Chatfield CSA E-news August 12-16

Dear Shareholders,

Wow! What amazing moisture we have had – truly a blessing! Today we brought in some gorgeous white onions with the help of a great organization – Silicon Valley Bank from Longmont. We all appreciate the giving hands of our volunteers and we would like to say thank you to all of our large corporate groups, individual working and non-working volunteers or any other volunteer group that has helped the CSA get through this season so far. It takes many hands to produce the food we all enjoy! Thank you.

join us
August 23rd we are hosting an Indian Cooking Night with a workshop and meal. The workshop takes place in our outdoor kitchen venue from 5 p.m. – 8p.m. and includes freshly made curry powder to take home! For more info or to reserve your seat please email: [email protected]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            *This is event is in place of an August potluck, however we will have a potluck in September!

 

volunteers: August 12, Monday night (5:30 – 7:30) we are having a volunteer party and “meet and greet” for new volunteers in our outdoor kitchen. Please join us for cocktails, garden snacks and conversation with our wonderful CSA volunteer group. Give us your input on your experience and how working with the CSA has been.

 

produce list for august 12 - 16
*this list is tentative and is subject to change

garlic
kale
onions
eggplant!
tomatoes! 
melons
cucumbers (picklers and lemons)
basil! 
herbs (dill)
bell peppers
hot peppers
tentative: Head lettuce is on its way - we just need a little more sun to get us there so please stay tuned!

weekly bread: Sourdough

weekly fruit: Two bags of beautiful peaches – yum!

weekly wild food: Additional grape leaves for pickling

featured recipe: EASY PICKLES!! (very easy no-canning required fridge pickles.)
Adapted from the “Pin Junky” DIY blog

12 or so small cucumbers
1-1/2 cups of white vinegar
4 Tablespoons kosher/pickling salt
pickling spices – you can get creative here or go traditional
fresh dill bunches
3 (or much more!) cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups hot water
Optional – one jalapeño sliced thinly or red pepper flakes
One grape leaf to maintain crispness

Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and salt with the hot water. Stir until dissolved. (Let the liquid cool before pouring over the cucumbers.)
2. Add the vinegar and pickling spices to the liquid.
3. Slice the cucumbers and put the slices in jars.
4. Add the dill and garlic cloves.
5. Pour the liquid into the jars.
6. Seal the jars and store in the refrigerator.

This recipe made enough for two jars of pickles. They looked so pretty and Martha Stewart-like in their jars that I was almost ready to call it a success before I even tasted them, just because they looked so nice! Those pickles looked so good, we only waited a day before we started tasting but the flavor gets stronger if you wait a week or so at least. Crispy just like I them and with a lot of bite! I can tell these pickles won't last long and I'll be making more. They are so easy and yummy and I'd love to share them with friends too!

A Peck of Pickled Peppers!

Pickled Peppers

fresh peppers (or do everything the same and replace with CSA carrots or beets or both!)
sterile glass jars, sized appropriately to hold the number of peppers that you have.

1 1/4 cups, water
1 1/4 cups, vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1.5 Tbsp sugar
1.5 Tbsp salt
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and pierced with a fork
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp red chili flakes
1 Tbsp fennel seed

Directions

1. Prepare the jar of peppers. Stem your washed peppers and slice them into thin discs. Arrange them in the glass jar. I used sweet mini peppers and jalapenos, layering them out of vanity.

2. Then make the brine. Use a non-reactive saucepan. Add all other ingredients and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Combine and cool. Remove the brine from the heat and pour over the peppers into the jar. Transfer all seasonings as well. Cover the jar and set it aside to cool. Refrigerate.

Pickled peppers will be ready as soon as they’ve fully cooled, 2-3 hours. I’m told that keeping these refrigerated for a week improves the flavor, but mine have never lasted more than a day or two. Keep in mind that the method described above is not a sterile preserving method and that you should handle and consume these pickles the same way you would fresh food. 

Hope to see all of the volunteers Monday evening and Friday the 23 of August for cooking! Have a great week!