CSA Farm Share Week 18

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. September 26

• Baby Lettuce Mix
• Swiss Chard
• Collard Greens
• Nasturtium Greens and Flowers (Leaves have a wonderful spicy flavor, great in salads, flowers have a very delicate taste)
• Assorted Peppers
• Apples (From a friends orchard right down the road!!!)

Tue. September 30

• Baby Lettuce Mix
• Lacinato Kale (Also known as dinosaur, or toscano kale)
• Assorted Peppers (Bells, Italian Frying)
• Pablano Peppers (medium spicy)
• Potatoes
• Garlic

Recipe Ideas

Nasturtium Pesto
http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/01/nasturtium-pesto/

Collard Greens
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kickin-collard-greens/
http://www.chow.com/recipes/30794-slow-cooker-collard-greens
http://www.margaretsportuguesekitchen.com/2012/07/caldo-verdecollard-greens-soup.html

CSA Farm Share Week 17

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. September 20

• Italian Frying Peppers
• Jalapeno Pepper
• Lettuce
• Sweet Potato
• White Potato
• Onions
• Acorn Squash
• Dill (We added this to mashed sweet potatoes last week and it was quite good)
• Chocolate Mint !! (Make Tea, Add to brownies, cookies, ice cream, Mojitos and more)

Tue. September 23

• Head Lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Collard Greens
• Nasturtium Greens and Flowers (Leaves have a wonderful spicy flavor, great in salads, flowers have a very delicate taste)
• Assorted Peppers
• Apples (From a friends orchard right down the road!!!)

Recipe Ideas

Nasturtium Pesto
http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/01/nasturtium-pesto/

Collard Greens
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kickin-collard-greens/
http://www.chow.com/recipes/30794-slow-cooker-collard-greens

Vegetable Spotlight

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas), belongs to the family Convolvulaceae (which includes the Morning Glory).  Its origin is likely between the Yucatan of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela.  Unknown in the ancient Mediterranean world, and there is no known mention of it in the Bible.  All its known species are found in the New World; no wild sweet potato has been found elsewhere.  It seems to be exclusively an American plant, which originated in the tropics or sub tropics, where it is perennial.

Christopher Columbus reported that he was served three or four kinds at a feast given in his honor by the king of the island Saint Thomas.  He recorded the fact that bread was made from them, which he called aje bread, aje or axi was the local name given for sweet potato.  Also recorded by individuals in Columbus’ fleet in 1494 was it’s presence on Hispaniola and Yucatan.  Plants were carried back to Spain an soon planted there.  They were generally cultivated in Portugal and Italy by 1566.  

By the early 1600’s, thanks to traders, sweet potatoes made their way to Asia, where they made great use of them, even today.  They never never really took off in France, possibly because the vegetable is not quite in tune with their cuisine, which reserves sugary tastes for desert.

The countries where sweet potatoes are a staple of human consumption, are: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

About 20,000 tons of sweet potatoes are produced annually in New Zealand, where sweet potato is known by its Māori name, kūmara. It was a staple food for Māori before European contact.

The sweet potato is not in the same family as Yams, and not closely related to the common potato either (nightshade family).

CSA Farm Share Week 16

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. September 13

• Sweet Peppers
• Head Lettuce
• Delicata Squash (skin is great too)
• Napa Cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Jalapeno Pepper

- Eight things to do with Napa Cabbage: http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/809695/8-things-to-do-with-napa-cabbage
- Delicata Squash Recipes:
http://summertomato.com/better-than-butternut-roasted-delicata-squash-recipe/
http://casayellow.com/2013/09/19/baked-delicata-squash-with-cream-parmigiano/

Tue. September 15

• Bell Peppers
• Lettuce
• Sweet Potato
• White Potato
• Onions
• Acorn Squash
• Dill (We added this to mashed sweet potatoes last week and it was quite good)
• Chocolate Mint !! (Make Tea, Add to brownies, cookies, ice cream, Mojitos and more)

CSA Farm Share Week 15

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. September 6

• Tomatoes*
• Sweet Peppers*
• Onions*
• Cilantro*
• Parsley*
• Jalapeno Pepper*
• Concord Grapes (from a friends vine)**THESE HAVE SEEDS

*Salsa!!!

