Summer CSA Week Seven | Cooler Heads Prevail

10th St. Farm & Market
5 days ago
7 min read

Week 7: July 30th - August 2nd

In the last two weeks, we’ve made a pretty significant addition to the farm - one that you won’t have noticed as you drive down the driveway or peruse the market. Humming away in the back corner of our market barn is a brand spanking new 8x10 walk-in cooler! Well, brand spanking new to us, at least. In reality the panels are around 20 years old, having done a solid tour of duty in the back of a St. Paul pizza parlor.

Buying another cooler wasn’t on our 2026 punchlist. In fact, we had earmarked cooler expansion as a 2027 project, and were planning on applying for a grant next year to help defray the cost. But when we saw this beauty on auction for less than 10% of the retail price, we knew we needed to seize the opportunity. So we put a bid in and, shockingly, won!

Cut to about 24 hours later, standing in the back of the aforementioned St. Paul pizza parlor, staring at a massive structure we were now responsible for disassembling in an afternoon, wondering what the heck we’d gotten ourselves into. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say it was a winding road and there were about fifteen moments where we thought the cooler would never come together. Along the way we relied on help from a friendly hardware store worker with a forklift, a FaceTime consultation with a friend of a friend who had experience in HVAC demolition, and a hefty dose of internet research. And we owe a debt of gratitude to Ashley’s dad Tom, who essentially took on the project of rebuilding the cooler in our barn as a full-time job (supported by her mom Jamie!) over the past month or so. Together we have learned a lot more about walk-in cooler construction than we ever thought we would.

This is the look of a man who realizes he’s about to spend a month of his life re-building a walk-in cooler.

Miraculously, it did all come together in the end, and after a good scrubdown by our niece, the cooler no longer smells like marinara sauce. It’s now home to some very happy veggies and flowers!

Building this additional refrigerated space will unlock a number of things for the farm team. For one, it will mean we can more fully stock the CSA line each week, which will mean (hopefully) you’re never greeted by an empty bin where your veggies should be! Beyond that, it will give us more flexible space for growing enterprises and efforts - cut flowers for bouquets, excess vegetables earmarked for donation to local food shelves and our friends at Cimarron Community Farm, and increased storage crop production heading into the fall. Together with some modification to our tomato cool-room, our hope is that our spaces become more efficient and more ergonomic, able to accommodate carts that minimize the amount of times we need to lift or carry heavy boxes of vegetables.

So yeah, we’re feeling pretty cool, if you’ll pardon the pun - an anticipated infrastructure upgrade checked off the list a year ahead of schedule! We’re grateful to the volunteers who made it happen on incredibly short notice, and to the farm team (and customers) for being patient with the occasionally noisy, dusty and inconvenient construction process.

Elsewhere on the farm, the tomatoes and cucumbers keep cranking, the salad mix is persevering through the heat, and the peppers are starting to ripen. We’re watching the skies and our weather apps, waiting for a few drops of rain! We’ve been busy with loads of harvesting, weeding, and planting. Last week we harvested an incredible garlic crop with a dynamic group of volunteers (thanks to everyone who showed up!!) and on Friday we planted those same garlic beds with our fall watermelon radishes, purple daikon, turnips, and rutabaga. We’ve seeded 16 beds of fall carrots, planted the last of our fall beets, and have generally started laying the groundwork for a great autumn harvest to fill our new cooler!

Have a chill week,

Chris, Ashley, and the 10th Street Farmers

A NOTE ABOUT FOOD SAFETY:

As you have no doubt seen in the headlines, a pretty nasty bug called cyclospora has been making its way around the country. We want to assure you that our produce is not affected! This parasite is transmitted through human feces, and likely originated at a farm or food processing facility with improper water management practices and/or poor labor conditions. We are food safety certified through FSMA (the Food Safety Modernization Act) and our farm is certified through the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. We follow best practices by (of course) providing a bathroom with running water to our employees and emphasizing hygiene on the farm. All of our produce is washed with clean well-water (the same well we use for our own home) and we test that well regularly to ensure its safety. So go forth and eat salad! And tell your friends to support local farms!

In Your Share This Week

Red Long of Florence Onions: Incredible fresh red onions - mild and versatile. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Cucumbers: Crunchy and refreshing, chop up for a salad, add to sandwiches or just eat raw! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

Carrots: These carrots are sweet, crunchy, and oh so addicting! Remove tops and store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Sunflower Shoots: Crunchy and nutty flavor, these are a great substitute for lettuce on sandwiches or wraps. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

Shishito Peppers: Typically mild, occasionally you will get a spicy shishito mixed in! A delicious pepper that makes the perfect appetizer - you see it frequently at restaurants. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Broccolini: Tasty tender broccoli shoots - eat them leaves and all. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Cauliflower: This versatile veggie is tender and delicious - we love it in curries and stews, roasted, or fried up as a wing substitute! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Cabbage: A staple across cultures, cabbage is equally tasty in a fresh cole slaw and roasted in the oven. Versatile, storable, and beautiful. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

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.
Jalapeño Pepper: Add some zip to whatever you’re cooking up! Not the hottest pepper, but these flavorful and familiar jalapeños serve up plenty of spice! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Purple Peppers: These beautiful peppers taste like a green bell pepper - the first of the season! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Summer Squash: Green zucchini and yellow squash - delicious sautéed, grilled, or baked. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

Head Lettuce: Beautiful romaine, summercrisp, and butterhead lettuce. Great for everything from lettuce wraps to salads and sandwiches. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
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.
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 an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Choice:

Slicer Tomato: The taste of summertime! Store on the counter - never in the fridge!
Cherry Tomatoes: A rainbow of flavor, packed in a pint. Store on the counter - never in the fridge!

Choice (Full Shares choose 2):

Slicer Tomato
Basil: The perfect partner for summer veggies! Herbaceous and tasty. Store in a glass of water outside the fridge.
Eggplant: This Asian variety of eggplant has a very thin skin, so you don't need to peel it - just cut it up and cook it! Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.

Full Share Only: 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.

Full Share Choice:

Parsley: A flavorful addition to dips, salads, dressings, marinades, and more. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
Celery: Crunchy celery shoots full of flavor - almost a completely different vegetable from the tasteless, water-filled stuff you find in stores. Store in an airtight bag or container in your fridge.
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.
Mint: Fresh herb for cooking or drinking. Try it in a middle eastern dish, or make some fresh mint tea! Store in a glass of water on your counter or in your fridge.

Kitchen Inspiration

If you find yourself with tomatoes stacking up, this is the perfect time of year for some spicy gazpacho! Or switch up the main ingredient and make some refreshing cucumber gazpacho. Simple and tasty!

Speaking of simple and tasty, we’ve got shishitos as a choice this week. If you haven’t tried them before, you can just sear them in a pan with a little salt and lemon juice and then eat them, seeds and all! Everyone is also getting our fresh red onions this week. If fresh onions aren’t your jam, try this easy pickled red onions recipe on for size - great in salads, on sandwiches, with eggs, etc. Or sub them for shallots in this one-pan recipe for roasted fish with cherry tomatoes!

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!

Please remember to bring back your Purple or Blue bag each week! Thank you!