CSA Box This Week.

CSA Box Today:: snow peas, snap peas, purple beans, kohlrabi, spring onions, kale, 2 types of lettuce, chinese cabbage, garlic scapes, oregano, beets.


I also picked up a few extras at the CSA farm - mushrooms, more beets and some broccoli. Planning on making some beet kvass with the extra beets. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

CSA Box This Week - Week 2

In our CSA box this week: kohlrabi, swiss chard, red & green head lettuce, fresh garlic, fennel, kale, peas, garlic scapes, dill.

We have so many greens between our garden and CSA, but I think it is a good thing to have enough to share! The heat has been like a furnace all week, so the greens will be slowing down just as the rest of the garden is kicking into high gear. Can't wait!

The final CSA Box!

Today was it! The final CSA pickup of the season. We usually also do a late November storage share, but did not this year and are instead relying on our garden and a few local farmers for our final stocking up and some regular pickups throughout the winter!

In our box this week: sorrel, brusselini, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, celeriac, squash, onions, turnips (purple top & hakuri).

In our box this week last year.

winter garden.

While we have been busy in the kitchen we have also been out in the garden. I love yard work (yeah, I love shoveling too!). I will admit that we have a LOT of clean up after growing food plants rather than ornamental bushes, but it is worth it. The glorious weather has helped make the garden clean up even nicer. We are pulling, clipping, raking, and planting. We prepped and planted garlic and shallots. I love planting even as the cold comes. Speaking of planting...


This year we are planning to try to grow certain herbs and greens inside to see how much we can stay local for veggies even throughout the winter. Our pantry and freezer is packed with everything we preserved from farms and our garden all summer, but we still wanted fresh greens. With a sprouter we have a lot of variety throughout the winter for salads as well as bread, but we wanted more! So lets give it a shot and see how far we can go.

We plan to do a few succession plantings as we figure out what works best (or doesn't work). Our first planting::

-mustard greens
-salad bowl lettuce (cut and come again)
-spinach
-cilantro
-chives
-swiss chard
and by special request we will try
-window box roma tomato

To winter greens!

CSA Box This Week

Today in our CSA box...we haven't gotten much squash at all this year in our boxes. Winter squash is one of my favorite things, and I always look forward to it. Today we got only 1 small acorn squash and a mini butternut squash - not a good year for squash, it seems. I traded the mini butternut squash in our box for more brussel sprouts. The wonder of our garden is that we fill in the gaps of our CSA, can get quantity of our favorite items, and so even growing only 1 vine we already have a decent number of butternut squash stored away for this fall and winter!

In our box this week:: lettuce mix, arugula, beauty heart radish, leek, carrots, brussel sprouts, green cabbage, acorn squash, cilantro.

In our box this week last year.

CSA Box This Week

It is almost the end of our CSA season. Only one more week left - growing season does seem to fly in Wisconsin!

In our box this week: hakuri turnips, carrots, onions, potatoes, leek, parsley, romanesco, lettuce, and a head of garlic.


In our box this week last year.

CSA Box This Week

I sprained my ankle yesterday, so after a few trips hauling a sleepy 3 year old and our CSA cooler up the steps into the house I was a big shaky - I took 5 or so photos of the produce today, and all were slightly blurry. So, sorry about the blur - here is our box this week!

CSA Box: Lettuce salad mix, swiss chard, broccoli, hakuri turnips, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, thai basil. We also had arugula and mizuna greens, but I traded those for additional potatoes...we have so many greens this week already!



In our box this week last year.

pumpkin time.

We went to a farm last weekend to pick up our first batch of pie pumpkins. We love to make our own pumpkin puree, which we use for all of our fall baking. I like doing a few pans of pumpkin at a time to economize on time. Making fresh pumpkin puree is simple and has such a great flavor.


Take your small sweet pie pumpkins and cut off top/stem, then cut them in half. Scoop out the seeds and drizzle with a little oil. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350º face down 30 minutes, turn them over, bake face up 30 minutes. The inside should be soft. Let cool and then scoop out the insides. You can take the pulp and run it through a food processor or a food mill to get it the consistency of canned pumpkin (smooth & creamy).

So with all the fresh pumpkin we had to make something - pumpkin bars! These are nice in that they are moist and flavorful but not too sweet.


::pumpkin bars::

Preheat oven 350º

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups sugar or maple syrup
3/4 cup butter
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Beat the above ingredients together in a bowl.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Add the rest of the above ingredients into the mixture and stir. Pour into a lightly buttered 9x13" pan. Bake at 350º for about 35-40 minutes! Let cool and cut into squares.



ingredients tip::

"Pumpkin and winter squash is an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), a very good source of vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese. In addition, winter squash and pumpkin is also a good source of folate, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, copper, vitamin B6, niacin-vitamin B3 and pantothenic acid."

CSA Box This Week

In our CSA box this week: romanesco broccoli, broccoli, 4 types of greens/lettuce, beans, cilantro, tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, cilantro.


In our box this week last year.

CSA Box This Week

My camera (or my 3 year old) magically ate the CSA photos this week and they *poof* are gone. So no pic! Ahhh well.

Here is what is in our CSA box this week: lettuce, brussel sprouts, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, radishes, napa cabbage, carrots.


In our box this week last year.

CSA Box This Week

One of my favorite things about Thursday is stopping at farm stands on the way to and from the CSA pickup. Each week we expectantly look on whatever table is set out front to see what is ripe and then stop to pick out some extras to supplement our weekly box or get goodies in season to preserve. Today we visited 3 farms.



We first stopped for our CSA box. Just down the road we stopped to buy some apples and pears. Our last stop was for mushrooms, onions and carrots! I like visiting each week to discover what is fresh and ready - I like not knowing in advance exactly what we will have, and then seeing what we can make with our haul!


In our CSA Box this week: lettuce, tomatoes, romano beans, napa cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, radishes, beets, carrots.


In our box this week last year.