In Your Share This Week
- Beets
- Cabbage, red
- Carrots
- Chicory, Pan di Zucchero
- Fennel
- Onion, Cabernet Red
- Winter Squash, Acorn
As mentioned in the share projection email, this week is a thematically red share! We didn’t totally plan it that way, but a lot of red items all happened to be ripe and ready all at the same time, so hey…why not?
Cabbage, red: Did you know you can make kraut with red cabbage? As it ferments the color turns from a dark purple color to a rather electric fuchsia- which is really great on days when you’re feeling the grey winter doldrums. If you’re new to fermenting, or have never tried it in your life…fear not! Its sooooo easy, fun, and tastes great! Head down to Powells and pick up a copy of ‘Wild Fermentation’ by Sandor Katz, or visit his website for a basic kraut recipe and a fun dose of humor and whimsy. ‘Wild Fermentation’ is essentially ‘The Joy of Cooking’…but for all things fermented with a cool DIY empowerment combined with cultural history and well-written instructions- from kraut to sourdough, pickles, dairy, beer, vinegar, wine, and beyond!
Chicory, Pan di Zucchero: So far you’ve been introduced to Escarole and Radicchio, which are also members of the chicory family. Pan di Zucchero means ‘Sugarloaf’ in Italian and is a very apt name as its one of the sweetest chicories out there. It was an excellent season for chicories and we grew some HUGE heads! But don’t worry- Pan di Zucchero will store for a long time in your fridge. How long? In storage trials last season we still had beautiful, delicious heads 3-4 months later. What you do is store it in a plastic bag and cut off however much you need at a time and stick the rest back in the bag, back in the fridge. I think the white parts closer to the base are the most delectable so I tend to cut it lengthwise so I can get some of that stuff too. It doesnt last as long when cut this way, but it sure is good! I like to serve Pan di Zucchero as a light side in tandem with an otherwise heavy or rich meal with lots of cream/fat/oils/sauce. Cut the chicory into thin ribbons and dress lightly with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic. Its a delicious little salad that brightens up a meal and aids in digesting heavy foods. The addition of acid helps cut down on the bitterness factor as well- but remember…bitters are good for ya!
Fennel: We also have our very last planting of main season fennel in the share this week! This particular planing had some of the biggest, fattest bulbs we’ve seen all year. The tips of the fronds were a little yellowed and kissed by cold nights, so we opted to put them in the share without the fronds this time so they’ll keep longer in your fridge.
Winter Squash: The featured squash this week is Acorn Squash. I am most familiar with this squash (as are most people I’m sure) from my Mom cooking it by cutting it in half and baking it with brown sugar and butter. So good!
Local Goodness all Winter Long
We are excited to be offering a Winter Share again this season. As farmers we love all the roots, squashes, cabbages and hardy greens of the Winter. Please join us if you do too! We are selling a limited number of shares (about 50), so don’t miss the chance to continue to eat locally & deliciously from December 2015 to March 2016.
Number of Deliveries: 8 (Two deliveries a month December-March)
Price: $640 (one share size)
The Bounty: beets, braising greens, cabbage, carrots, celeriac, chicories, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pie pumpkins, radish, rutabaga, turnips, shallots & numerous varieties of winter squash (butternut, delicata, acorn & kabocha varieties)
Quantity: approximately 30 pounds per delivery, most of the crops can store for many weeks in your refrigerator or root cellar.
Delivery Dates: 2 deliveries per month
- December 3 & 17
- January 7 & 21
- February 4 & 18
- March 3 & 17
Delivery locations:
- SE: Grand Central Bakery @ 2230 SE Hawthorne
- NP: New American Restaurant @ 2103 N Killingsworth
- NW: Kobos Coffee @2355 NW Vaughn St
- The Farm: 13615 NW Howell Park Rd
- Other possible locations to be announced
Please email us at csa@sauvieislandorganics.com and we will sign you up for this exciting new option.
Checks can be mailed to: SIO, 20233 NW Sauvie Island Rd. Portland, OR 97231
Meet Your Farmer
Carmelita F Guzman
Hometown: Oaxaca, Mexico
Joined SIO Crew: 2010 Mayo. Carmelita cosecha y lavada todo de nuestra verduras para la CSA y tambien sembra las semillas en las cajitas en la casa verde. Antes de llegar en Sauvie Island Organics, ella ya habia hecho trabajo de finca en el huerto de su mama en Oaxaca, México y trabajaba en una finca grande en Washington de frambuesa, arándano, fresa, durazno, y nueces por mano y por machina para cosechar, limpiar, y empacar. (May 2010. Carmelita harvests and washes all of our produce for CSA and also seeds trays in the greenhouse. Before coming to Sauvie Island Organics, she had already done some farm work in her mother’s garden in Oaxaca, Mexico and worked on a large fruit and nut farm in Washington harvesting, washing, and packaging raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches and nuts both by hand and machine.)
Favorite fruit/vegetable: La fruta favorita de Carmelita es el durazno porque trabajaba tanto tiempo en la finca cosechando los duraznos y la verdura mas favorita aqui en SIO es la ensalada mezclada y tambien tomates, jalapeño y cilantro. Ella le gusta mucho las vegetales de nuestra finca porque son orgánicas y no tiene químico. (Carmelita’s favorite fruit is the peach because she spent so much time harvesting them when she worked in the peach orchards. Her favorite SIO veggie is our Salad Mix along with tomatoes, jalapeños and cilantro. She loves the vegetables on our farm because they are organic and have no chemicals.)
Favorite part of working on the farm: Le gusta trabajar aqui porque las personas son amables y porque gana su dinero! (Carmelita loves working here because the people are very nice and because she earns money!!)
What she does off the farm: Carmelita le gusta tocar su guitarra, platicar con sus hijas, y cocinar en los Domingos para la familia. (Carmelita loves to play her guitar, chat with her daughters, and cook on Sundays for her family.)