Now taking members for our 2011 CSA!

Download a brochure here to sign up. If you sign up by December 31st, it's $10 off the share price. We now have pick up locations at the Saxaphaw General Store and Carrboro Farmers' Market.

Veggie CSA Week #20

This is the last week we will be delivering CSA boxes. Thanks so much for a great season!

Half Shares:

Turnips - 1 bunch
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4 pound
Eggplant - 1/2 pound
Melon (Carrboro/Farm) - 1
Melon OR Winter Squash OR Bok Choy (RTI/Durham - 1
Peppers - 1 pound

Full Shares:

Turnips - 1 bunch
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/2 pound
Bok Choy - 1 bunch
Radishes - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Peppers - 2 pounds
Basil - 1/4 pound

It's always interesting to me how the CSA boxes come full circle through the course of the season. We started with turnips and greens, and always manage to re-introduce these guys in the last few weeks. It is always a relief to me to see their return, because it is a sign of cooler days. Hopefully, those cooler days will show up soon! Needless to say, this hot hot summer has left us pretty depleted at this point. The fall greens are struggling under the stress of the heat/lack of rain, and are falling prey to various bugs.... it seems appropriate that our CSA delivery season is ending. We will now concentrate on getting the farm ready for next year. We will be taking down all the trellis, pulling up landscape fabric (used for weed control), mowing the sad summer crops, and planting cover crops to keep our soil where it is through the winter. We're hoping for a little taste of hurricane season (really, just a few inches of rain, no wind or other nasty hurricane potentials) to help get the cover crop seed to germinate nicely.

Once again, we thank you very much for your enthusiasm and support of our CSA. Every year, our farm faces new challenges, successes, failures, and surprises, and I do feel it is quite important for you to share those us. We always enjoy getting to know you all throughout the season, and we will miss you during the winter months.

Thanks for a great season,
Brian, Joann & Mark,
The Castlemaine Crew

Veggie CSA Week #19

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Radishes - 1 bunch
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4 pound
Winter Squash or Melon - 1
Peppers - 1 pound
Eggplant - 1/2 pound
Basil - 1/4 pound

Full Shares
Radishes - 1 bunch
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/2 pound
Winter Squash or Melon - 1
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint
Eggplant - 1 pound
Peppers - 2 pounds
Basil - 1/4 pound

Community Supported Fisheries

Hey all -

As members of Castlemaine Farm's CSA program, customers of ours at market, and/or friends and family of the Castlemaine Crew, you understand how important it is to support local food producers. Brian and I joined a CSF this spring (Community Supported Fisheries) and it has been a great experience. Not only are we receiving fresh seafood once a week (yum!), we are also supporting North Carolina fishermen and their families and communities. The seafood is driven up to Carrboro from the NC coast on Thursdays. If you're looking for more ways to keep your food budget money in the local community, please click on the following links.

Core Sound Seafood will be offering community supported fishery shares for this Fall. Shares will contain a variety of fresh, local seafood from the Downeast Coast in Carteret County. Full and half shares are available weekly or bi-weekly. All details are available on their website at www.coresoundseafood.org You can sign up and pay online. The fall share starts on September 23rd and will run through December 2nd. See their website or contact them at info@coresoundseafood.org for more information.

Veggie CSA Week #18

What's in your box:

RTI (Thursday)
Half Shares:

Tomatoes - 1 pound
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Melon or Winter Squash - 1
Assorted Peppers - 1 pound
Padron Peppers - a handful
Eggplant - 1/2 pound
Basil - 1 bunch

Full Shares:
Tomatoes - 2 pounds
Melon - 1
Winter Squash - 1
Swiss Chard or Radishes -1 bunch
Green Peppers - 1 pound
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Sungold Tomatoes - 1 pint

The other pick ups (Carrboro, Farm, and Durham) will be variations on the above lists, based on what 's ready to be harvested on the day we pack the boxes.

Remember - the Padron peppers are hot! Tasty, but hot....

Veggie CSA Week #17

What's in your box:

Half shares:
Tomatoes - 2 pounds
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Melon - 1
Chile Peppers - 1/2 pound
Sweet Peppers - 1/2 pound
Basil - 1/4 pound
TOTAL - $17.50

Full Shares:
Tomatoes 2 pounds
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Swiss Chard - 2 bunches
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint
Chile Peppers - 1 pound
Sweet Peppers - 1 pound
Eggplant - 1 pound
TOTAL - $27.00

In addition, RTI Full Shares will have 1 pound of tomatoes (total of 3 pounds) because this item was overlooked when we were packing the boxes last week. Sorry!

