Week 9: June 6 - June 9
Reminder: PLEASE BRING BACK YOUR PURPLE BAGS SO WE CAN RE-USE THEM!
Hard to believe, but this week marks our final Spring CSA pickup! We hope you have enjoyed eating through the season with us over the past 2+ months. As always, we want to say THANK YOU for your support of 10th Street Farm and Market. We hope you have enjoyed the veggies in your bag each week as much as we’ve enjoyed growing them for you. We’ll be sending out a member survey in the next week or two, but if you have any feedback about what we’re doing well or where we can improve, we’d love to hear it!
As we’ve come to the end of the spring season and started rounding into summer, we’ve been reflecting on what it means to be a CSA farm. Community Supported Agriculture started as a way to help farmers balance cash flow across the season and share the potential booms and busts of small-scale sustainable agriculture. But those functional benefits don’t quite capture the spirit of a CSA farm today.
Having members who support the farm on a weekly basis, quite simply, allows us to farm the way we want to farm. Without a dedicated group of curious eaters, we’d be driven to specialize on a small selection of proven crops. Instead, we’re able to grow a diverse mix of veggies, offer less common varieties, and try new things each season. In the spring, that means we can go beyond carrots and salad mix to offer things like nasturtiums, Hakurei turnips, little gem lettuce, and more. From our perspective, this makes the farm (and our tables!) much more interesting. We hope you agree!
It also makes the farm more resilient. Because we’re not leaning into monocultures, we’re able to roll with the punches of a season. Already this year we’ve had an unusually warm winter, a hot spring, repeated heavy rains, and now a cool early June. Some crops love the heat, some love the cool, some love the rain, and on and on. Because of our diverse offering we can adapt as the weather shifts without being tied to pre-established quotas for a small handful of crops. With CSA members on board we can share the best of what we have in a way that makes the farm more flexible, resilient and sustainable.
Of course, none of this would be possible with the most central concept of a CSA: community. You are not just customers of 10th Street Farm and Market, you are members - the lifeblood of the farm who help make it what it is. Without you, the farm would be focused purely on production, growing veggies to sell somewhere else. Our CSA members and market shoppers change that dynamic entirely, turning the farm into a gathering place and a hub. Every Thursday, as the market begins to fill with members picking up their veggies, it buoys our spirits and reminds us why we do what we do. Beyond just supporting the farm, CSA members make the farm.
Whether this was your first CSA with us or your 35th season onboard, we are incredibly grateful to be your farmers!
Have a community-filled week,
Ashley, Chris, Hallie, and the 10th Street Farm Crew
In Your Bag This Week
Flavor Mix microgreens: Mild and tasty, these make an easy salad on their own or can add some color to any other salad. Try them on eggs or sandwiches – or anything, really! Store in a bag in your fridge.
Salad Mix: A mix of red and green lettuce with just a splash of mustard greens. Delicious with just olive oil and salt, or dress it up! Store in a bag in your fridge.
Carrots: These carrots are sweet, crunchy, and oh so addicting! Store in a bag in your fridge. Remove the green tops to keep them crisper longer.
Radishes: Beautiful french breakfast radishes have a mild heat and a great crunch. The greens are a little worse for the wear due to flea beetles, but the roots are untouched. Add to salads or sandwiches for a little extra flavor. Store in a bag in your fridge.
Bok Choy: So versatile! Use in Asian-inspired dishes like soups and stir fries, or just chop and add to anything for a bit more flavor and nutrition. Store in a bag in your fridge.
Head Lettuce - Red or Green: Beautiful lettuce heads. Great for everything from lettuce wraps to salads and sandwiches. Store in a bag in your fridge.
Scallions: These beautiful green onions have been growing in our greenhouse since late winter. The white and green parts are both edible - use the white like an onion, chop the greens as a garnish or hit of flavor in your dishes! Store in a bag in your fridge.
Snap Peas: The first of the season! So tasty we can't keep them around for long. Easily added to anything for crunch and a bit of sweetness. Store in a bag in your fridge, if they make it that far.
Swiss Chard (half share only): Stunning rainbow chard offers a pop of color with an earthy, spinach-like flavor. Store in a bag in your fridge.
Kale (full share only): Strip the leaves from the stem and eat raw or cooked - or make kale chips!. Store in a bag in your fridge.
What should I make with what’s in the bag?
Sometimes it feels like a fool’s errand to recommend recipes that include things like carrots, since we’d wager most of them barely make it home without being munched in the car. But if you’re looking to do a little something more with your carrots, this carrot tart with ricotta and feta looks absolutely amazing. Or this fresh bok choy salad incorporates both carrots and radishes (and you could easily make a variation without carrots if you’re unable to resist the temptation). Peas are in the same category of things that don’t need much adornment, but last week we made a gnocchi with snap peas and a creamy sauce that was a hit with everyone including the kids - definitely recommended. And we’ve been loving garlicky sauteed greens as a side dish, which would be perfect with either kale or Swiss chard.
If you've found a recipe you're loving, please send it our way! We're always looking for new things to cook and who knows, maybe it'll make its way into an upcoming newsletter...
Have a great week!
We wash everything in your bag but we wash them in bulk so some things may need an extra rinse at home. Please bring your bag back next week so we can re-use them! Thanks!
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