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