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“The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” – Michael Pollan, author, journalist and professor at UC Berkeley  Quinoa grown at White Mountain Farm. PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT: White Mountain Farm // Mosca, COThe farm has been in the family since the 1930's. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the main crops were organically grown wheat, alfalfa, and sheep. In 1984 we started experimenting with Quinoa and in 1987, White Mountain Farm was incorporated, named after Mount Blanca, and started growing certified organically grown Quinoa and potatoes, becoming the first large-scale Quinoa operation in North America. Since then we have added rye and a variety of vegetables to our rotation. Over the past years we have been selecting the best tasting Quinoa and potatoes to offer our customers. Our goal is to offer good tasting, high quality Quinoa, potatoes, and mixed organic produce at reasonable prices. Welcome back for round 2!We are pleased to present you with Week 2 of your Summer CSA! We hope you enjoyed last week’s selection – weren’t those cherries delicious? And who knew that Sunflower Oil exists? As a quick note, we would like to highlight the importance of eating with the bioregional season; as you open your CSA and take stock of the beautiful inclusions, take a moment to appreciate that these are the foods the region is yielding at this moment. A cold, late Spring and the quick onset of a hot Summer was tough on crops across the state, and that translates to a more limited yield. This is neither good nor bad – it is simply a reflection of the natural season. Food for thought! What’s in the Box this week?
Note: Each shareholder has two boxes, so you can either bring back your empty box before the next week’s box arrives, or you can exchange it while picking up the full one. RECIPESFeatured Items of the Week: Onion Greens, Mint, and Quinoa Paul Hawken’s new book, The Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming (2017. Hawken, P., ed., Penguin Books), discusses the significant impact the way we grow, transport, eat, and waste food have on carbon emission. The book even suggests changing our relationship with food might be one of the most effective action we can take (even more than installing solar panels on the roof!) to reverse global warming. Considering that, eating locally grown, agrochemical-free food of our bioregion seems more critically important than ever. Chinese onion bread Today we first focus on a part of vegetable that might be discarded unless it is coming directly from the growers; green leaves of the onions. We are quite fortunate — especially in this sudden hot weather after late frost that we had only about a month ago — to have this rush greens. They can be used in stir fries like scallions, but here is a recipe for Chinese onion bread adopted from a cook book, Beijing Mianshi, by Wu Wen.
  Mint Tea
Some years ago, a Moroccan friend showed me how to make Mint Tea in his tradition. He had a nice tea pot to which he poured tons of sugar and packed it with fresh mint. Then he poured hot water over and steeped it for a few minutes. Use less sugar if you prefer. Enjoying the vibrant green color of the mint while it is being steeped. Serve it hot or cold. Very refreshing either way! A variation to the theme is to add lime juice and mix with crushed ice (and rum for some adults :) to make a drink very much like Mojito! SLV Quinoa & Beet Salad Do you happen to have some beets from last week? With the quinoa in the box this week, it’s time to make San Luis Valley’s signature Quinoa & Beet Salad. First, a gentle reminder on cooking quinoa: 1) Wash well. People who do not like quinoa, often do not like the unique aroma. Washing quinoa well before cooking reduces the aroma. I wash quinoa changing water until the water is almost clear. Using a strainer to drain it makes it easier. 2) Cook in 1:2 ratio. For example, one cup of quinoa and two cups of water. This ratio gives quinoa nutty texture. Of course, you can adjust the amount of water to your liking. 3) Boil the water first. Add the washed and drained quinoa into boiling water. This also helps with the nutty-ness. 4) After adding the quinoa, bring it to boil and simmer till all the liquid is gone. 5) Fluff it when it is done. Now for the salad:
- sunflower oil - apple cider vinegar - balsamic vinegar - honey - salt & pepper - garlic (grated or crushed) 1. Roast/bake the beets Place washed beets with skin on in a baking dish along with a few cloves of garlic. Pour water for 1/3 to 1/2 inch deep. Cover with a foil. Bake at around 400F for 45min to 1hr, until a folk goes in easily. It’s better to overcook than undercook. Set it aside to cool. Then peel and cut into pieces. 2. Make the dressing Mix all the ingredients for the dressing. You could marinate the garlic overnight to take away the sharpness.
