Winter CSA Week 6: January 29th
Hello everyone!
We hope you all are enjoying these snow days as much as we are! It will be a cold week for harvesting the CSA, but worth the beautiful winter wonderland and delicious winter veg! This Friday January 29th from 3-6pm is the sixth share of the season. This week your shares will have:
Baby Kale Mix
Spinach
Hakurei Turnips
Baby Lettuce Heads
Red Onions
Dried Thai Chilis
Turnips...again!
Hakurei turnips have been in almost every share this winter! I even looked back at all of the past CSA newsletters and saw that only one week went without turnips. Hakurei turnips grow so well in the winter months, so we really make it a staple in our winter growing. Hakurei turnips were bred in Japan during WWII as a quick growing root crop that could feed troops and civilians in every season. The roots and greens are both super nutrient dense, plus work well for preserving (turnip kimchi or pickled turnips are amazing!) I always cut the greens away from the root and store them separately in air tight containers. The roots will stay crisp and delicious in your fridge for several weeks, I think I’ve used turnip roots that are well over two months old, hanging out in a deli cup in the back of the fridge. The greens are great in an omelette, chopped up to add extra crunch to a salad, or thrown into the kimchi!
We hope you have been finding creative ways to use this resilient root crop. Drop us a line if you’ve found super delicious ways to cook turnips!
Recipe Time!
This week’s recipe is for….hakurei turnips! Huge surprise there huh?? It’s a hearty colcannon-inspired mashed turnips with potatoes that uses the turnips greens as well. I like recipes like this because they are so flexible with the spices. The dried thai chilis ground up (some seeds removed) would be a great way to balance out all of the dairy in the dish. Top with a fried egg and sounds like a super comforting winter meal to me!
Field Notes
Winter really feels like it has come to stay in Detroit! Between snow and consistent below freezing temperatures, we have been keeping the hoop houses nice and cozy to keep the plants thriving. While it felt like growth came to a standstill in December and most of January, we are finally noticing some later plantings getting bigger! The baby lettuce heads in this week’s share seemed to be about 3 inches high for a few months, but with the growing daylight hours are finally a very cute little lettuce head.
February 1st is the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox (celebrated as Imbolc in pagaen traditions) which means there are more than 10 hours of daylight! This will really vamp up how quickly plants are growing and lift everyone’s spirits. Imbolc is often celebrated with bonfires representing the growing daylight and with seeds as we start the ascent into spring growth. February is the time that we start seeding our transplants for the spring and summer, especially plants that are slow growers. Last week I started the slowest of the group: parsley. Parsley takes around 3 weeks just to germinate (meaning the seed sprouts above the soil) then needs another 50+ days to become an established enough transplant to survive in the ground. Luckily, once established, growth is a lot quicker. Parsley just needs a little extra time getting started!
I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you for being a part of this winter CSA! Every single share was picked up the last two distribution days, which is so great. I know how life can get busy and we limited our pick up time, so we really appreciate everyone being on top of it!
One last little but: we will be putting our Summer CSA up for sale (hopefully) by February 1st! Just have to iron out a few things and then it will go live this weekend. We will send out an email to current members before we do other advertising to give you a little head start. If you are interested in reading about what will be different this season, check our CSA page.
We hope you all are having a restful January! Looking forward to seeing you all again this Friday.
Peace,
Amy and Andy