Oops...

Thursday RTI Full Share CSA members:

One of you pointed out to me today that the 1# of tomatoes listed for this week (week #16) were not included in your box. I apologize for this oversight, and I will make sure you get them next week, in addition to your regular weekly box. Sorry everyone!

Veggie CSA Week #16

What's in your box:

Wednesday - Carrboro/Farm:
Half shares:

Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
Tomatoes - 2pounds
Potatoes - 1 pound
Poblano/Cayenne peppers - 1/2 pound
Melon - 1
Green Bell Pepper - 1 large or 2 small

Thursday - RTI:
Half Shares:

Eggplant - 1/2 pound
Melon - 1
Green Bell Pepper - 1 large or 2 small
Poblano/Cayenne peppers - 1/2 pound
Tomatoes - 1-2 pounds
Padron Peppers - 6
Potatoes - 1 pound

Full Shares:

Eggplant - 1 pound
Melon - 2
Green Bell Pepper - 1 pound
Poblano/Cayenne peppers - 1/2 pound
Tomatoes - 1 pound
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 2 pints
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
Basil - 1/4 pound

Saturday - Durham

Half Shares:
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
Green Onions - 1 bunch
Eggplant - 1/2 pound
Poblano/Cayenne peppers - 1/2 pound
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint
Green Bell Pepper - 1 large or 2 small
Melon - 1
Padron Peppers - 6

Full Shares:
Eggplant - 1 pound
Melon - 2
Green Bell Pepper - 1 pound
Poblano/Cayenne peppers - 1/2 pound
Tomatoes - 1 pound
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 2 pints
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
Basil - 1/4 pound

Veggie CSA Week #15

Howdy folks! So, below is the list of what the Wednesday CSA boxes will contain (Carrboro and On-Farm pick ups). The Thursday and Saturday boxes are going to vary, depending on availability. To be honest, the harvests are not quite as plentiful lately (I'm blaming the excessive extended heat), so we'll determine what will go in the boxes after tomorrow morning's harvest.

Thursday folks are hopefully receiving sweet corn, grown by another farmer near Pittsboro (I haven't quite confirmed this yet, so again, it'll be a fun surprise :) The reason the farmers market picker uppers won't be receiving sweet corn is because it wasn't grown by us. One of the farmers market rules (at both Durham and Carrboro) is that the CSA boxes we hand out MUST contain products grown on our own farms.

So, here is the Wednesday box run-down:

Half Shares:
Sungold Tomatoes - 1 pint
Assorted Peppers (Hots in the plastic bag, sweets separate) - 1 pound
Japanese Eggplant - 1/2#
Padron Peppers - 6 peppers
Melon - 1 melon
Basil - 1/4 pound

Full Shares:
Sungold Tomatoes - 1 pint
Assorted Peppers - 1 pound
Padron Peppers - 6 peppers
Melon - 2 melons
Eggplant - 1 pound
Green Beans - 1 pound
Basil - 1/4 pound

Padron Peppers: Yum! one of my new favorites, we have been very simply heating a pan with olive oil and frying these little peppers whole (stem and all) just until they're hot, then sprinkling them with salt and munching. Sometimes, we cut a little door in the pepper, and stuff them with cheese. They are a "hot" pepper, and some are way hotter than others, but cooking them seems to mellow them a bit. Basically, the bigger the pepper is, the hotter they are. All the ones we've picked for you will be spicy, but not outrageous. Wednesday CSA'ers get them this week, we'll most likely have them for the Thursday and Saturday CSA'ers next week.

Veggie CSA Week #14

Half Shares:

Tomatoes - 2 pounds
Green or Yellow Wax Beans - 1/2 pound
Assorted Peppers - 1 pound
Basil - 1/4 pound

Full Shares:

Tomatoes - 3 pounds
Sungold Tomatoes - 1 pint
Melon - 1 large or 2 small
Potatoes - 2 pounds
Eggplant - 1 pound
Assorted Peppers - 1 pound

A quick pepper run-down: The peppers in the plastic bag are all varieties of hot peppers. Jalapeno, Serrano, New Mexican and Padron.

