2013 CSA: Week 11

Hey all! The heat is creeping up on us! The crew and I are already looking forward to the siesta schedule we adopt in June. We’ll work from 6am to noon, and then break til 4pm when we return to finish out the chores of the day. With the longer daylight hours come less time spent thinning, transplanting and weeding salad mix greens and lots more time spent harvesting. It’s always a wonder to watch the bounty that mother nature provides during the heat of summer. We’ll just try to keep pace. Right now, we’re stockpiling the early squashes, zucchini and cucumbers from this week to make sure we have plenty to share with everyone next week. And the first tomatoes are beginning to roll in as well so it won’t be long at all.

These are exciting times for the egg layers at White Oak Pastures. Farmer Frankie has begun earnest preparations for growing our laying flocks in new pastures around the farm. The newest birds are just now at 17 weeks and have already begun laying small eggs. These of course, are completely edible and delicious and fresh. As part of the CSA, you may see some of these smaller than average eggs in your boxes but that’s just part of the life cycle we endure as farmers and you help us bear as members of the farm. As the bird ages, we also share the larger eggs that are often laid, including the occasional egg with a double yolk. Check out some pictures below of Lori in action pre-wash rinsing just a few days worth of eggs.

And finally, here’s a link to a short video tour of the washing shed where your veggies are washed and packed each week. Many of you may not take the opportunity to come visit the farm so this is a neat glimpse behind the scenes. The short film was made by Christine Anthony and Owen Masterson through Georgia Organics. CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Eye Round Roast  – Alot of flavor and prefers to be cooked with wet heat.

Chicken Tenders (2.5 lbs) – Free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken tenders. Our chickens are raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal rating.

Pasture Raised Eggs:

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (Wanna add eggs to your order this week, Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables:

Chinese Cabbage – A peppery lettuce type cabbage that is uber-excellent for stir-fry. A personal favorite of myself and “yellow margin leaf beetle” Consequently, we had to harvest a tad early since the little critters were starting to take over. I guarantee you that the inner leaves are still terrific. Just wash thoroughly.

Broccoli – Some big heads, some medium heads, but thankfully, just enough to go around. Hope you enjoy it!

Carrots OR Beets – You can’t go wrong here…

Watermelon Radishes – These are miraculous! The rind of this radish is spicy hot but the interior is as sweet as, well, A Watermelon! Try it out, you’ll be happy you did.

Head Lettuce  – Results are in and The Red leaf is amazing! This new planting is holding up to the heat better than I’d expected and there’s another on the way.  Just one this week.

Kale – Red Russian or Toscano varieties this week. I’m falling in love with this green all over again in morning juices and smoothies.

Collards – If you missed your chance to try the Collard pesto the other week, I recommend it. We harvested some of the bigger older leaves this week because we were noticing Downey Mildew on the leaves. We rinsed them, but a cold water wash on your end and cooking is more than enough to stay on the safe side.

Sweet Vidalia Onions – Ok, they can’t officially be called Vidalias because they were grown here in Early County, but these did start out as certified organic transplants grown on a farm in Vidalia country, so we consider them “grandfathered” in.

Potatoes – You’ve waited long enough! Red Pontiac New potatoes just for you. Enjoy!

Strawberries OR SugarSnap Peas – I was really hoping for enough of each of these to do full shares. But alas, it’s either a half pound of one or the other. Some of the peas are ready to be shelled or eaten in the shell. Great in salads!

 

Sunday Short Ribs

Here’s a slow and low recipe to try out on your ribs this week. I’m particularly excited to try this because one of our own CSA family, the Turtons of Cordele, will be offering their own honey through our farm store. They dropped by on Friday and had dinner with us and left us a sample of their honey.
We have four hives of our own at the farm but the Turtons have over 60 and have been caring for bees for several years now. Look for all sorts of new products in the next order form for June. And if you haven’t already prepped your ribs, grab your some local honey and try this recipe: CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Saturday CSA update

So, we had to call an audible at the last minute. With veggies, there was not enough Lovage to go around so we opted for Sugar Snap peas in their place. To those of you already prepping your Bloody Mary mix, don’t worry. We’ll let the lovage grow back and we’ll let you try it in a couple weeks.

And in the Saturday Meat CSA, some will receive Short Ribs instead of Spare Ribs. Both equally delectable and all totaled a retail value more than $30. I hope everyone enjoys their cheese this week too.

Have a great weekend and a happy Memorial Day!

