A Tale of Two CSAs and Week 11 at Denison

I am still shipwrecked in East Greenbush, and will be through Labor Day, so you'll have to forgive this late run down of our CSA. Being in East Greenbush did cause me to do the picking up of ONE WEEK of my parent's share from The Farm at Kristy's Barn in Schodack, and I have to share it with you:

What you are looking at is about 9 ears of corn, a 1 1/9 bushel box of zucchini, squash, cucumbers, kale, bok choy and eggplant, and a huge basket containing 3 QUARTS of cherry tomatoes alone, along with heirloom tomatoes, radishes, carrots, tomatillos and several varieties of hot peppers. That is one week's worth of their share.

Now, Kristy's Barn has been in the Lemke family for over 100 years (they used to be Appleland for those who grew up in the area). They are a Low Spray, No Spray farm vs. Certified Naturally Grown or Certified Organic, which does change the amount of produce they can offer for the amount of money.

This is their first year doing it the share, and they have only 15 folks in their vegetable share. We're happy members of their chicken share (hooray for chicken that eats bugs and grass), but, Wow. Just wow.

That is a LOT of food.

My mom has been processing her haul non-stop, especially since it's usually just her and dad at home. There will be much, much tomato sauce throughout the winter, and there are mountains of dill waiting to join the kirby's in the brine. Schodack is too far for me to travel every week, but for those of you in Rensselaer County who are comfortable with Low Spray, No Spray, Kristy's might be worth checking out for next year.

On to my beautiful week at Denison. And it is a lovely week. This week's share includes: Lettuce, Braising Greens, Tomatillos, Melon, Garlic, Tomatoes, Sweet Onions, Green Peppers and Summer Squash/Zucchini or Cucumbers. Fruit Share is two pints of peaches, one doughnut, one conventional. And eggs and bread, of course.

1. Triage: Short Life: Lettuce, Greens, Melon; Medium Life: Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Summer Squash/Zucchini; Long Life: Sweet Onions, Garlic.

I admit it: I grilled my zucchini and ate it last week. And I sauteed some with fresh ground cumin and sweet onion, wrapped it with refried beans and cheese in a tortilla, and ate that, too. And both times, it tasted good. But, please: no more zucchini. I just don't think I can stand to eat it more the 3 or 4 times a week.

I heard a joke once about this being the time of year when you sneak up to your neighbor's house in the dark and leave zucchini on their back porch, just to get it the heck out of your house! If you, too, are being overrun with zucchini, put it in a basket in the middle of the lunchroom table at your office. Someone will take it.

2. Divide and Conquer: Melon will be slice immediately and I will eat half of it as I store the rest in Rubbermaid. The tomatillos will be removed from their husks prior to cooking and be combined with my mother's tomatillos to make some beautiful salsa. There are other things you can use tomatillos for, but why would you want to when they are so delicious roasted and pureed into perfection?

3. Everything in its Place: I will not eat zucchini for breakfast, I will not eat zucchini for breakfast, I will not eat zucchini for.... What's that? It would taste good in a quiche or frittata? Or zucchini bread? Fine. I will eat zucchini for BRUNCH.

But not breakfast.

4. Storage: Greens can be blanched and frozen, and defrosted to be used as you would frozen spinach (I'm thinking a vegetarian winter lasagna, yum). Any salsa or sauce you make can be frozen or canned. Garlic and onions will keep for a long, long time in a cool, dry place. Make sure you store them in a separate location from any potatoes, as their moisture content is different, and they will cause each other to mold/sprout/other undesirable things.

It's at this point of the summer when you might be feeling the need to run for cover to escape all the vegetables that are entering your house each week. When in doubt, you can do one of three things:

1. Blanch it, put it in a bag, and freeze it. Even if you use it tomorrow, you don't HAVE to use it tomorrow.
2. Donate your excess veg straight away to the Squash Hunger bin at your pick up site.
3. Order Chinese takeout and call it a day. Feel guilty tomorrow. For today, take a sigh of relief, watch Jeopardy and eat M.S.G. Your veg, be they Organic, CNG, or Low Spray, No Spray, will still be there tomorrow.

Share and enjoy,

The Nosher