Jalapeno












Serrano













Anaheim










Padron

Veggie CSA Week #13

What's in your box:

Half Shares:

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint
Tomatoes - 2.5 pounds
Melon - 1
Green or Yellow Wax Beans - 1/2 pound
Jalapeno or Serrano Pepper- 2-3

Full Shares:

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 2 pints
Tomatoes - 3 pounds
Melon - 1
Green or Yellow Wax Beans - 1pound
Japanese Eggplant - 1 pound
Serrano or Jalapeno Pepper - 4-6

Recipe of the Week:

I really should have included this recipe a few weeks ago, but I figure by now you need something creative to do with those Sungolds :) This is my favorite:

Shiloh's Creamy Sungold Pasta

Ingredients

• 3 C sungold tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 C fresh chopped basil (packed)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2/3 C heavy cream
• Romano or Parmesan cheese to taste
• Fettucine pasta
• Peeled shrimp (optional)

Method

1. Heat your pan and saute the garlic in butter, being careful not to burn.
2. Add salt, pepper and halved tomatoes and wilt them down a few minutes.
3. Add cream and cook gently, allowing sauce to thicken.
4. When sauce is to your liking, add peeled shrimp directly to the simmering cream sauce - they'll cook fast so do wait until the end.
5. Add basil.
6. Serve with pasta and freshly grated Romano or Parmesan.

Original recipe at http://www.durhamfarmersmarket.com/recipe_show.html?id=18

Veggie CSA Week #12

What's in your box:

Half Shares:

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint - $3.50
Tomatoes - 2 pounds - $6.00
Green or Yellow Wax Beans - 1/2# - $2.00
Muskmelon or Galia Melon - 1 - $3.00
Basil - 1/8# - $1.50


Full Shares:

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint - $3.50
Tomatoes - 2 pounds - $6.00
Cucumbers - 1 pound - $2.50
Summer Squash - 1 pound - $2.00
Green 'Jade' Beans - 1 pound - $4.00
Basil - 1/4 pound - $3.00
Onions - 1 pound - $2.50
Muskmelon or Galia melon - 1 - $3.00


We may be also throwing in some Jalapeno or Serrano peppers this week, $1.00 worth. Perfect for spicing up your salsa or tomato sauces!

The difference in the melons is: some have a green flesh (the tropical Galia Melons) and some have the orange flesh (muskmelons, a lot like cantaloupe). Both are quite tasty, but we have noticed our variety selections have become such that the orange fleshed melons (muskmelon) are sweeter (and a little denser fleshed) than the Galia (green fleshed). Both are really good and sweet, but we would love some feedback!

In the tomato world, we have a lot of varieties growing, so to do a quick run-down.... the red tomatoes are called "Big Beef", a really wonderful standard beefsteak tomato, and actually, of all, my favorite!, well, except for the "Cherokee Purple", which you all should get at least one of this week. Brick red in color, this heirloom tomato is by far the best I've ever tasted. It makes the absolute perfect BLT (or in our house, TCOM - tomato, cucumber, onion, mayonnaise:) the yellow/orange ones are called "Orange Blossom", a little milder than the Big Beef, and the pinks are called "Pink Girl". The pinks are really great as a crushed, canned, juice tomato. YUM! I just boil a whole bunch of them for about 30 seconds, pull them out into a big bowl of ice water, then peel the skins off, cut the core out, squish the rest into a mason jar, add a teaspoon of lemon juice, and can them. Absolutely the best tomato juice I've ever had (and I'm a HUGE fan of V-8).

Veggie CSA Week #11

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - 1 pint - $3.50
Tomatoes - 2# - $6.00
Cucumbers - 1 pound - $2.50
Potatoes - 1.5 pounds - $3.00
Garlic - $1.00

Full Shares:
Tomatoes - 2# - $6.00
Cucumbers - 2# - $5.00
Potatoes - 2# - $4.00
Melon - 2 small - $4.00
Yellow Wax or Green Beans - 1# - $4.00
Eggplant- 1# - $2.00

Veggie CSA Week #10

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Tomatoes - 1 pound - $3.25
Cucumbers - 1.5# - $3.00
Summer Squash - 1# - $2.00
Potatoes - 2# - $4.00
Basil - 1/8# - $1.50
Cabbage - 1 head - $2.00

Full Shares:
Tomatoes - 1pound - $3.25
Sungold Tomatoes - 1 pint - $3.50
Cucumbers - 2# - $4.00
Squash - 1# - $2.00
Cabbage - 1 - $2.00
Potatoes - 2# - $4.00
Basil - 1/4# - $3.00
One more item...