2013 CSA: Week 10

Kudos to everyone for doing such a stellar job using name cards and returning your boxes last week. Thank you so much. This is a big week this week. Three items in the Meat CSA, and a veggie box filled to the brim with all the flavors of Spring. There is alot of work yet to be done today so I’m going to jump straightaway into the menu items this week.

But first, a few pictures to show you behind the scenes…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Grass-fed Spare Ribs (3 lbs / 2 Racks) - A long cut from the lower portion of the carcass, spare ribs are great for barbecuing, smoking, or cooking over an open flame.

Grass-fed Ground Beef Patties(3x 6oz patties) - A 90% lean ground beef that is great on the outdoor grill, stove top, or George Foreman grill.

Party Wings (2.5 lb) - Free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken wings that have been cut into drums and flats for your convenience. Our chickens are raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

 

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (Wanna add eggs to your order this week, Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Farao Cabbage – Oh, the gifts of spring. One dense head of beautiful green cabbage just for you.

Braising Mix – All purpose mixed greens for making stir-fry, quiche, fritatta, and overall healthy people.

Broccoli – Some big heads, some medium heads, but thankfully, just enough to go around. Hope you enjoy it!

Red / Chioggia Beets – Still going strong! Here’s the recipe again from last week: slice them like medallions, no more than 1/4″ thick. Olive oil up a cookie sheet and spread out your sliced beets, covering both sides. Then add liberally sea salt and cracked pepper. Set under the broiler until crispy, then turn with a spatula until crispy on the other side. To die for!

Watermelon Radishes  – These are miraculous! The rind of this radish is spicy hot but the interior is as sweet as, well, A Watermelon! Try it out, you’ll be happy you did.

2x Head Lettuce  - All Buttercrunch this week! It’s holding up to the heat better than I’d expected.  These are in limited supply with summer fast approaching.

Kale – Red Russian or Toscano varieties this week. I’m falling in love with this green all over again in morning juices and smoothies.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard – Lots of vibrant colors to enjoy in your kitchen. Compare these to the edible leaves on your beets – Yes, they are related.

Sweet Vidalia Onions – Ok, they can’t officially be called Vidalias because they were grown here in Early County, but these did start out as certified organic transplants grown on a farm in Vidalia country, so we consider them “grandfathered” in.

Organic Herb: Lovage – Here’s one I’ve wanted to do for some time now. This hollow-stemmed herb tastes remarkably similar to Celery. Of course, these qualities make Lovage a wonderful candidate for a specific task – namely, A Bloody Mary Straw. Simply de-leaf the herb, cut the head of the stem off and place into your favorite recipe of salty spicy Bloody Mary. Simple, refreshing and delicious!

2013 CSA: Week 9

Friends, I’m going to make this post short because I’ve got a date to pick up some freshly bottled Organic Milk this evening! Thanks to all who ordered last week. We’ll be delivering your Milk this week and the Queso Blanco will be made fresh this weekend and delivered next week. As most of you are well aware, we are transforming our front office into a farm store. At the store, we are offering a broad range of grocery items produced locally by fellow farmers and Southern-food artisans.  Some of these items are available on a limited supply and some we are making available each week. In the weeks ahead, look for new items like Cafe Campesino Coffee out of Americus, GA and Serenity House Loose leaf teas from St. Simon’s, GA.  And as CSA members, you are encouraged to order with us and let us build value and convenience into your CSA experience each week. And with each item, once we reach a point where we collectively are buying enough to claim a wholesale discount, we will pass that savings onto you.

A quick note on CSA crates: Please please please remember to use your name cards each week. Put the card in the sleeve immediately when you pick-up and then forget about it – don’t touch it, just leave it. Once you return your crate, we’ll take care of the rest. As you know, we keep track of who is returning their boxes each week with those cards. If your name card is missing, let us know by phone or email, otherwise you will be charged for a missing crate. We hate to charge anyone, but the crates are expensive and we need all of them to keep the CSA rolling. And as we described earlier, the $50 refundable crate charge covers only 2 CSA crates. So, please, keep returning  those crates with name tags attached.

On the farm front: New additions to the Vegetable roster are showing up, all hinting toward the sweet promises of Summer. The early tomatoes are starting to show a glimmer of orange past all the greens. Gorgeous flowers are emerging among the squashes, along with their cucumber cousins’ miniature flowers. The okra has germinated in the field and will be thinned soon. And in your boxes this week – Beets are finally here! And Broccoli too! And with London Broil and 2 Chickens (a la Cornish Game Hens) as well for the Meat CSA, it’s looking to be an exceptional week to be a White Oak Pastures CSA Member.

