Well, East Farms delivered just as I had expected, but even more generously, if it was to be believed. This time, with 5 types of greens: for a total of 4 lbs 10 oz. No newsletter in the box, though, so I had to deduce as best possible what was there. Among the bunch I received a mix of green leaf and red leaf lettuce, arugula, mizuna, spinach, and chard. Plus another 13 oz. of radishes.
The exact numbers follow, as well as a best estimate of the value from my closest local grocery store which carries a selection of regular and organic produce. CSA weight measures were taken on an American Family food scale.
| CSA SHARE | Price(Organic) | Price ('Normal') | Value |
| 0.75 lb Red and Green Lettuce | 3.35/lb | $2.51 | |
| 0.5 lb Spinach | 12.75/lb | 7.78/lb | $6.34 |
| 1.25 lb Mizuna | (12.75/lb arugula) | $15.94 | |
| 1.13 lb Arugula | 12.75/lb | $14.41 | |
| 1 lb Chard | 2.89/lb | $2.89 | |
| 0.81 lb Radishes | 0.69/lb | $0.56 |
Again, the numbers are difficult to pin down, but this time I know I can use spinach or even chard as a good guideline for the mizuna and arugula if it was to be purchased non-organic. Even if I were able to purchase all 4 lb 10 oz of greens at $2.89/lb, which would still add up to $13.36 and that doesn’t include the radishes. So, I’m still feeling good about the overall value. A newsletter came via email a day after the CSA delivery, but it only had a recipe for a spinach salad and recommendation for storing and eating peas (apparently they begin the sugar to starch conversion immediately after being picked, so they should be eaten as quickly as possible. Too bad I didn’t get any peas in my share.)
Knowing how many greens I still had in my refrigerator, and anticipating the first delivery of my 2nd CSA coming in this week as well, I quickly offloaded what I could to friends and family. The chard was split with my father, and a portion of the lettuce, spinach, mizuna, and arugula went with a friend. Even so, this week was one to get creative with salad greens.
I took advantage of the influx of red and green lettuce to make big salads with ham and shredded cheese that used up a portion of mizuna and arugula. Unfortunately, as I had split it, the lettuce was gone with one set of salads. The next day I cooked the remaining chard and spinach for lunch, happy to have 3 sets of greens down! That left the bitter greens as well as the remaining tat soy from the week before – what, exactly, to do with those?
What came next was disastrous. Lacking any normal salad greens I decided to experiment with a salad made entirely of the arugula and mizuna with a little shredded mild cheese, topped with balsamic vinaigrette. I’ve read since that it’s a possibility when paired with sweet and fruity offerings (like the grapes and apples, and perhaps raspberry vinaigrette dressing) but unfortunately we didn’t have those on hand and I wasn’t aware of the requirement. Anyhow. Just take it from me: if you’re not used to it, you might not want to try it. I was able to choke down about ¾ of mine but I don’t think Craig made significant headway into his. The salad was incredibly bitter.
A sample of the tat soy told me that while it was ‘advertised’ as being good for stir-fry (and I wouldn’t mind trying it, really), it was decent enough by itself to eat fresh. That gave us several more salads (in the which I could offload some mizuna and arugula), this time with baked chicken and Caesar dressing. It tasted great! Craig asked for seconds for the first time since I’ve been serving him near-daily salads.
But more salads isn’t a lot more creative, and it wasn’t helping me use significantly more of the arugula and mizuna. So I tried cooking them with other things: a portion of the arugula was chopped and blanched, then combined with ham and cheese to make a filling for lunch pockets. That was a great idea, and very delicious – better than the version I’d made before with only ham and cheese.
The radishes again became midday snacks, and I was surprised to find them a little more woody, and a LOT more peppery, than the store variety. Not that I mind, I love radishes, but it was a little overwhelming in the spice department. It's just as well there weren’t a lot of them.
Four days after the second delivery of my 1st CSA share came the first delivery of my 2nd CSA share - from Borski Farms. I was a little nervous to find what might be waiting for me - I’m eating salads as fast as I can and there just isn’t a lot more room for greens in the refrigerator! but I needn’t have worried. This week the two CSA shares complemented each other nicely. Since the year has been a little cooler, meaning the growing season has gotten off to a slower start, this week's fresh share contained just spinach, peas, and cherries. To compensate for the lack of fresh food, some dried beans left over from last year’s crop were included. That's great – give me dried goods any time, those I can be sure won’t spoil!The exact numbers follow, as per usual. CSA weight measures were taken on a fancy new digital scale! (Pictured above, at right.)
| CSA SHARE | Price(Organic) | Price ('Normal') | Value |
| 0.98 lb English Peas | (2.99/lb snow/snap) | $2.93 | |
| 0.5 lb Spinach | 12.75/lb | 7.78/lb | $8.54 |
| 1.06 lb Bing Cherries | 5.99/lb | $6.35 | |
| 0.98 lb Anasazi Beans | (1.50/lb dry beans) | $1.47 |
I picked it up on the way to the grocery store, where I nabbed a few more bottles of salad dressing (surprise - we were running out!) and several pounds of flavored cashew nuts on sale. They made good salad additives – that night we had spinach salad (and mizuna and arugula greens!) with shelled english peas and honey sesame cashews. Later we had taco salad with chopped greens and guacamole flavored cashews. The cherries also made great midday snacks and the beans (pictured at left) went into my food storage, to be used another day.Finally, I noticed about this time the greens from last week’s share were starting to spoil – apparently 10 days is the outer limit on them. So in part because I didn’t want anything to go to waste, and in part because we were really struggling to keep up with the greens offered, I went ahead and chopped, blanched, and froze all the remaining arugula, mizuna, and tat soy (0.25 lb each).
It’s taken some time, but I’m happy to report that not one of the vegetables delivered has stumped me for longer than 7 days. I’m also happy to find that normal grocery shopping is quite easily adapted to what I have in fresh produce – knowing I’ll make salads and finding gems on sale (like the cashews) that will help me expand on the variety I’m able to serve. Additionally, I feel confident in my ability to store the produce I can’t use quickly. Going into week 3 I have managed to eat, share, or store all the extra greens I was worried about and I have only one small bag of peas left in my fridge. =)
Recipes for Week 2:
----- Lunch Pockets-----
11.25 oz package refrigerated crescent roll dough (makes 6 rolls)*
½ c. chopped ham
¼ c. shredded pepperjack
½ c. cooked arugula (chopped, blanched, and strained)
Roll out the crescent roll dough, and arrange 4 triangles into 2 rectangles. Pinch along the seam to secure it. Layer the ham, cheese, and arugula on one side of the rectangle, then fold the dough over and seal on the edges. Bake according to directions on the roll package. (Serves 2).
(The remaining 2 crescent rolls can be used to make dessert crescents with a little butter and cinnamon sugar rolled up inside!)
*Your favorite biscuit dough recipe will substitute nicely for a slightly different (but still delicious) result.
-----Spring salad with Cashews-----
3 c. spinach, torn
1 c. arugula, chopped
½ c. shelled fresh peas
½ c. honey sesame cashews
balsamic vinaigrette
Divide the greens between two large dinner plates. Top with peas and cashews. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over the salads. Serve immediately. (Serves 2).
-----Easy Taco Salad-----
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 c. chopped fresh spring mix
¾ c. medium salsa
½ c. mild cheese
½ c. guacamole flavored cashews
sour cream
tortilla chips
Combine the beans, greens, salsa, cheese, and cashews in a bowl. Cover the bottom of 4 dinner plates with tortilla chips, then spoon the bean mix on top. Spoon on a dollop of sour cream and serve. (Serves 4).
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