Weekly Newsletter

Veggie Notes:
Storage: Everything should be refrigerated.Escarole, or broad-leafed endive, is a member of the chicory genus along with curly endive and radicchio, although the leaves of escarole are broader and paler and less bitter than other endives. It is a versatile vegetable, showing up in all courses in a meal, from a sweet raw salad, to a hearty soup to a flavorful entree.  I asked subscribers what you do with escarole.  Camilla likes to saute it with minced garlic and olive oil, adding raisins (or maybe your fresh blueberries) at the last minute. Laura tosses her escarole in with pasta for a carbonara or primavera style using squash and carrots. If you would like to see escarole‘s full spectrum, check out 19 recipes from our friend Martha S., or 22 recipes from Bon Appetite magazine.

We are truly eating the rainbow this week! The carrots and beets can make such a great combination together both visually and in taste, whether you roast them or make a Beet and Carrot Salad.

Summer squash this week will be zucchini, patty pan, yellow zucchini or a combination of different varieties. Summer squash is great grilled, sauteed, steamed, baked, stuffed, and can be made into a sweet bread.

Your lettuce of the week should be either the green butter lettuce, which is melt-in-your-mouth yummy or the green oak lettuce, which is beautiful and delicate.

Lacinato kale or bunched spinach is offered this week for your dark leafy greens. I have been doing my own personal study on “creamed” soups, using Andrew’s style of blanching said ingredient, then sauteeing a mirepoix with potatoes (potatoes make the “creamy” part in this non-dairy soup), adding a stock, blending and seasoning. Either of these greens can be used in this fashion.  Or you can try a Cesar slaw.

Strawberries or blueberries can be made into a shortcake dessert, or maybe a trifle, or dip them in some dark chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt (swoons).

Red radishes and the escarole, could combine well raw in a salad, or you can make quickles.

The basil could mix with strawberries in a blended drink, or in a caprese salad. Since tomato season is a long way off still, we mostly look for ways to use basil that don’t depend on fresh tomatoes. Making pesto now and freezing it for later in the summer is an excellent idea. But I found myself at the beach last week with tomatoes, fresh sliced mozzarella and fresh basil . . . and no knife to cut the tomatoes, so we improvised: Take bite out of tomato, as if it were an apple, then layer on fresh mozzarella and basil, take another bite, and repeat until tomato is gone. Make sure you have a good supply of napkins, or make frequent trips to the ocean to clean the tomato seeds that are running down your arm.

-Sarah

Recipes:Chantenay Carrots Caramelized in Basil Simple Syrup

Sautéed Red Radishes Sauced With Their Greens

Caramelized Escarole

Chunked Crisped Summer Squash Braised in Tomato Sauce

Notes from Chef Andrew:A couple weeks back, I received an inquiry as to what else could be done with the Basil Simple Syrup that went with the Strawberry Caprese Salad. The reply listed using it for soda and a few other things. Here is a recipe that uses it to glaze carrots. Makes for a quick and easy dish with a lovely flavor. It uses basil at the end as a garnish, but honestly, it tastes fine without any fresh added to it. This same technique could be used with Tokyo turnips, or you could sauté roasted beet pieces in the syrup with butter to glaze them. If discarding the tops of the radishes bothers you, here is a recipe that will use them. The Sautéed Radishes Sauced with Their Greens is a full flavored dish and for those that are fans of nettles, sorrel, and the like. It is definitely a taste of Spring. Another dish with full flavors is the Caramelized Escarole. Escarole looks like it belongs in a salad, and to a certain extent, yes it does. However, it is wonderful cooked. Escarole is in the chicory family, same as radicchio in all its forms, but it is milder. However, like radicchio, the leaves can be chewy, especially the outer darker ones. If you wish to use escarole in salads, use the palest center leaves and slice or shred them finely. They have a distinctive bitterness to them that livens up a salad, and escarole works well with butter lettuces and dressing with a touch of sweetness. The outer leaves you want to use cooked, and the pale heart cooks up beautifully as well. The Caramelized Escarole is a nice dish along with grilled meats and sausages, and is really quick. Escarole plays well with butter and oak leaf lettuces, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes, among other things. Some other things to try with escarole would be caramelized carrot cubes folded into sautéed escarole or crisped waxy potatoes and onions combined with it. Moisture is not kind to escarole, so if you are not using it right away, shake it out if it has water in/on it, and wrap it in a towel or paper towels and store it with the lettuces. Carrots and spinach make a nice combo, both on the tongue and visually. Carrots and basil go well together, whether you cook the carrots or shred them raw for a salad.  You could try adding basil to a plain yogurt and top blueberries with this for a variation of mint with berries. If you have a mortar and pestle, crush a few basil leaves to a liquid and add it to whipping cream and then whip it for topping blueberries, or make savory waffles with bacon or ham and blueberries added to the waffles and top with basil whipped cream. Long simmered lacinato kale would be nice with some vegetable broth laced with chunks of rosemary grilled summer squash with some pesto stirred in just before eating, so see the pesto recipe on site if you want to try this.

