Jupiter Ridge 2019 CSA | Week 6

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Greetings CSA Members!

The share this week will feature some new additions (and the return of some tasty items you’ve enjoyed in the past) – we hope you enjoy them as much as our market customers did this past Saturday at Dubuque Farmers Market!

This week’s share will include:

  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Fingerling Potatoes
  • Leeks
  • Green Beans
  • Shiitake Mushrooms
  • Green Cabbage
  • Garlic
  • Oregano
  • Basil
  • Onions
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Hot Peppers 

New this week: leeks and garlic! These veggies can also be used like culinary seasonings in and of themselves (especially garlic). We hope you enjoy the flavor they add to your recipes and meals this week. Enjoy!

Baby Leeks
Baby leeks being pulled from the field.

Leeks: Using Them | Explanation and Tips

We get a lot of farmers market customers in Dubuque asking us all about leeks. What are they? What should you use them in?

Leeks are a relative of onions and garlic, with a flavor more similarly resembling onions more than anything. Compared to onions, though, they have a gentler presence in recipes when it comes to taste. The part you want to use it mostly its white stem (which has the same texture and is chopped the same way as an onion bulb), though the green leafy top parts can be used, too. However, be prepared for the green parts to be a bit more fibrous (less like an onion bulb).

We recommend leeks in soups and stocks most of all. That seems to be where they shine the most  (especially in soups using potatoes – leek and potato soup is heavenly, so give them a try along with those fingerlings!)

But really, you can replace recipes calling for onion with a whole leek if you desire. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Leeks
Leeks!

Wellness Spotlight On: Garlic

Vegetable farmers love to grow garlic. People love to eat garlic (it tastes delicious – what would we be without it?) Herbalists also love garlic because it has dozens of health properties. 

In summary: everyone loves garlic.

But most notably of all, garlic is amazing for your health, there’s no way around it. When you eat it as a food or culinary herb, it’s great for your immune system, for reducing cancer risk, protecting heart health, regulating blood sugars, the whole she-bang.

One interesting thing about garlic: it can be a potent antibiotic. However, in order to tap into these antibiotic properties, you need to eat garlic raw!

A tall order, we know – but for those interested in trying their hand at it, raw cloves can help you knock out a cold or a flu if you want to try out a home herbal remedy that is widely known to help you when you’re sick (and is actually shown to be effective!). Placing cloves of garlic in a jar of honey is a great way to prepare for the winter – it helps preserve them and also make “popping” a raw clove for a cold or flu way more palatable (and still effective).

Oh yeah – garlic it can be great for sore throats, too (especially when combined with that honey).

Garlic

Lots of good stuff this week – and especially healthy stuff, too.

As always, feel free to let us know if you have any questions about how to use an item in your CSA share (or what it could be good for, health-wise!)

~ jupiterridgefarm@gmail.com ~

Yours,

Adrian & Will | Jupiter Ridge Farm