** Grape Salsa?!!? or Crostini (http://www.gourmettenyc.com/2012/09/19/concord-grape-ricotta-crostini/)

Tue. September 9

• Sweet Peppers
• Head Lettuce
• Spaghetti Squash
• Napa Cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Jalapeno Pepper

- How to prepare spaghetti squash: http://www.elanaspantry.com/how-to-cook-spaghetti-squash/
- Eight things to do with Napa Cabbage: http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/809695/8-things-to-do-with-napa-cabbage

CSA Farm Share Week 14

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. August 30

• Lettuce Mix
• Sweet Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Dill

Tue. September 2

• Tomatoes*
• Sweet Peppers*
• Onions*
• Cilantro*
• Parsley*
• Jalapeno Pepper*
• Concord Grapes (from a friends vine)**THESE HAVE SEEDS

*Salsa!!!
** Grape Salsa?!!? or Crostini (http://www.gourmettenyc.com/2012/09/19/concord-grape-ricotta-crostini/)

CSA Farm Share Week 13

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. August 23

• Lettuce Mix
• Bunching Onions
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Sage
• Garlic
• Jalapeno Pepper

Tue. August 26

• Lettuce Mix
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno Pepper
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Dill

Vegetable Spotlight - Tomato

It’s place of origin is the lower Andes, what is today Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Archeology has produced no information on its early history there, it’s speculated that pre-Columbian peruvians simply gathered the wild fruit in season and made no attempt to improve it. The most likely explanation for its spread to Italy was the theory that the Spaniards brought seeds to Spain, then passed them on to Naples, which was under Spanish rule in 1522. While the Spaniards accepted the new plant passively, the Italians on the other hand were quite aggressive about it. By the renaissance it had spread as far as Poland.

The rest of Europe distrusted the tomato as food for quite a while, as late as 1760 is was treated as more of an ornamental plant, even in America. It was regarded as poisonous by many early botanists, probably because it was recognized as a member of the family Solanaceae (Nightshades), which includes several toxic plants.

One of the first person to grow tomatoes in the U.S. was Thomas Jefferson, possibly getting his seeds from an Italian painter in Salem, Mass. His neighbors were afraid to taste them. By 1782 Jefferson said the plants were common in the private gardens of Virginians. And by the early 1800’s Americans seemed to have discovered the joy of a eating fresh, vine ripe tomato!

CSA Farm Share Week 12

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. August 13

• Lettuce Mix
• Bunching Onions
• Green Pepper
• Squash
• White Onion
• Parsley
• Romano Beans
• Cherry Tomatoes

Tue. August 19

• Lettuce Mix
• Bunching Onions
• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Fresh Sage and Rosemary

Vegetable Spotlight - Lettuce  

Nobody really knows where lettuce originated, but we do know it has been on the human menu at least since 800 BC.,when an Assyrian herbal listed it among the 250 plants growing in the gardens of King Merodach-Baladan in Babylon.  Herodotus wrote that the kings of Persia had lettuce on their tables about 550 BC and it was also being grown in Egypt.  At those times, lettuce did not form heads, but rather grew leaves on a tall stalk (much like the wild lettuce known as a “weed” found in our regions-Lactuca scariola).  The Romans cultivated a variety of lettuce that grew more “head like.”  This variety was not recognized till the 1st century AD.

Lettuce seems to be slow in reaching the far east, only in the 5th century do we see it mentioned in Chinese literature.  It was cultivated in French gardens, but water cress seemed to have been preferred as a salad green.

It appears to have enjoyed luxury status, being served at all the great medieval banquets.  By 1440 lettuce became quite popular in England, and in the 17th century, Louis XIV was quite fond of it.

Columbus is purportedly the one who introduced it to the New World, but not until after World War I, did Americans pay much attention to it.