Tomatoes - we started picking tomatoes this week, but there were only enough for you all to get roughly a pound. There are plenty more in your future, in all shapes, sizes and colors! Now begins my favorite tomato sandwich season: slices of tomato, cucumbers and onion with mayonnaise. Mmmmm...

Potatoes - We started digging potatoes this week, we did not wash them because they are so new their skins aren't very thick, and washing the dirt off would also wash the skins off. Just rinse before use. These are a variety called Carolla (very much like a yukon gold). They are great fried, roasted or boiled/mashed. Every year I forget how awesome our potatoes are compared to the store-bought ones. Yum!

Cabbage - this will be the last head of cabbage in your boxes for this season. We have been making lots of coleslaw.... shred the cabbage, and put it in a bowl with some chopped onion, and cucumber (or any other crunchy veggie you may have, like carrots or sweet peppers). Add just enough mayo and vinegar to coat all the ingredients, add salt and pepper and refrigerate.

Veggie CSA Week #9

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4# - $2.50
Basil - 1/8# - $1.50
Summer Squash - 1.5# - $3.00
Cucumbers - 1# - $2.50
Radicchio - 1 head - $2.50
Cabbage - 1 head - $2.00
Leeks and/or Onions - 1/2# - $1.50
TOTAL - $15.50

Full Shares:
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/2# - $5.00
Radicchio - 1 head - $2.50
Cabbage - 2 heads - $4.00
Summer Squash - 2# - $4.00
Cucumbers - 1# - $2.50
Leeks and/or Onions- 1# - $3.00
Fennel - 2 heads - $4.00
TOTAL - $25.00

Veggie CSA Week #8

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Cucumbers - 1/2# - $1.25
Summer Squash - 1# - $2.50
Leeks - 1/2# - $2.00
Cabbage - 1 - $2.00
Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Cutting Celery -1 bunch - $2.00
Fennel - 1 small head - $2.00
Dill - 1 flower head - $1.50
TOTAL - $16.25

Full Shares:
Cucumbers - 1# - $2.50
Summer Squash - 2# - $5.00
Leeks - 1# - $4.00
Cabbage - 1 head - $2.00
Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Basil - 1/4# - $2.50
Onions - 1# - $2.50
Dill - 2 flower heads - $3.00
TOTAL - $24.50

Veggie CSA Week #7

What's in your box:

Half Share:
Cabbage - 2-3# - $4.50
Summer Squash - 1# - $3.00
Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
Escarole - 1 small head - $2.00
Onions - 1# - $2.75
TOTAL - $15.25

Full Share:
Cabbage - 3-4# - $6.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Summer Squash - 2# - $6.00
Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
Onions - 1# - $2.75
Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Fennel - 1 small - $2.00
TOTAL - $24.75

Note: The onions are still what we consider "fresh", in that they haven't been cured. They should be kept in the fridge just like green onions/spring onions. The tops were sort of ugly, so we cut them off....

Needless to say, June is a bit of a "lull" time for our produce. While the spring crops are hanging in there, they're on the way out as the summer crops are slowing maturing. By the end of the month, there will be a rebound, when potatoes, beans, melons, and tomatoes begin to be harvested. We are a little behind on the cucumbers - a cold snap about a month ago (36 degrees!) shocked them a bit and they're now fully recovered, just a little late. However, we have beautiful cabbages this week, the best crop we've ever grown! Plus the first harvest of the fennel. There should be more of this for everyone next week.

I forgot to post this escarole recipe for you the last time we had it in your boxes, so here it is!

White Bean and Escarole Soup

Veggie CSA Week #6

What is in your box:

Half Share:

Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
Summer Squash - 1# - $3.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Scarlet Queen Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.50
Kohlrabi - 1 bulb - $1.50
TOTAL - $15.00

Full Share:
Carrots - 2 bunches - $6.00
Summer Squash - 2# - $6.00
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
Chioggia Beets - 1 bunch - $3.00
Kohlrabi - 1 bunch - $3.00
TOTAL - $25.50

Veggie CSA Week #5

Half Shares:

Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Sugar Snap Peas - 1/2# - $2.25
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Spring Onions - 1 bunch - $2.50
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
Swiss Chard - 2.50
Beet Greens - $2.50
TOTAL - $17.25


