Ginger harvest

We harvested half our ginger this week.  It’s time – nights are chilly inside the greenhouse, and we don’t want the tropical ginger to get damaged by cold.  I have loved this small planting.  It feels garden-like on this scale, at least in contrast with our vegetable fields.  It’s always interesting to grow something new and unusual.  Above, Jory digs the ginger from the ground.  Aren’t the plants lush?  Most of what you see are ginger but the taller plants on the left are turmeric.  We planted a few seedlings for fun and were surprised at how big they grew.

Caitlin’s job was to grade and trim the ginger root.

This is baby ginger, bright white and pink because it hasn’t grown a brown epidermis yet.  It takes a long season to grow into the mature ginger you find in stores.  It’s usually grown in warm places like Hawaii.  Baby ginger is special because it has the full ginger flavor and spiciness but almost no fibers.  That’s why it’s used to make the pickled ginger served with sushi.

We cut the roots into plump pieces to distribute in this week’s CSA boxes.  We’ll harvest the remaining ginger next week, so the purple EOW members get to try some too.  See the brown piece at bottom right?  That’s the seed piece we originally planted in spring.

Storage Shares

We have just a handful of storage shares left.  Sign up by the end of this weekend if you are still interested.  You can read here about what we delivered in last year’s storage share.
Current Tipi members, sign up here.
New members, sign up here.

Please scratch your name off the checkoff list every week.

One of our site hosts called last week to tell me there was one unclaimed box at her site, but six names still on the list.  She didn’t bother making reminder calls that week.  Please scratch your name off the checkoff list.  Please take care of it before you take your box – your hands are empty and you are less likely to get distracted by your beautiful produce.

Veggie List and Veggie Notes (October 1/2, 2015, week #20, green EOW)

Red bok choy OR Yukina
Edamame soybeans, 1 bundle
Carrots, 2 lb
Broccoli OR cauliflower
Italian beans, 1 lb
Frying peppers, 3
Oranos peppers, 2 – 3
Tomatoes, 1 to 3
Yellow onions, about 2
Jalapeño chiles, 2
Basil, 1 husky sprig
Baby ginger, 1 knob

Next week’s box will probably contain carrots, onions, peppers, ginger and much more.

Some sites will get red bok choy, some will get Yukina.  These related vegetables are similar, although Yukina is larger and more strongly flavored.  They can be used interchangeably in recipes.
Red bok choy (loose rosette with thick stems and magenta leaves) – This Asian green is good for stir-frying or sautéing or in soup.  It’s also good as a raw, marinated salad, like a fresh unfermented kimchi.  You can think of the stems and leaves as two separate vegetables.  The stems require longer cooking.  The leaves will cook almost as quickly as spinach.  Refrigerate in a plastic bag.
Yukina (large heads of dark green leaves) – This is my favorite fall green.  It is nutritious, delicious, a great combination of mustard-like leaves with crunchy stems.  These yukina look big, but will shrink once cooked.   We usually steam and drain chopped yukina, then dress it with a cooked mixture of fried garlic and ginger simmered with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, a little sugar and a lot of paprika or hot pepper flakes.
Edamame (bundle of stems with pods attached) – See our notes from three weeks ago about how to cook.
Carrots – The first fall carrots!
Italian beans – The last summer beans!  Really, that’s the end.  We added an extra bean planting this year, for a total of seven deliveries.  We hope you enjoyed them.  These Italian beans are mature enough that they will be best braised.  Pat came up with a nice braised chicken and Italian bean dish for us.
Tomatoes – Well, tomato season is ending.  It’s so hard to let go.  Enjoy these last few tomatoes we picked for you this week.
Jalapeño chiles (small green chiles) – These are HOT.  Handle with caution.  Remove the seeds and midveins to lessen their heat.
Baby ginger – See above.  Wrap in a damp cloth or paper towel, and keep in the refrigerator in a plastic bag.  Eat soon; baby ginger is perishable and we plan to send more next week.  This stuff bruises easily so we gave it just a light washing, and figured you could do the fine washing when you cut it up.

THIS WEEK’S RECIPES

Comforting Classics

Chilled Lemon Marinated Cauliflower
Cheesy, Creamy Brown Rice, Broccoli and Greens Casserole
Braised Chicken with Romano Beans
Sesame Salad with Bok Choy or Yukina
Slow Braised Goulash
Ginger Curried Carrot Soup

Outside the Box Recipes

Cauliflower Gallette Crust
Broccoli Hummus
Yukina Savoy with Sweet Chili Sauce
Braised Sausage, Pepper, Onion and Scrambled Egg Sandwich
Japanese Carrot Ginger Dressing

Kitchen Sink Recipe

Roasted Fall Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Quick and Easy Meal Idea

Basil Marinated Caprese Sandwich