First CSA Box 2016

"Agriculture is the noblest of all alchemy; for it turns earth, and even manure, into gold, conferring upon its cultivator the additional reward of health." -Thomas Jefferson
Greetings Folks,
The season is afoot and the food floweth forth.  Thanks to all the shareholders for making this year happen, and especially to the Creede folks for rallying together in critical mass to get a CSA box delivery system in place.  
COOLERS:  Yes! please return them to your CSA pick up location prior to the next Thursday, or ASAP.  These are on loan from White Mountain Farm, don't loose them!

Cardboard boxes, clamshells, etc: Yes, please remove labels, wash them, and return them with your cooler, we can reuse them.
A la Carte Ordering:  Please have your orders in by Wednesday 4 pm.
Here's the box:

• 2 lbs Organic Tieton Sweet Cherries, Black Bear Orchards, Palisade, CO.  Brian and Rebekah Cox operate Black Bear Orchards with an attention to detail and a trained knowledge about when to harvest for the most optimal fruit in flavor, texture, and sweetness.  This is a real Colorado treat!  Just wait for peaches!
• 1 Tomato, Beefsteak.  Graber's Produce, Alamosa, CO.  This Amish family is in the tomato business all together, from the littlest wee-one to Alan and Irene steering the ship.  Vine ripened hydroponic.  A jewel of the Alamosa countryside.
• 5 oz Mesclun Mix, Ring a Ding Farms, Howard, CO.  Adam Ring and his brother Noah have built an amazing thing just on the East side of the Sangre de Cristos.  A specialized baby green operation that is Certified Organic, HACCP certified, GAP Certified, and triple washed.  They utilize a green manure nutrient management system, meaning cover crops exclusively maintain soil fertility. Organic Girl watch out!
• 5 oz Power Greens Mix, Ring a Ding Farms
• 1 Green Leaf Lettuce Head, Brightwater Farms, Monte Vista, CO.  The Mennonite Toews brothers have built an amazing floating-raft, year-round, hydroponic greenhouse near Monte Vista.  Any inputs they use are certified through OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) which means they can be used in Organic Agriculture.
• 1 Butterhead Lettuce Head, Brightwater Farms.
•  8 oz Mushrooms Agaricus Button, Colorado Mushroom Farm, Alamosa, CO.  Rhakra Mushrooms is now Colorado Mushroom Farm, a stalwart community organization employing many local folks and sending their quality fungi all over the continent.
•  5 lbs Russet Potatoes, COG, White Rock Specialties, Mosca, CO. Our home base in Mosca, White Rock is the premier packer of organic and specialty potatoes for markets across the nation.  We are lucky to have such great hospitality and access to such a high quality product!
• 1 Bunch Red Radish, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca. Also our home base, White Mountain grows some of the finest veggies in the valley!
• 1 Bunch Turnips, COG, WMF
• 1 bunch Cilantro, COG, WMF
• 1 Bunch Garlic Scapes, Antonia Garcia.  Antonio has got a green thumb on his own micro-homestead in Alamosa, but is now one of the farmers to take to the land at the Rio Grande Farm Park.  Can't wait to see what he's gonna put out!
• 1 Butternut Squash, COG, Arkansas Valley Organic Growers, Boone, CO.  Our partner food hub based out of the Springs and Pueblo area, they take care of our winter squash and green chile needs and we supply their potatoes and quinoa. 

From Megumi Sugihara's Kitchen:
Pico de Gallo
1/2 tomato
1/2 bunch cilantro
3 radishes (optional)
1/8 purple onion
jalapeno pepper

chop all of the above

add the following for taste:
1 lime juice
salt
sunflower (or olive) oil


Garlic shoots:  If there was one item in this week’s box that some people may wonder what to do with, it might be the garlic shoots.  I myself did not know what it was and what to do with until about 8 years ago.  Now I love it for its robust flavor and crisp texture.

Garlic shoots can be great addition to any stir fry.  One secret…. fry them separately to desirable softness, set aside and add them back when the rest of the stir fry is ready.


Have a great week!