Here are some pictures and then we’ll get down to business….

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

London Broil (2 lbs) - The leanest muscle that is derived from the beef carcass that lends itself well to all types of preparation. Enjoy for Mother’s Day this weekend!

Cornish hens (x2) - The White Oak Pastures version of Cornish Game Hen. We’ve put two in your box this week so this should make a great dish for date night. I have a recipe for making Collard Pesto below, and here is a recipe that calls for Pesto with Cornish hen as well: Click here!  

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (We’ll have more egg shares available in May! Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Corvair Spinach – Feed your inner Popeye! Whether you steam or saute it, juice it or blend it, or just chop and eat it raw; Spinach is the King of all greens. This variety is known for good taste with both large and small leaves.

Broccoli – Some big heads, some medium heads, but thankfully, just enough to go around. Hope you enjoy it!

Tri Color Beets – I’ve missed beets so much! It’s good to have them back. Golden, Chioggia, and Detroit Dark Red beauties are bunched together for you this week. If you’re scared of beets, try them this way: slice them like medallions, no more than 1/4″ thick. Olive oil up a cookie sheet and spread out your sliced beets, covering both sides. Then add liberally sea salt and cracked pepper. Set under the broiler until crispy, then turn with a spatula until crispy on the other side. To die for!

Fava Beans – They’re back! Over 1.5 lbs of favas just for you. See week 6 for more info and ideas – as well as an Allergy Warning.

Mixed Radishes  – A lil spice to add to your salads, or you can cook these into a stir-fry easily too. Yummy goodness.

2x Head Lettuce  - Romaine, Buttercrunch, and Red Fire. There are some great recipes out there for grilled Romaine too, send me pictures if you try anything fun with the lettuce this week.

Champion Collards – What!?! No Kale this week? I know, but I had to pass along this recipe and feature Collards all by themselves. On a picnic this past Sunday, I was re-introduced to this classic southern green in the guise of a pesto. I’ve had pestos made from all manner of greens before but never Collards. It just makes sense! Here is one RECIPE, but google Collard Pesto and fine one that works for you! **Also, use part of this pesto to finish you Cornish Hen with the recipe linked in that description**

Bright Lights Swiss Chard – Lots of vibrant colors to enjoy in your kitchen. Compare these to the edible leaves on your beets – Yes, they are related.

Sweet Vidalia Onions – Ok, they can’t officially be called Vidalias because they were grown here in Early County, but these did start out as certified organic transplants grown on a farm in Vidalia country, so we consider them grandfathered in. We’ll be “curing” the harvest for next week in the field, but we couldn’t resist sharing the early harvest with you this week. You can enjoy them right away, but for greatest sweetness, let them sit for a few days at room temp.

Organic Herb: Mint or Lemon Balm – You’ll recognize the mint if you get it, but if you smell what looks like mint and you catch a whiff of fresh lemons, then you’ve got lemon balm. Lemon Balm is a member of the mint family and known for its medicinal qualities and calming effects. Cut these up and freeze them in ice cubes for a terrific tasting easy twist on ice water or iced-tea. Great for hot teas too. Also this makes a nice natural mosquito repellent if you crush the leaves and rub over your exposed skin.

2013 CSA: Week 8

Welcome to the eighth week of your CSA! Yet for several of you, this is the first week you’ll be receiving deliveries from our farm. And welcome aboard! Like I always say, you are more than a seasonal member of our farm, you are now an extension of our family and we take seriously the commitment we’ve made to provide for you each week.

I’m hopeful that everyone took the time to read through May’s a la carte order form that I emailed on Sunday. (If you did not receive it, we may have your email address spelled incorrectly, so sorry – just call the farm and let us know.)  We’ve announced some tasty new options for you to choose from including May’s artisinal cheese variety, chocolates and granola from Koinonia Farm, Elliot Pecans from Pecan Point Farm, and our own hand-ground sausage prepared by Guest chef Jim Snyder.

And I have great news regarding dairy deliveries from Working Cow! The dairy is going to allow us to come pick up your orders the same day as milking and bottling occurs. This will allow us to get the freshest milk and cream possible out to you the same week instead of holding it for a week for mid-week delivery locations. So, the delivery schedule before was really screwy and weird and now its astonishingly simple and easy.

