
Kale
Rainbow
Chard – use leaves like spinach; do include the beautiful different colored
stems in your soup or stir fry
Lettuce –
various varieties
Scallions – aka green onions
Garlic
scapes – the bunch of curly stalks. See newsletter for info.
Beets – eat
the greens as well; they are loaded with nutrition!
Snow peas –
edible pods
Cilantro –
frilly herb full of flavor for soups, sautéed dishes, with beans
Strawberries
– probably need no explanation!
Everything does best in a plastic bag in the fridge. The strawberries will be eaten before you have to worry about keeping them! Beets stay crisper if you remove the greens (and store them separately in a plastic bag in the fridge.)
THE GREAT eSCAPE!
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| Scape curling out of the plant center |
Garlic
scapes used to be a novelty but now we sell oodles of the curiously curly
vegetables. These versatile additions to your veggie palate can be roasted,
added to a stir fry or chopped fresh into salad. We did all of that this week,
plus grilled some and pickled some more! Read all about scapes in this MLive archive article by Kim Bayer, Ann Arbor’s best friend to the local food scene.
You’ll find some good recipes there as well.
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| Farm crew member Angie Martin lovin' her garlic scapes! |
You can also
try a Garlic Scape-Kale Pesto for a nutrient rich veggie sauce. You’ll find that
recipe in the Frog Holler Recipe Box, a great resource for seasonal and largely
farm-tested veggie dishes.
This week one
of our farm lunches was a variation on Bibimbop, the Korean rice and veggie
dish. Along with sautéed garlic scapes and scallions, Emily added a variety of
fresh, pickled and preserved veggies to create a tasty and beautiful dish. You can
do something similar with your share. Use some of your scapes, scallions,
snowpeas and kale and/or chard. You can cook them all or leave some of the
veggies raw. Top it all off with your favorite hot sauce and dig in!
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| Nhin's Bibimbop bowl |
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| Eric bunching kale |
MEET ERIC TOTARO –
SECOND GENERATION CSA!
Eric has been volunteering on the farm these past two weeks.
A 2015 graduate of U-M’s Ross School of Business, Eric is heading to San
Francisco in July for a position in management consulting with
PricewaterhouseCooper. Before he takes this next big step, Eric wanted to “just
do what he wanted to do”, and one of those things was to work at Frog Holler!
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| Eric's parents picking up their share by bicycle in 2012 |
Eric’s parents, Stephen and Kathleen Totaro, were among our
first local members when we started our CSA in 2008. Eric credits his family’s
CSA experience with contributing to his interest in organic and sustainably
grown food. After seeing what came out of the share box, Eric wanted to know
more about how those veggies got into the
box. We’re glad he came to Frog Holler to find out!
Eric says his biggest takeaway from this experience is how
important teamwork is for a small sustainable farming operation. He was
impressed with how much could get done in a day when everyone worked together.
Weeding the carrot patch was not one of his favorite activities (he’s not alone there!) but he found it very satisfying to see the difference when finished! Eric’s experience will be full circle when he packs CSA boxes this week for our first share. Now he really knows how those veggies get in the box!
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| The weeded carrot patch - a lot of satisfaction! |
And finally, Eric says he learned how much work it takes to
grow food sustainably. Well, he came to all that work with positive energy and good
humor, and, if this business gig doesn’t fly, he always has a place on the Frog
Holler Farm crew! Thanks Eric, and all the best in the future!
Some of that teamwork! (Eric with Angie and Joe)Thanks everyone - have a great week!
