A Visual Tour of the Garlic Harvest: Summer CSA 2011 – Week 5
Garlic is a crop that gets harvested all at once. Smack in the middle of strawberry harvesting and pea harvesting, garlic is usually ready. Translation… 4th of July around here smells like garlic instead of sparklers. This week I thought I’d share the harvest in photographs.
Step 1: Pull garlic and rub dirt off the roots.
Step 2: Sort garlic by size, large or small. Then group into piles of 10.
Step 3: Bundle garlic, 50 to a bundle.
Step 4: Transfer bundles to curing area.
Step 5: Cure garlic for about 3 weeks, either in greenhouse or barn.
Step 6: Take a shower. (exhibit A)
Take a shower. exhibit B)
Repeat steps 1 through six for as many days as it takes until all of the garlic is pulled out of the ground. Three days ought to do it this year. Soon… garlic will be in your boxes!
Now, I don’t know if seeing your two dirty farmers is a good transition into cooking ideas for the week, but here goes! We’re having the best spinach year we’ve ever had. Usually spinach bolts (tries to flower, and becomes bitter tasting in the process) by this time of year. But we found a new variety, called Emu, and it really resists bolt. The result is the fifth straight week of spinach. Hopefully this is an awesome fact for you. But if you are starting to have trouble with ideas for spinach, here’s a few: quiche, omelets, lasagna, salads, spinach balls (see this week’s recipe… my grandmother always makes these, and they are so good!).
The cucumbers and zucchinis are really starting to produce on the farm. Let the annual Cuke Zuke challenge begin! You can expect to see these in your box for at least the next 7 weeks. While I don’t anticipate that you’ll need too many suggestions for cooking these just yet, you may in a few more weeks. I’d love it if you’d send along your favorite ways to eat these so I can share with the membership. For example, Jeynae says, “My favorite zucchini recipe is to slice thinly, toss a little butter in a warm saute pan, and then fry ’em up! Serve with a little Parmesan sprinkled on top. Yum!”
Fennel
You’ll also find fennel in your box (see picture to left). While you can use the green parts kind of like celery, it’s the white part, or the bulb that’s meant to be eaten. It has a taste a little like black licorice if eaten raw in a salad, say. But once it’s grilled or cooked that flavor changes. We love it sliced and grilled. It’s great on burgers. And try out this week’s salsa recipe with it.
Another new item this week are beets. Beets are great roasted, boiled, or raw. One of my favorite ways to eat beets is in a salad with a goat or feta cheese. Yum. My most favorite way to eats beets is in a chocolate cake. No joke. Click here for recipe. It’s super moist and you’d never know it was beets. The greens of beets are the same thing as chard and can be used just as you would any other cooking green.
Snow peas are a new item too. These are great eaten raw as a snack, just like sugar snaps. They are also super popular to stir-fry, though they don’t do well as leftovers, in my humble opinion.
Lastly, basil. This yummy herb is finicky. It does NOT like it below about 42 degrees. Most fridges are too cold and will turn the leaves black. Best results are had in eating it sooner than later. Treat it like a flower… trim the ends and put it in a glass of water. It will store best this way.
We hope you enjoy your share this week! Thanks for reading. Cassie, Mike, and Zea
In the Box:
- Basil
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Cabbage, green – EOs
- Chard – EOs
- Cilantro – EOs
- Cucumbers
- Fennel
- Head Lettuce
- Kale, Red Russian – REGs
- Parsley, Italian – REGs
- Snow Peas
- Spinach
- Spring Onions
- Strawberries – EOs
- Zucchini
This Week’s Recipes
Summer Week 5: Wednesday, July 6th – Everyother Group A
