Spring 2025 CSA Newsletter - May 13, 2025 (Week 4)
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
NEWS- The Hoot
In Your Box
Picking up your share
Plant Sale
THE HOOT
Things are growing nicely right now, as it’s been warm and the rain plentiful. Field crops are coming in very nicely. All of our migrant field crew from Peru, Mexico, and Guatemala have arrived safe and sound. We have been very busy planting out seedlings to the field and hoophouses as well as keeping up with the vigorous growth of spring weeds.
We’ve updated our irrigation system, so now our pumps have a little shelter. This keeps them from getting super hot in the sun! Potatoes are looking great, garlic looking awesome! Strawberries are also looking awesome. Even though we did have some blossom damage the other night when we got a frost. In our lower field we maybe lost 10-15% of the blossoms. They were covered in row cover, but those blossoms are tender!
IN YOUR BOX:
Gold Beets, are such a brillant yellow. They yell out I’m healthy and full of Phytonutrients! We have always encouraged folks to eat the rainbow. These are a great big bite of this color spectrum! No dyes here! They are excellent to pickle, roast or saute.
A recipe link to Refrigerator Pickled Beet and Roasted Beets
If you are going to saute your Swiss Chard,we recommend pulling the leaves off the stems and cooking the stems a little longer than the leaves. An easy delicious saute, includes cooking the stems in 1 -2 Tspn butter, add stems to butter with a little garlic powder and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, then add sliced greens, and a little white wine vinegar. Cook until the greens are wilted and begin to lose their lush green color, this way more of the oxalates that are hard on digestion are depleted into the water. Strain from the water and serve the greens.
Add on Share Varieties:
Mushrooms:
White Beech mushrooms have an almond-like aroma and a sharp, bitter flavor when fresh. When cooked, the texture is crunchy with a buttery and nutty, shellfish flavor. White Beech mushrooms are best suited for cooked applications such as sautéing, braising, stewing, and roasting, as their raw flavor tends to be strong. They should not be washed, as the mushrooms are porous and too much water will change the texture. They can be incorporated into different cuisines including European and Asian and hold their shape well for use in soups, bisques, stews, omelets, noodle dishes, stir-fries, rice dishes, flatbreads, and sauces.
Cheese:
From Goat Rodeo of Northern Allegheny County we have their More Cowbell “A semi- firm cave aged mountain style cheese made from Le-Ara Farm’s cow’s milk in a unique black cream wax rind. The complex herbal flavor pairs well with mild younger red wines like Beaujolais or drier white wines like Sancerre.”
PICKING UP OF YOUR SHARES:
When you arrive at your pick up site, please look for a box with your name on it. Please unpack this box and take the contents home. You are not to take home this box! This box is for farm to pick up site transportation only! Please do not take this box home with you. HERE IS A LINK TO A FACEBOOKS PAGE VIDEO SHOWING YOU HOW TO OPEN THIS BOX. These boxes are a little unique with slits and notches. On your label you will see all that you should be picking up today. Please note, that none of the optional shares are inside of your box with the label. These optional shares include, Eggs, Cheese, Mushrooms, and Coffee. These shares are located in the blue coolers at your pick up site near your box. Please reference your box label to make sure you get the correct optional shares that you paid for on each given week. If you don’t see a share that you think you should be getting, please don’t take it, please instead be in touch with the farm. 814-221-7177.
Have a great week. Enjoy the harvest and please be in touch if you have any questions, simply reply to this email or text/call 814-221-7177.
Your Farmers,
Chris, Aeros & The Who Crew