Our Last CSA Pick-Up
We got our last share from Stone Soup on Tuesday, and I have to admit to being relieved. We weren’t prepared to store the massive amounts of root vegetables we received with the winter share, and potatoes, squash, onions, and garlic have taken over our counters. There seem to be more every day; I think they’re reproducing.
Before we do this again next fall, I’m hoping to set up storage bins or shelves in the basement. Anyone have any suggestions for basement vegetable storage? I was really intimidated by the book Root Cellaring. Our basement doesn’t get much below 60, and I’m not hardcore enough to construct a serious root cellar, with different temperature and humidity zones for each type of vegetable.
Now that we’ve reached the end of our CSA season, I thought it would be interesting to look back at all the veggies we got from Stone Soup this year. Scroll down to see a picture from each week.
July 14: cabbage, carrots, lettuce, dill, cucumbers, peas, zucchini, kale
July 21: zucchini, chard, parsley, cilantro, garlic, string beans, cucumber, fennel
July 28: onions, radishes, beets, zucchini, corn, lettuce, arugula, parsley
August 4: chard, lettuce, parsley, string beans, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini
August 11: lettuce, potatoes, parsley, carrots, basil, hot pepper, tomatoes, string beans
August 18: corn, radishes, tomatoes, parsley, lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, string beans
August 25: corn, lettuce, green peppers, onions, string beans, summer squash, tomatoes, eggplant, bok choy, cucumbers
September 1: hot pepper, garlic, potatoes, carrots, kale, tomato, cucumbers, beets, parsley, edamame
September 8: celery, corn, chives, asian pears, hot peppers, kohlrabi, cucumbers, lettuce, edamame, onions
September 15: chives, eggplant, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, garlic, asian pears
September 22: asian pears, green peppers, Napa cabbage, chard, broccoli, hot peppers, butternut squash, chives, onions
September 29: butternut squash, potatoes, collard greens, kohlrabi, green peppers, green onions, carrots, eggplant, garlic, asian pears
October 6: onions, corn, lettuce, green peppers, acorn squash, parsley, sweet potatoes, hot peppers, arugula
October 13: kohlrabi, green onions, carrots, collard greens, beets, potatoes, green peppers, chives
October 20: popping corn, rutabaga, kale, celeriac, squash, carrots, parsnips, garlic, onions
November 10, no photo (sorry!)
November 24: parsnips, butternut squash, rutabagas, celeriac, sweet potatoes, collard greens, lettuce, green onions, carrots, onions, potatoes, Brussels sprouts
December 8: lettuce, kale, cabbage, daikon radish, beets, potatoes, garlic, onions, celeriac, shallots, kohlrabi, carrots, sweet potato, delicata squash
December 22: rutabagas, butternut squash, cabbage, celeriac, parsnips, blue potatoes, potatoes, onions
The CSA actually started June 10, but I didn’t start this blog until July, so no photos before that. There was also a three-week hiatus after our summer share ended and before our winter share started.
As you can see, it’s been a lot of vegetables. I definitely feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Next year I’d really like to continue with Stone Soup, but they may not have a Cambridge distribution center. Anyone have another CSA to recommend if we need it?
Posted: December 28th, 2009 under Food.
Tags: CSA, local food, organic, veg box
Comments
Comment from Jenn
Time December 29, 2009 at 9:36 am
I think someone told me a wooden box with hay in it works… at least for carrots?
Have you given up your refrigerator? Onions and carrots keep foreverrr in there… I would assume parsnips would do the same?
Shred your cabbage and carrots and have LOTS of purple cole slaw!
I am loving the blue potatoes!! Does the color bleed when cooking (like beets?)?
…you could try canning…
Or, you could make soup with this stuff and freeze it… a full freezer is an efficient freezer ; ) You could also freeze squash puree in ice cube trays to add to soups…
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time December 29, 2009 at 10:54 am
I’m embarrassed at the condition of some of them–I think I’ll try making soup stock today.
Root Cellaring suggests sand for some of them, too, but they got really specific about which vegetables should be in what temperatures, so I kind of gave up. I’ve got a bunch of them in bags on my basement steps at the moment…. I’ll try the sand thing next year.
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time December 29, 2009 at 11:02 am
!) Yeah, Root Cellaring talked about using sawdust for some things, sand for others, and it became overwhelming. Next year.
2) Our fridge and freezer are both so full that it’s an effort to find anything in them. Now that we’re past the vegetable triage stage, we’re going to have to start emptying them out….
3) One head of lettuce makes a whole lot of cole slaw–and we have three!
4) We haven’t cooked the blue potatoes yet, but I’ll let you know.
5) I really need a pressure canner so I can can vegetables. Right now we can only do fruit, unless we suddenly take a liking to pickled everything…
6) The squash thing is a good idea. We froze pesto in ice cube trays, but I guess they could be used for pretty much anything.
Comment from Erin aka Conscious Shopper
Time December 29, 2009 at 6:46 pm
That looks like a terrific CSA. It was every two weeks? Did the veggies last two weeks, or did you have to buy other veggies to augment the CSA?
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time December 30, 2009 at 10:20 pm
It was every week June to October, then every two weeks November and December. When the winter share started, we signed up for Boston Organics home delivery, which supplemented it with lots of fruit and greens.
Pingback from Looking Back at 2009 « Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time January 4, 2010 at 9:06 pm
[…] CSA – I loved my summer farm share, but I wasn’t at all prepared for the winter one. Hopefully I can do the same one next year, but set up some sort of basement storage beforehand for all the root vegetables. […]
Pingback from Sign Up for Farm Shares Now « Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time January 25, 2010 at 8:25 pm
[…] signing up with them again. (If you wonder what sorts of things you’ll get, check out my weekly photos.) But there are a lot of options out there. If you live in the Boston area and don’t know […]
Comment from Sharon
Time December 29, 2009 at 9:04 am
I’ll take any root veggies you’re trying to get rid of–I’m going to make a stew later this week.
Also, Alton Brown suggests a container full of sand, and to bury the root veggies in the sand to keep them cool and airtight for long periods. He keeps his sand box in the fridge though, I think, so it might not be perfectly useful.