Spring CSA Week 8 | From Seed to Salad

Week 8: May 28th - May 31st

We recently passed one of the key milestones in our spring farming calendar: the transition from our winter-hardy Persephone Days salad mix to our summer Farm Mix. As a result, this week in your share you’ll notice a different composition in your salad. Gone are the hearty, cold-loving mustard, mizuna, and Tokyo Bekana, replaced by summer’s tender, heat-tolerant green and red lettuce blend. 

Growing great salad mix takes some careful planning. So this week in the newsletter we thought we’d take you through how we get our Farm Mix from seed to salad. 

It all starts in December, when we plan out our season. We look at the varieties of lettuce we’ve grown in the past and assess what has grown well and tasted good. Each year we make small tweaks in an attempt to design our ideal mix - a blend of colors and textures, like buttery red oakleaf and crisp green “incised” lettuce, that make for an interesting salad. We look for varieties that thrive in organic systems, tolerate heat, and (most importantly) taste great. And because more diversity generally makes for more interesting salad, we grow a mixture of pre-mixed baby leaf assortments and specifically chosen complements. A bag of our Farm Mix typically has between 8-12 different types of lettuce mixed together!

Over the course of this spring, summer, and fall, we’ll plant Farm Mix components almost 20 times, so once we’ve decided on an ideal mix, we order A LOT of seeds. And then, it’s time to grow. 

Our lettuce grows in two different ways. Some gets seeded into paperpot trays and then transplanted in rows, where it grows for about 28 days until it reaches a good size for harvest. Other lettuces, known as salanova or one-cut, grow as a head comprised entirely of similarly-sized leaves. These varieties grow for nearly two months in the field before harvest. 

Once the greens have grown to full maturity, we harvest them using a small harvest knife or a nifty tool called a Quick Cut Greens Harvester. The leaves are immediately soaked in cold water to preserve top quality, before mixing, washing, and spinning dry in a jumbo salad spinner.

After that, the salad is cooled for around 24 hours to help extend its shelf life for as long as possible. Then we package it and get it into the hands of happy and hungry customers! The result is a delicious mix of fresh lettuce that tastes great and holds for a remarkably long time in the fridge. We’re super proud of our Farm Mix, and we hope you enjoy it in vibrant, fresh salads over the hot days and weeks to come!

Have a deliciously blended week,

Chris, Ashley, and the 10th Street Farmers

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In Your Share This Week

Farm Mix Salad Mix: A diverse mix of tasty red and green lettuces. Delicious with just olive oil and salt, or dress it up! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

• Salad Turnips: Also called Hakurei Turnips, these fresh-eating turnips are tasty and versatile. Slice them up with hummus, sauté them, roast them in the oven, or even try them on the grill. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Radishes: Add to salads or sandwiches for a little extra flavor. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Head Lettuce: Beautiful crisp red and green romaine lettuce heads. Great for everything from lettuce wraps to salads and sandwiches. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice: 

• Kale: The first kale bunches from our spring crop - tender and tasty! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Rainbow Chard: Stunning Swiss chard offers a pop of color with an earthy, spinach-like flavor. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

  
  

Choice: 

• Cilantro microgreens: Zippy micros to add a little flavor to whatever's on your plate! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Scallions: The white and green parts of these beautiful green onions are both edible - use the white like an onion, chop the greens as a garnish or hit of flavor in your dishes! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Edible Flowers: Jazz up any salad, plate, or beverage with some edible blossoms! A mixture of mild tasting viola blooms and zippy nasturtiums!

  
  

Choice: 

• Power Greens Micro Mix: Our newest micro mix! A nutrient-dense blend of broccoli, kale, daikon, and bekana sure to power up any dish!

• 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 an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Radish Shoots: These beautiful purple and green shoots have a spicy taste and 

  add a pop of color. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Full Share Choice: 

• Spinach: Our spring spinach is tender and tasty! Use as a salad base, sautéed as a side dish or in anything that calls for greens. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

• Pea Shoots: Sweet and crisp, these make a great addition to sandwiches, wraps, salads or can be lightly sautéed as a side dish. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

  
  

Full Share Choice: 

• Radishes

• Salad Turnips

• Arugula microgreens: Peppery micros add a little punch to pizza, salads, pestos, sandwiches, eggs, and more. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

  
  

Kitchen Inspiration

This isn’t much of a recipe, but these hot days have us craving quick and crisp salads, like this lemon parmesan lettuce salad or this dried fruit-spiked “ginger jewel” salad. And we’ve recently been riffing on this recipe and making super simple wraps stuffed with avocado, egg, and loads of microgreens.

If you can stomach turning your oven on, kale chips are always a hit. Or if you opt for Rainbow Chard, there are a couple of fun ideas here - chard on pizza or as the filling for a savory pastry!

If you've found a recipe you're loving, please send it our way. We're always looking for new things to cook and share with other members!

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Please bring back your Purple or Blue bag each week so that we can reuse it.

This helps us keep costs down! Thanks!