Pick-up Site Etiquette and Policies:

• Please check off your name on the sign in sheets at your pick-up site. Note: If your name is not on the list, please do not take a box–call us for clarification  (831) 254-4918 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (831) 254-4918 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting . It is important to leave the boxes at the site for those people who are on the list.
• Please do not take a bouquet of flowers or a flat of berries unless they are listed by your name at the sign-in sheet.  If you are having someone else pick up your box, please make sure they know what they are/are not supposed to pick up.
• After you take your vegetables, please fold your box and leave it stacked neatly at the site.
• If your site has a Trade Box, please feel free to trade something from your box with the Trade Item, but only if you leave one of your items behind. Please keep karma and your fellow site-mates in mind!
• Be gracious to our pick-up site hosts–they are offering their space so that this community vegetable delivery can happen.
• Make sure you are familiar with our policies and your host’s policies. Each host has a different policy about late pick-ups and host/subscriber contact. We can only guarantee your box during the designated pick-up times. If you miss the pick-up time, please check the host policy at your site, and if appropriate, please contact your host or the administrator  (831) 254-4918 , as soon as possible to arrange a late pick-up. Be aware that you may not be able to retrieve your box after a certain point. If your host allows contact, you can find their information under “Pick-up Directions” in your online account.
• If you will be gone on vacation, you can either donate your box to Loaves and Fishes, or put a “vacation hold” on your account. To donate your box yourself, just go to your online account and in your “Account Summary” box to the right, click on the green link called “Change Location”. Choose “Donate”. Don’t forget to change it back to your original pick-up location after the donated delivery day but BEFORE noon the day before your next delivery date.  Otherwise, we will continue to donate your boxes until you change it back. (If you prefer, you can always make arrangements by just contacting Sarah).
• Questions? Comments? Contact us at  (831)254-4918  or csa@highgroundorganics.com. Thank you all for your support!

In the Box This Week
(click image for recipe ideas by vegetable)

Escarole

Summer Squash

Chantenay Carrots

Red Ace Beets

Lacinato Kale OR
Spinach

Green Butter Lettuce
OR
Green Oak Lettuce

Strawberries OR
Blueberries

Red Radishes

Basil

Flowers this week (for those who get them):
Asiatic Lilies*

Everything is certified organic. All vegetables and fruit were grown by High Ground Organics. Flowers are from the Thomas Farm.

*Flower Note: Asiatic Lilies can be poisonous to cats. Please take care that your feline friends don’t eat the flowers or get pollen on their fur.

Nine-Weekers, Don’t Forget to Renew

Many of you are on a 9-week CSA payment cycle and this is our 9th week! Please go online to extend your subscription or you can send us a check (PO Box 2601, Watsonville CA 95077). Renewals are at our 2013 price of $24/box ($216 for 9 weeks of veggies, $288 with flowers).

