2016 CSA Week 1

Good evening fellow CSA members!

I am so excited to begin this season with all of you. We can rest assured that our crops have been rigorously tested and thoroughly approved this week...



Finley enjoying a fresh strawberry snack.



Silas (and his papaw) in the strawberry patch. Look at those cheeks!
Could even one more fit in his mouth???

Do you think maybe Josiah got caught sneaking a strawberry?

 
I knew -- barring catastrophe -- there'd be strawberries this week. I thought there'd be cornmeal. But I got a surprise in learning we'd have asparagus!

Ford hoped to include asparagus in our first CSA shares last year but the crop matured much earlier than anticipated, and alas... It didn't happen. I'm glad to know we'll have some this week!

Here's the low down on your share:

Produce	Storage	Longevity
strawberries	unwashed, in fridge	2-5 days
cornmeal	sealed in bag or container, in fridge	weeks
asparagus	unwashed, in fridge	2-3 days, or as soon as possible

A note about the cornmeal: Most likely this will not be the only week we have cornmeal in our shares. This week we'll see Hickory King, an old-time white variety of cornmeal. It makes delicious muffins, cornbread, cheese grits, etc. Next time it may be yellow Hickory King. It's the same variety, just a different strain. If you're interested to know more about that, just ask Ford. No matter it's color, I usually just save the cornmeal for cornbread, or to batter future veggies before frying them.

Here are some tried and true recipes from previous seasons:
 
Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins
 
Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
 
Strawberry Basil Water
 
Cornmeal Sandies
 
As for the asparagus, you can steam it or grill it or slather it in butter (my personal favorite). I haven't decided what I am going to do with mine yet. But as soon as I learned we'd be getting it, I decided asparagus would be my first challenge. Johnie doesn't like it, so I'm going to be on the lookout for a recipe he might enjoy (bacon-wrapped might be the winner). I hope to share the results with you later this week.
 
In the meantime, here is a link with five easy ways to prepare asparagus.
 
And, if you're feeling adventurous, choose one of these 22 (fancy) asparagus recipes.
 
As always, Ford, Amanda and I would love to hear from you. We're here to help you make the most of your share.

Have a great week!