2014 CSA New Crops and Varieties
In between shoveling snow, getting extra straw to keep the animals warm, and chopping down some of the dead trees in our own woods to keep ourselves warm, we've also been picking out new seeds and crops for the coming CSA season! With the seeds ordered and on their way, we thought we'd brighten everyone's cold day with the hope of a fruitful season to come.
Cold Season Vegetables
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Albion Parsnips |
Parsnips-Parsnips are a root vegetable related to the carrot, it's long tuberous root has cream-colored skin and often becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts. It was used as a sweetener before the arrival in Europe of cane sugar and beets. The parsnip is usually cooked but can be eaten raw, it is high in vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, and also contains antioxidants and dietary fiber.
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Saffron Shallots |
Shallots-Shallots are part of the allium family with onions, leeks, and garlic. Shallots have a brown skin covering faded purple crunchy layers inside. They taste less bitter than onions, and when cooked take on a sweet edge. They ca be used raw in salad dressings, and are delicious with asparagus, mushrooms, swiss chard and peas. Also pairs well with chicken and pork!
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Ruby Queen Corn |
Warm Season Vegetables
For warm season crops we'll be seeing a return of some of our favorites, as well as some new varieties for everyone to try. We'll be seeing green beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers (bell, sweet snacking, cayenne, habanero, jalapeno, ancho, and anaheim) pumpkins, summer squash, tomatoes, and winter squash again. We'll also be growing some tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and peppers in the greenhouse, so we will see them even earlier in our shares this year!
Ruby Queen Corn-We picked up a small packet of this in a store, purely on chance last year. Come corn-picking time, it was quickly selected as our favorite out of all the corn varieties we'd grown. Beautiful red kernels, but the flavor! Extra sweet and juicy, last year Farmer Don and Farmer Figgins consumed the entire patch, what little survived the storm that took out most of our corn, out in the fields, fresh off the stalk. But this year we're planning it to be our primary corn variety, just wait till you try it!
Excelsior Cucumbers-As well as doing slicing and lemon cucumbers, we're also adding pickling cucumbers to the field and greenhouse this year! We've bought a special variety, Excelsior, that does especially well trellised in greenhouses, for early cucumbers and pickles!
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Excelsior pickling cucumbers |
Purple Tomatillo-AKA husk tomato, jamberry, husk cherry, or Mexican tomato. Tomatillos are in the same family as tomatoes and peppers and cape gooseberries, they bear a tiny green or purple fruit inside a paper-like husk. The fruit has a tart flavor is often eaten boiled, fried, or steamed, and are the central ingredient in green sauces and chiles. The purple varieties, like the one we will be trying this year, often have a slight sweetness, so are somewhat more suitable for fruit-like uses like jams and preserves!
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Purple Tomtatillos |
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Delicata Squash |
Costata Romanesco-A distinctive zucchini known for its gray-green color and prominent ribs and most of all its delicious nutty flavor. Costata Romanesco typically have better texture and are less seedy than other zucchini types! Perfect for small squash for sauteing and larger ones for zucchini bread.
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Costata Romanesco Zucchini |
Lunchbox Peppers-Red, Yellow, and Orange, these mini sized peppers are purported to be remarkably sweet and flavorful. Best eaten sauteed, as an addition to salads, or as a healthy raw snack. Can't wait to try them!
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Lunchbox sweet snacking peppers |
We'll dedicate a whole other post for tomato varieties, but sneak-peak, we'll be seeing the return of some of last years varieties as well as quite a few new varieties to try!
Fruits
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One of our apple trees last year, full of fruit and overgrown |
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Ground Cherries |
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Garden Huckleberries |
Herbs
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Stevia |
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Catnip |
So we hope you enjoyed your sneak peak for the 2014 CSA Season! We still have shares available, check out Our CSA page to learn more and sign up!
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