Full Shares

Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Cabbage - 1 head - $2.50
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Beet Greens - 2 bunches - $5.00
Spring Onions - 1 bunch - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 bunch - $2.75
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
Dill - 1 bunch - $2.00
Carrots - 1 bunch - $3.00
TOTAL - $25.25

Once again, things may change.... due to the excessive rain this weekend (yay!!!!) the sugar snap peas and strawberries are on the fritz... we'll make sure to replace with something equally yummy :)

Veggie CSA Week #4

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Sugar Snap Peas - 2/3# - $3.00
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Escarole - 1 head - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 bunch - $2.75
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
TOTAL - $16.25

Full Shares:
Strawberries - 2 pints - $6.00
Sugar Snap Peas - 1# - $4.50
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Escarole - 2 heads - $5.00
Lacinato Kale - 1 bunch - $3.00
Spring Onions - 1 bunch - $2.50
TOTAL - $26.00

I may have to adjust this once we go pick the strawberries tomorrow.... last week's heat really hurt them, and I'm not sure how many are out there. Hopefully, the cool days as of late (and lots of irrigating) will help them recover....

We got a teensy bit of rain this morning, which helped us with planting of melons, basil, eggplant, tomatillos, and maybe will be enough to get the beans to germinate? I'll take what I can get, but more please!!

I will post some recipes soon, one for escarole, and one for sugar snap peas. I'm off to water in everything we planted today, so as usual, do a rain dance!! (it sorta worked...)

Veggie CSA Week #3

What's in your box:

Half Shares:
Strawberries - 1 pint - $3.00
Green Onions - 1 bunch - $2.00
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/4# - $2.00
Spinach - 1/2# - $3.00
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.50
Dill - 1 bunch - $1.50
TOTAL - $16.00

Full Shares:
Strawberries - 2 pints - $6.00
Green Onions - 1 bunch - $2.00
Spicy Greens Mix - 1/2# - $4.00
Spinach - 1/2# - $3.00
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Bok Choy - 1 bunch - $2.50
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch - $2.50
TOTAL - $24.75


Well, we've been busy to say the least! We spent the last two weeks (sorry for no update last week..) planting tomatoes, tomatillos, squash, cucumbers, beans, basil, and more lettuce, and we're trying to keep up with the weeding of potatoes, onions and all the spring veggies. A little rain would help with the process of planting, just to keep down the dust a bit, but we have plenty of irrigation running, so in the long run, all the crops are happy.

Strawberries are here!! They are ripening very fast, so hopefully they'll hang on for 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure... it seems that they all are ready at once... Yum. The first ones always seem less sweet to me (but always really tasty), so hopefully with the heat as of late, we'll get a sweeter harvest.

Soon to your boxes will be sugar snap peas (next week) and beets, carrots, swiss chard, fennel, escarole, and in about a month we'll have the first summer squash, cucumbers and basil. Enjoy! :)

Veggie CSA Week #2

Half Shares:

Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Arugula - 1/4# - $2.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Lettuce Mix - 1/4# - 2.00
Beet Greens - 1 bunch - $3.00
Lacinato Kale - 1 bunch - $3.00
TOTAL - $15.25

Full Shares:
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Salad Mix - 1/2# - $4.00
Beet Greens - 2 bunches - $6.00
Strawberries - 2 pints - $6.00
Dill - 1 bunch - $1.50
Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.50
TOTAL - $25.00

Veggie CSA Week #1

Whats in your box:

Half Share:

Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.75
Lettuce - 1 head - $2.50
Bok Choy - 1 head - $2.00
Spinach - 1/2 pound - $3.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Cilantro - 1 bunch - $1.50
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
TOTAL - $16.50

Full Share:

Turnips - 1 bunch - $2.75
Lettuce - 2 heads - $5.00
Bok Choy - 1 head - $2.00
Spinach - 1 pound - $6.00
Radishes - 1 bunch - $2.75
Cilantro - 1 bunch - $1.50
Garlic - 1 bunch - $2.00
Kale - 1 bunch - $3.00
TOTAL - $25.00

What's been going on

WOW... I certainly can't complain about the weather! (although a decent rain would be nice). It has been perfect for working too hard, so we're enjoying it while its here! We've been working on getting lots planted , weeded, irrigated, and lately, harvested! We have a lot of great looking crops on the way to you, most of it is just a few weeks away. Including strawberries. I would put a guess on 2 more weeks? There are lots of green berries on the plants, we just need to be patient for a little bit longer.

