Thanksgiving CSA Share

Hey everyone,
As promised, we are offering a Thanksgiving Share. With the seasonally nice weather we still have a bounty of produce! Get some and share with your families over the harvest celebration holiday. Our pick up will be Saturday, Nov. 21 from 9-noon @ our house in Iowa City-- 1003 Ginter Avenue. Most produce will store in a cool dark space, so as not to eat up most of your fridge space. There will be some flexibility on certain items due to the unique pick-up situation. (example type of onions, type of squashes-- you can switch squashes). We will also be offering a Farmers Market Style table which will be featuring a few items not in the box & more of your favorite items. The Share cost for this special holiday box is 22$. Please let us know by this Thursday pm if you'd like a box.

Thank you!
Echo CSA
Christy 515-201-5593 or Derek 319-325-3910.

At this time this is our best guess as to what will be in the box: (first come first serve on limited varieties-though we wont let someone take all the delicata squash!) ;-)

1 bag braising mix, 1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch mint, variety of winter squash- 3 (delicata, butter-nut, acorn, spagetti, pie pumpkin), onions- pick 6 (red, sweet, yellow), leeks (3), shallots (2), garlic (3), potatoes (variety to choose from), baby bok choi.

also for individual sale-til we run out... chard, arugala, dill, cilantro, salad mix, assorted other greens, and all the above if you wish to add

Week 13 Delivery

Week 13
August 12th & 15th

Now that it finally feels like summer, we're preparing for autumn. This morning the crew was spreading compost on garden beds to prepare for transplanting and seeding fall greens. We've got cabbages to transplant, hopefully fall lettuce, and fall greens like spinach and arugula.

In Your Box:
kale-
chard-
basil-
zuchinni-
cherry tomatoes-
slicer tomato-
leeks-
garlic-
potatoes-
beets-
beans-
candy onion-
red onion-
eggplant-
cucumber-

Raw Garden Salad
This salad is 100% Raw when made as described below, and everything but the salt, olive oil, and vinegar is in your box!

1) De-stem kale and chard and cut into small pieces. Massage with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the following:

~ ½ a red onion cut into small pieces.
~1 or 2 cloves chopped garlic.
~1cucumber, the rounds into quarter pieces.
~ tomatoes of your choice, I like chunks of heirloom and halved cherry tomatoes.
~ basil cut into small pieces
~ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
~more olive oil if needed
~sea salt to taste.

2) Mix all ingredients together and serve fresh!

Week 12 Delivery

Week 12
August 5th & 8th

In Your Box:
kale-
chard-
parsley-
basil-
zuchinni-
tomatoes-
leeks-
garlic-
potatoes-
beets-
beans-
candy onion-
eggplant-

Pesto Pasta

1) combine ½ c sunflowerseeds, 1 bunch of basil, juice of ½ lemon and a pinch of salt in a food processor.

2) boil the pasta of your choice, (I like penne noodles for this pasta salad) according to the directions, strain noodles. Toss with a little olive oil so that they don't stick

3) sautee 1 leek with bite size pieces of zuchinni in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes.

4) Combine noodles with pesto and vegetables. Add cherry tomatoes and sunflower seeds to garnish. Delicious warm or cold!

Week 11 Delivery

Week 11
July 29th & August 1st

In Your Box:
kale-
chard-
parsley-
basil-
zuchinni-
tomatoes-
leeks-
daikon-
garlic-
potatoes-
beets-
beans-
candy onion-
eggplant-

Thai Eggplant Curry
~3 Tbsp sesame oil
~1Tbsp each of: mustard seeds, sesame seeds, cumin seeds
~1 chopped onion
~2 Tbsp turmeric
~ 2 eggplants
~1 C greenbeans, cut into 1 inch pieces.

1) heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or wok. Add seeds until they begin to pop, add onion stirring occasionally.
2) Add eggplant, salt and turmeric.
3) Add ¼ C water, and cook, stirring from the bottom, keep covered.
4) Steam green beans on top until they are bright green.
** Garnish with cilantro

**Serve over brown rice

Week 10 Delivery

Week 10
July 22nd & 25th

In Your Box:
kale-
chard-
parsley-
basil-
zuchinni-
cherry tomatoes-
leeks-
garlic-
potatoes-
beets-
sweet onion-
eggplant-

Pump up the nutrition in your fruit smoothies by adding chard or kale (no stems) leaves. Yum!

Roasted Garlic Spread
Every year we make a few big batches of this spread to last us into winter. It's great on almost everything: potatoes, kale, eggplant, or as an ingredient in other sauces.

~peel 5 heads of garlic ( or more to make more)
~toss in olive oil and spread on a baking sheet with edges.
~roast at 325º for approximately 12 minutes (maybe longer if the cloves are large)
~puree in a food processor adding a bit more olive oil and salt to taste

**a favorite variation is to add thyme and oregano when pureeing
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Kale Chips
~to de-stem kale: Grasp around the stem and pull towards the top of the leaf. Tear any large leaf pieces into more chip-size pieces.
~rub kale with olive oil (about 1tablespoon per bunch) sprinkle with salt
~Bake at 350º (12-15 minutes) until crisp but not brown
~cool on wire racks

**these can also be dehydrated for a raw chip!

Week 9 Delivery

Thanks to everyone who came out to the garlic party! We figure we got about 1/8th of the field picked, so there will still be a few more weeks of picking.

Our melon and sweet corn crops failed, so we won't have them from our farm this year.

In Your Box:
kale-
chard-
parsley-
basil-
zuchinni-
tomatoes- slicing tomatoes to come soon!
leeks-
potatoes-
daikon-
garlic-
beets-
fennel-
sweet onion-

Sauteed Beets
*start with a little olive oil and ½ a chopped onion in a pan. Add beets cut into quarter inch thick pieces. Add a little water (mixed with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons tamari or soysauce.) and cover for ~5 minutes. When the beets are as soft as you like, uncover-- add 2 cloves of chopped garlic and all of the beet greens, chopped. (Make sure to cut the beet stems into 1 inch pieces or smaller) Cover for another minute, and then stir and serve.

*fennel and daikon are both wonderful additions to this recipe

Week 8 Delivery

Week 8 July 8th & 11th Echollective Farm Mechanicsville, IA

We've got a few more summer veggies this week: tomatoes and zuchinnis from the greenhouse, potato harvest starting too.

A lot of folks have been going on vacation-- please remember to let us know if you'll be out of town, as we don't have refrigeration space to keep your box from wilting. We can arrange to have your box donated, or you can arrange to have a friend pick up the box for you.

Garlic Party this weekend!!! We're going to be closing down a few rows of peas-- they're a bit overgrown, but there are still LOTS of peas on the vines, so, as a treat to folks who come out this weekend-- pick all you want peas! Freeze 'em for winter, you'll be thrilled in December! Garlic activities will be starting in the afternoon on Saturday. Potluck, Pickin', and Campin'. It looks like it'll be a hot weekend, but we'll be making smoothies, and garlic ice cream for cool down treats. Come on out!

Garlic house where we hang garlic to dry

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In Your Box: peas- green shallot- leek- garlic scape- salad mix- basil- chard- kale- beets- turnips- parsley- zuchinni- tomatoes- sungold cherry tomatoes potatoes- these potatoes are fresh from the earth so stick them in the fridge or use them promptly

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Mashed Potatoes & Turnips
boil potatoes and turnips together- as much as you want to make, half as many turnips to potatoes

when soft, remove from water and mash, adding olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, and milk (my fav is coconut milk), salt to taste, pepper if you like, garnish with parsley and chopped garlic scape.

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Got any greens in your box that you're not using?? Extend your CSA season by storing your greens for winter! Chop up and sautee any wilting greens with a little olive oil until they're bright green. Puree in a food processor or blender with a little water and freeze into ice cubes. Once frozen, put into freezer bags and LABEL. These are great to add to winter soups, sauces, or almost anything for more flavor and nutrition!!