While you’re at it, please refer your friends and get $10 to use in our web store (right now, we have flower bouquets and soon we should have flats of berries, and later boxes of tomatoes, bags of apples and maybe some local honey). Use this link to invite your friends to join:
http://csa.farmigo.com/join/highgroundorganics/csa and tell them to mention your name in the sign-up notes section.

Also, if you would like to switch from a biweekly subscription to a weekly subscription, please contact Sarah.

Thank you!

More Veggies, Please

We still have room for more subscribers, so join us in our vegetable adventures this season! We will be delivering to all pick-up sites.

To sign up online:

• Returning members: visit your online account to purchase a set of four, nine, eighteen or thirty-six deliveries (weekly or biweekly)
• New members: sign up using the sign-up wizard
• please check to make sure your subscription(s), pick-up site and contact information is up-to-date
• contact Sarah if you have any questions or issues

Note that if you choose automatic renewal option, your card or account will be charged for the same amount of boxes once the requested number of boxes have been delivered. Then you never have to remember to renew!

To renew by mail:
send check made payable to High Ground Organics to:
High Ground Organics
PO Box 2601
Watsonville, CA  95077

2013 Rates:
– half-season weekly, or full-season biweekly share for $432; $576 with flowers
– 9-week quarter for $216; $288 with flowers
– 4-week month for $96; $128 with flowers
– specialized number of deliveries at the $24/box rate

We’re Looking for New Pick-Up Sites!

We are looking for new pick-up sites in Eastern or Northern San Jose and Menlo Park.  Please let us know if you or someone you know lives there and would like to host.  Contact Sarah at csa@highgroundorganics.com or  (831) 254-4918 .

Redman House Farmstand

Our Redman Farmstand is now open summer hours, Wednesday through Sunday, 10am-6pm.  Come check us out on your way through Watsonville, in front of the Redman-Hirahara house, next to the Chevron at the Riverside Dr. (Hwy 129) exit, off Hwy 1. Like our Farmstand facebook page to keep updated on what is in stock there.

Mountain View Farmer’s Market

You can also catch us at the Farmer’s Market in Mountain View Sundays from 9am to 1pm year round. 600 W Evelyn Ave, Mountain View.

CSA Cooking Course in Los Gatos

Teva in Action at the Los Gatos Jewish Community Center
Join us for the last class in the series
June 2nd 11:30am-1:30pm

Turn your Veggies into Meals
Learn to cook healthy, tasty, simple vegetarian meals and to think and cook like a pro with Chef Joni. She will share recipes, shortcuts, knife skills, food storage, timing, cooking methods including sauteing, braising, steaming, poaching, and blending and more.

Ages 10 and up.
Preregistration is required.
Contact the JCC at  408.357.7411
or email CJLL@svjcc.org.
JCC Members: $25/class.
Non-Members: $30/class

Have kitchen? Want fun? Contact Joni if you would like to host a cooking class at your home: jonisare@gmail.com.

Thomas Farm Flowers

Organic flower bouquets from the Thomas Farm are available as an Option in your CSA subscription for $8/bouquet or purchased individually through our Web Store for $9/bouquet. The Thomas Farm is now creating monthly newsletters. If you would like to be on their newsletter list, visit their homepage, http://thomasfarmorganic.com/.

Donate to Loaves and Fishes

If you are not able to pick up your CSA share, consider donating your box to Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen in Watsonville that feeds hungry families. Just let us know and we will donate your box for you. Or you can donate yourself by choosing “donate” as your Pick-up location. (Just don’t forget to return your site back to your usual location when you want to resume your deliveries.) A donation form can be sent to you for your tax records.

Gift Certificates Available
It’s the perfect gift for the vegetable lover in your life–fresh vegetables from the farm! Available in 4-week, 9-weeks or 36-week sets, with or without flowers. (Or just tell us what amount you want to give.) Certificates for flats of strawberries available as well (to be redeemed in the summer months). Contact Sarah to set it up and she will e-mail you a gift certificate as a pdf that you can print out (or we can send it directly to the receiver).