Three different shots from our greenhouse this past week. The weather has been dramatically cold. Nighttime temps below 15 degrees can threaten the well being of the greens in our tunnels. We put a free-standing heater in the tunnel to keep off the deepest cold (set to 15 degrees). With the snow and cold this weekend, we pre-harvested the lettuce for Tuesday's share to make sure we'd actually have a frost free window to get it out of the ground. Winter greens can successfully freeze and thaw and maintain their quality (really, they get even tastier) but they need to be harvested while thawed.

Our Monday meetings start with the weather forecast every week of the year, but in winter, we are paying particular attention to what times we think the greenhouses will be thawed and schedule our harvests for that time. Luckily winter greens are growing so slowly, if at all, that their storability after harvest is sometime ten times as long as it would be in summer.

We squeezed in a re-planting of the lettuce bed (just barely, it was pretty tough watering in the new seeds without the water freezing on it's way to the greenhouse, but we got it done!). We are planting very fast growing, cold tolerant greens like arugula, mizuna, claytonia and tat-soi to complement the kale and spinach which are still growing/re-growing. We are hoping to have these greens in your March shares and in the early spring shares!

If you haven't registered for a spring share yet - they are selling fast. I suggest registering this week if you want to secure a spot. If you can't make a payment now, simply register for the share and choose "pay by check". You can then send us a check when it makes sense for you! Register now.

We've been really proud of the greens we've been able to include in your first few shares. With the deep cold we've had in January and the general nature of winter, there will be less greens in the February shares, but hopefully lots more in March!

Not to worry, coleslaw is a great winter salad option. I made a great one the other day that I thought I would share.
Veggies:
2 Carrots (grated)
1 watermelon radish or daikon radish (grated)
1/2 green cabbage chopped very fine*
1 small leek or 1 small shallot (or skip if you're not into it)

Other ingredients:
1/4 cup almonds, chopped finely/slivered
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp sunflower seeds
(I like adding nuts and seeds for texture and protein . . . it makes this slaw a meal on it's own if you want)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar (red wine vinegar or lime juice would work)
1/2 tsp salt (or more or less to taste)
a couple dashes of soy sauce if you like

Directions: Put it in a bowl and stir it all up.

Left overs?: I made my leftovers into spring rolls the next night, but you could just eat it for lunch on a sandwich the next day . . . .

*half a cabbage? What do you do with the other half?: Cabbage will store really well cut in half and put back in the fridge in a plastic bag in the veggie crisper/back of the fridge. At least a week but more like 3-4 weeks. Kohlrabi and rutabaga will do the same.
Shares this week:

All Shares include: 1/2 pound spinach, and 1-2 mini heads of lettuce

THIS WEEK THERE ARE TWO SECTIONS FOR CHOICE! We need to start moving some of our more unique vegetables, like rutabaga, kohlrabi, celeriac and well, we just have a lot of green cabbage. 

If you choose not to customize your share, we will pack it with 2 pounds orange carrots, 2 medium onions, 2 small shallots, 2 pounds potatoes, 2 pounds sweet potatoes, 1 pound celeriac, 1 pound turnips and 1 green cabbage (plus the greens listed above).
Recipes

Jess Girotti here, with your recipes for this week. I've hand-picked a few recipes that would be great with this week's share. If you don't see anything that you're excited about, head on over to the new recipe pages on the Upswing website. I've added recipes that highlight each vegetable along with information on storing and preparing produce!

Use this puree wherever you would normally use mashed potatoes. You can even throw in a can or two of beans for some added protein. Serve it as a side dish or as a bed for roasted veggies, scallops or beef.

I'm pretty sure I've shared this link before but if you're still shy about kohlrabi, I'm guessing you haven't tried it yet. We do these as a main course at our house and I grab kohlrabi whenever it comes up as a choice because it's just that good.

If you had told me that I could get my whole family to eat cooked cabbage and actually enjoy it enough to ask for seconds, I never would have believed you, and yet - they did!

Even if you don't trust me, you should trust Ina Garten. She never lets me down. This is a great way to use turnips, even if you're not usually a fan.

This is a great "intro to rutabaga" recipe. It has the familiar, cozy flavors of rosemary and onions and roasting the rutabaga brings out its natural sweetness.

I can't really get over how delicious this cake is. I decided to make it because my kids don't love parsnips, but they do love cake (shockingly). I expected it to be okay (because cake) but it was "lick your plate clean" scrumptious. There's a whopping 6 cups of veg in here between the radicchio and the parsnips so it's basically like eating salad. :)

This is a great go-to recipe for roasted root vegetables. Don't stop at the ones she has listed here though! I throw in whatever I have on hand including beets, rutabaga, celery root and turnips. Sometimes I add a drizzle of honey, maple syrup or balsamic vinegar and sometimes I switch up the fresh herbs that I add. Go crazy with it!

I picked up the Well Plated cookbook last week and have been loving her veggie-heavy, quick and easy recipes. This one is a great twist on coleslaw with apples, craisins and parmesan cheese for the sweet-salty-crunchy trifecta of deliciousness.
Sincerely,

Your Farmers
Brittany and Kevin
Some weeks your share might be pre-packed in a paper bag(s). Shares are valued at $30/week (20% more than the weekly value during summer and fall, so expect a slightly larger share than what you might be used to. Don’t worry, you have two weeks to use it up before the next share, and winter produce lasts really well when stored properly - see below for storage info).

In order to provide some level of choice for your winter share when they are pre-packed, we will be offering share customization options through our online store. We will send an email the Friday before your pickup, when you will be able to customize your share. If you don’t sign in to customize, no worries, you’ll just get the awesome variety of produce we already planned to give you!

The reason we might not offer a market-style pick up every distribution is because the threat of freezing temperatures makes having the produce out in the elements very risky. We will play it by ear, though, so if the forecast looks good and picking up market-style makes sense, we might choose to do that.

Winter shares require flexibility. We really appreciate you signing up and working with us to effectively get our locally grown organic produce to you.

If you aren't going to be able to make it to get your share, please email me as soon as possible so we can make other arrangements.
Storing Winter CSA Produce

Potatoes: In a dark, cool and dry location if storing for more than 2 weeks, otherwise just in a cabinet will suffice, but keep away from light
Sweet Potatoes: In a dark, room temperature, dry location (in a cabinet in your kitchen is great)
Onions, Shallots, Garlic: In a cool/room temperature location

Cabbage, Leeks, Carrots, Beets, Radish, Turnip, Kohlrabi, Rutabaga, Celeriac, Spinach, Kale, Lettuce, Pea Tendrils, Micro Greens, Fresh Herbs: Best storage is in a plastic bag in the fridge.