Week 1: PLACE ALL MILK/CHEESE ORDERS! That’s this week – be sure to get your order to us by Friday at 5pm

Week 2: MILK DELIVERIES! All Milk delivered to all locations, (Just days out of the cow!)

Week 3: CHEESE DELIVERIES! All Cheese orders delivered to all locations

***There’s only one catch… Working Cow bottles the 1% and 2% varieties the day after we’re able to pick up, so those won’t be available anymore. If you still want them this week, they will be from a prior milking. I’ll send out a revised order form after this Blog post that has The rest of the items like our weekly sausage creation, granolas and chocolate will be delivered the same week as ordered and may be ordered at any time throughout the month. I’ve included some pictures below of some of the products we highlighted in Sunday’s email.

Some news from around the farm: The pigs all seem healthy and happy, having successfully rooted and wallowed a home out of their shady patch of acreage so far. I absolutely love that I can walk from my house to visit with them at anytime. There is unanimous agreement that White Oak Pastures has made a great decision inviting pork into the rotation. And this week’s on and off precipitation means more greenery to graze on for the rest of the livestock on the farm. With the warming soil temps, we’re starting to see more and more seasonal insects which means the chickens are happy and the garden is now officially a war zone. Good bugs and bad bugs battling it out with a good amount of mating going on too. It’s like a racy Hemingway novel playing out all over the farm and written each week on the leaves of your CSA greens. But we wouldn’t have it any other way, we eat to enjoy life and we grow by allowing the living earth to happen. Thank you for permitting a few holes in your leaves as collateral damage in the name of organic agriculture.

So let’s see some pictures from the farm this week and then we’ll talk about what’s in store in your shareboxes…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Sweetheart Ribeye (16oz) - A beautiful boneless ribeye butterflied into a romantic heart shape. Cook it together and split it with your special someone. This ribeye is a full-flavored, mild textured cut of meat that lends itself well to all types of dry heat cookery.

Ground Chicken (2 lbs) - Our ground free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken. Our chickens are raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (We’ll have more egg shares available in May! Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Sweet Charlie Strawberries – Our own organic strawberries! They teased us and teased us and we finally have enough to share them with you. Thanks for being patient!

Braising Mix with Corvair Spinach – The tastes of Spring in a convenient triple washed bag of green goodness.

Salad Mix – I hope you’re in the mood for salads this week. Two heads of lettuce and a full bag of salad mix. Enjoy the seasonal bounty!

Hakurei Turnips  – Mild enough to be called sweet. We always receive compliments on these japanese turnips. And they’re perfectly good enjoyed raw.

2x Head Lettuce  - Once again, one Red and One Green, just to keep things interesting. Nothing better than a Spring Salad! If you didn’t try it last week, maybe you can try my new favorite salad dressing this week: Oil-Free Creamy Citrus Tahini Dressing from Epicurious (hint: I trade out lemon juice for limes instead!)

Dinosaur Kale – Rrrroooaaar!!! Some say these greens look like reptile skin. Chefs refer to this Kale as Lacinato or Toscano Kale. You’ve enjoyed Red Russian before this so I know you’ll enjoy this one too. First pick of the new crop and lots more to come!

Bright Lights Swiss Chard – We’re breaking into the second planting of Swiss Chard, which has lots more vibrant colors to enjoy in your kitchen.

Evergreen Bunching Onions – These are legit bunching onions, not to be confused with the multiplying onions we’ve featured in the past. No guarantees if you plant these in your garden, I suggest you restrict these to kitchen work. Southern Sweet Onions are on their way!!!!

Organic Herb: Sorrel – A citrus zing awaits you with this cool crisp leafy gem. I love having these around the garden to munch on through the workday. And I love adding them to salads with cocunut, cashews, and mandarin oranges – or chop the greens and add as a late post-heat topping to stir-fries for a another layer of flavor.

2013 CSA: Week 7

I hope everyone had a lovely Earth Day! Of course you’re well aware that by supporting local agriculture, you’re reducing the carbon footprint on your dinner plate. And especially by supporting White Oak Pastures, you’re supporting a farm that continually makes significant efforts to limit our impact on the environment. The way we raise animals and crops actually builds organic matter in the soil year after year. Grid-tied Solar panels power up to 30% of our farm’s energy needs each day. We brew Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil to run our garden Tractor. And we compost. Oh boy do we compost! I don’t mean to toot our own horn, here. But if you couldn’t tell already, we’re just really proud of the work we do. And when Kermit the Frog tells us to make Earth Day every day, we take it to heart.