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"If conservationists will attempt to resume responsibility for their need to eat, they will be led back fairly directly to all their previous concerns for the welfare of nature." -Wendell Berry  Good day folks,
There are a few spots still available for the 2017 summer Fresh Box season. Order/communicate soon if you're still interested. Here's a peak at what coming tomorrow (box items may change depending on market and field conditions): Cherries, Sweet Red Santina, Conner Orchards, Hotchkiss Tomatoes, Beefsteak, Graber's Produce, Alamosa Baby Sweet Lettuce, COG, Ring a Ding Farms, Howard Radish, Easter Egg, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca Onions, Yellow Grilling, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca Cilantro, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca Mushrooms, Portabella, Colorado Mushroom Farm, Alamosa Quinoa, White Mountain Farm, Mosca Swiss Chard, Salida School Garden/Guidestone, Salida Mint, Moonstone Farm, Salida Basil, Salida School Garden/Guidestone, Salida Grass-fed Ground Beef Shares: We need to ship the 12 ct frozen ground beef case to you this week. Please let us know TODAY if you cannot take 12 pounds of ground beef at one time. CSA Boxes: Each share gets two. Please bring your empty to the CSA pick up location when you pick up your second box, or anytime earlier is good too. CSA Market Purchases: Place your order by Tuesday 4 pm. CSA Fresh Box Pick Up Locations: -Alamosa at the Local Food Coalition office starting at 12 pm (lock box code 00005401) -Creede and Del Norte starting about 10 am (contact us for delivery details) -Crestone at Chokecherry Farm starting at 2 pm -Saguache at Saguache Works starting at 3 pm -Salida starting at 4 pm (843 H St, on East side of house) Simple Foods Market 15th Anniversary Celebration
"When you are new at sheep-raising and your ewe has a lamb, your impulse is to stay there and help it nurse and see to it and all. After a while, you know that the best thing you can do is walk out of the barn." -Wendell Berry  Greetings Valley Roots CSA Market Member,
Today is the last day to register for the 2017 CSA Fresh Box. Please log into the market and order the Fresh Box, along with the weekly GMO-free egg or grass-fed ground beef option, and any other meat, dairy, or value added item, by TODAY by 4 pm. We do have a cut-off so please get your order in sooner rather than later! Ordering is easy: 1) Click this link: valleyrootsfoodhubcsa.localorbit.com/users/sign_in 2) Enter your email and password. You can reset if needed. Hit the "Remember Me" button. 3) This will take you into your account dashboard. From there you will see at the top right of the page: ORDER SUPPLIERS ABOUT. Hit ORDER. 4) Select the items you want to purchase. The CSA Fresh box is at the top. 5) When finished go to CHECKOUT. 6) Enter credit card information. 7) Then, hit PLACE ORDER. If you have any questions, please give me a call or email: 719-588-8245 [email protected] You can see past boxes here, just select a time period from July-September: http://www.valleyrootsfoodhub.com/csa-blog Pick Up Locations: -Alamosa at the Local Food Coalition office starting at 12 pm -Creede and Del Norte starting about 10 am (contact us for delivery details) -Crestone at Chokecherry Farm starting at 2 pm -Saguache at Saguache Works starting at 3 pm -Salida starting at 4 pm (843 H St) Testimonial and more information here: http://www.valleyrootsfoodhub.com/csa-sign-up.html We are also hiring! Want to get involved in building the Colorado local food system in the Valley, Chaffee County, and Colorado Regional? http://www.valleyrootsfoodhub.com/jobs.html In food we trust, Nick "Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup." -Wendell Berry  Dear Discerning Eater,
The Valley and Colorado agricultural community is off to a vigorous start: baby greens coming in extra supple, Easter Egg radishes from White Mountain gonna be plump and spicy, and we have a ton of new value-added products coming in. CSA Fresh Box deadline is June 20th. We do have a cap of how many shares we are doing so please get your order placed to ensure a space for you: CSA Market Log In/Registration: https://valleyrootsfoodhubcsa.localorbit.com/users/sign_in What is a Valley Roots Fresh Box? Its a $35 assortment of fresh produce, along with a surprise value-added item. It is a weekly distribution, 13 weeks. Here's an example of what you can expect to find in a box in late June:
If the CSA box is just not a good match for your family due to travel or your own gardending (many people garden AND receive a box, however) you can always just shop in the market and your order will get delviered to the CSA pick up location nearest you ($50 minimum). Tuesday 4pm deadline for delivery that next Friday. NEW Producer and NEW Products from MM Local, Denver:
NEW Products from Ela Family Farms, Hotchkiss:
Testimonial: "As a natural foods chef and culinary instructor, I am fanatically discerning about the quality of my food. Having recently moved to the San Luis Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area, I couldn’t possibly imagine how the foods of this region could equal what I was accustomed to through the California CSAs and farmers markets. When the first box arrived, I opened the lid and gasped with glee. I found not only an abundance of immaculately fresh organic produce but a lovely sampling of local value-added foods as well: Squash, peaches, mushrooms, greens, root vegetables, quinoa, sunflower oil, and even some potato chips! The freshness of the food re-ignited my love of cooking and made eating a total delight. I am so glad that my California food snobbery has been nipped in the bud by the comparable and in many ways superior quality of Colorado’s organic fare, and I bow with deep gratitude to Nick and his crew at the Valley Roots Food Hub for enriching the quality of life for all of us. For as long as I live here, I’ll be a subscriber!" Marcella Friel Natural Foods Chef & Mindful Eating Coach tappingwithmarcella.com "I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief... For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." -Wendell Berry  Greetings Valley Roots CSA community,
For those of you who joined us at one of our Farm to Table dinners in Salida, Crestone, or Alamosa THANK YOU for making those special events! There is no local food system without your support and consummation, so we all greatly appreciate your involvement! The Valley Roots Food Hub Fresh Box is scheduled to start June 23rd! If you haven't already, please register by June 20th at the very latest. Returning shareholders? Folks new to a CSA? We invite you to all join us! We have a lot of new producers/products this year, new hub personnel, new vision, and new capacity. Add to that the lessons learned from the previous two seasons, and I think we are going to have a very unique, diverse, and special program. This year you can look forward to:
Other items in the CSA Market:
Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions! Best, Nick 719-588-8245 or [email protected] CSA Market Log In/Registration: https://valleyrootsfoodhubcsa.localorbit.com/users/sign_in |
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Office: 719-206-2839 5401 Terry Street Mosca, CO 81146 Mailing: PO Box 35, Mosca, CO 81146 |
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