Its greens season! So you can look forward to lots of lettuces, kales, turnips, radishes, mustards, bok choy, beets, etc. for the next month or longer. Green garlic is actual garlic that we harvest in its immature state (before it gets hot and forms the head of cloves). Personally, I like the green garlic much better than mature garlic. The flavor is milder, and it has a really nice fresh taste. Yum! Just chop it up like you would a leek, and simmer in a pan with olive oil. I usualy add a bunch of greens to the pan, let simmer, and Ta-dah! Dinner. You can also chop it up (like an onion) and add to your salad, raw.


Recipe of the Week
Whenever we have too many radishes, carrots, turnips, etc, we will slice 'em up and pickle them. Once pickled, they're great on salads and sandwiches (or I just eat them straight from the jar). While this recipe calls for Daikon specifically, we've used all radishes with good results, they'll probably just take less time to pickle.

Do Chua (Vietnamese Pickled Stuff ie. Carrots and Daikon)

Read more: http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2007/10/do-chua-vietnamese-pickled-stuff-ie.html#ixzz0lYHueyfy

For a 12 oz jar, you'll need:
1 medium-sized carrot, julienned
1 small daikon, julienned
1 tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup white vinegar

Those measurements are just guidelines. What I usually do is after julienning the vegetables, I spread them out in a shallow bowl. Then I sprinkle just enough sugar for a light coating. Add a smidgen of salt. Then pour enough vinegar to submerge about half the vegetables.

If I'm eating this right away, I like to use rice vinegar for the lighter taste. If you intend to store these as pickles, then ordinary white vinegar is fine.

After about 15 minutes or so, stir the vegetables so the vinegar is mixed. The carrots and daikon should be lightly pickled after about half an hour.

Store extra pickles in a glass jar and pour the extra vinegar in the jar. Add enough vinegar to fill the jar halfway and fill up the rest with water. Screw the lid on tightly. Store in fridge.

Read more: http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2007/10/do-chua-vietnamese-pickled-stuff-ie.html#ixzz0lYHlA7iS

All CSA shares sold out for 2010!

Our CSA shares are all sold out!

But you can get fresh vegetables and chicken from Castlemaine Farm at farmers' market:

Wednesdays, 3:30-6:30 Carrboro Farmers' Market
Saturdays 7am- noon Carrboro Farmers' Market
Saturdays 8am-noon Durham Farmers' Market

Thank you for your support!

Veggie CSA First Delivery Dates Set

Hello Everyone!

We have been whisked away from winter, and after what seemed like only a day or two of spring, thrown into summer! For a while, we weren't sure how delayed spring crops would be this year, but they seem to be catching up to where they should be very quickly! We've been busy the past few weeks planting, weeding, and setting up irrigation because these hot days are actually a little much for the cool season crops, so we have overhead sprinklers to keep everything cool. (Its sort of like jumping in the pool at the end of a hot day)

We are going to go ahead and announce the first pickup days for the 2010 Veggie CSA. There are four different pick-ups, as follows:

• Carrboro Farmers Market: Wednesday April 21st 3:30-6:30pm
• Castlemaine Farm: Wednesday April 21st 4-7pm
• RTI: Thursday April 22nd 4-6pm
• Durham Farmers Market: Saturday April 24th, 8-Noon

We will be delivering for 20 consecutive weeks, unless we need to take a week off (sometimes there is a gap between summer plantings, etc). So for now, we are planning to deliver every week from April 21st to September 4th.

We are not offering week off credits as we have done in the past (just way too much to try to organize). So if you find you are unable to pick up your box on any of the weeks, please find a neighbor, co-worker, friend or family member to pick up your box for you. If no one is able to pick up your box, we will donate the contents to the Farmer Food Share program at our farmers markets.

We will send out a weekly newsletter via our blog, castlemainefarm.blogspot.com so please bookmark that link, or you can friend us on Facebook (Search for "Castlemaine Farm"). We will post the same newsletter there. We do not print paper copies so plan to look at one of these websites each week (I try to have the post up by Tuesday evening.)

Thats all for now. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks!
Joann

Still taking Veggie CSA sign ups for 2010 season

Please visit the links to download a pdf of the sign up form, print the form, fill out, and mail with your check to secure a spot.

There's no deadline - we will keep taking memberships until we are full (and will post it here) but we sold out by February last year.

Chicken shares are all sold out for 2010.


For 2010 Fruit/Vegetable CSA
20 weekly pick ups, April-September
Half share $320, Full Share $500