SO, Earth Day was great, but by FAR the biggest thing that happened this week was the arrival of a new class of livestock: Berkshire Hogs!! Deep in the shaded woods of our farm, 25 gilts and 2 Boars make up the introductory breeding stock of this new venture on the farm being led by John Benoit, who also heads up the Broiler Chicken Field crew. I’ve put some pictures in the slideshow below. The pictures almost capture how amazingly cute these muscular little critters are.

Finally, tonight White Oak Pastures is hosting a party for friends from Jim N Nicks Barbeque. And as I write this, there is an entire 600 lb cow finishing up a 24 hr barbeque-ing. See pictures below. It is a thing of beauty! I hope everyone enjoys their share this week as much as I’m about to enjoy the meal tonight. I wish I could wrap up leftovers and send some out to all of you…

Ok, here’s some pics and then your dinner table of contents…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Ground Lamb (2.5 lbs) - Back by popular demand! Our ground lamb is rich in flavor and great on the outdoor grill, stove top, or George Foreman grill.

Shoulder Roast - Time to get your roast on again! The most flavorful and versatile roast of all. Great for slow smoking, oven or crock pot cooking.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (We’ll have more egg shares available in May! Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Corvair Spinach OR Braising Mix – The tastes of Spring in a convenient triple washed bag of green goodness.

Sugarsnax Carrots  – Carrots are back! These early spring wonders should help you get through your dual lettuce heads this week.

Head Lettuce  - One Red and One Green, just to keep it interesting. Nothing better than a Spring Salad! Try it with my new favorite salad dressing: Oil-Free Creamy Citrus Tahini Dressing from Epicurious (hint: I trade out lemon juice for limes instead!)

Georgia Collards OR Kale – The collards and kale are harvested on the main stem as we are slowly transitioning to the next crop and removing plants from the field after flowering. New crop coming next week!

Southern Giant Mustard – Bringing the heat! This classic southern favorite adds a kick to any meal. I love it with Blue Cheese on a Beef or Chicken Burger. Should be great with Ground Lamb too. Or try it bedded between a bun and a Brat and let this greenery do the work that mustard wishes it could do. Enjoy it now, because the bugs that love to eat our greens pick this plant over all the others  So, we use it as a “trap crop” Consequently, there’s a very short harvest window.

Mixed Radishes – Purples, whites, reds and more. We’re trying to stay on top of the successions!

Loose Purple-top Turnips – You’ve got more than a pound to roast, cut up and sautee, juice, or dice up thin for salad toppings

Organic Herb: Citrus Thyme – One of my absolute favorites, try it with your lamb this week! Or rubbed into the shoulder roast.

 

2013 CSA: Week 6

This week is full of new flavors! **Fava beans (see allergy info linked below)! Rabbit! Guinea! and lots more. As you know , we are by no means the only farm with a CSA program, but I believe that we are unique in our ability to provide varieties like what you see this week. And yet, this ability is founded in proper land stewardship and not merely for marketing.  This week, I’m showing you behind the scenes on how the animals and plants we bring you each week actually work within the farm eco-system to strengthen it as a whole. For example, the Serengeti Grazing Model that we employ at White Oak Pastures is founded on the idea of using multiple species that utilize and replenish different elemental resources from and for the land. The large and medium-sized ruminants fill several niches on the farm, but the various fowl we raise serve purposes too. The species we’re highlighting this week, Guinea fowl, are highly effective insect and seed eaters which make them valuable team members for sanitizing against pests and picking out competition weed seeds. They are natives of Africa and I fell in love with them during Peace Corps service in Tanzania. Here are a couple tasty recipes to try…

Roasted Guinea with Lemon and Rosemary: by Food & Wine, Bruno Tramontana.

Guinea with Blood Orange and Thyme: by Food Network, Jaime Oliver

And we’re also introducing rabbit this week.  Our rabbits provide the highest quality fertilizer to our fast-growing orchard and in return, the dense leaf canopy will provide shade for the rabbits during the hotter parts of the year. Here are some more recipe options for the rabbit this week:

Rabbit Stew with Olives and Rosemary: by Food & Wine, Marco Canora

Italian Braised Rabbit: by NY Times

Finally, you may notice that the Collards and Kale in your box are bunched differently than normal. As we prepare to harvest from the new Spring Crops, we have begun allowing the winter brassicas to “bolt” (or, go to flower before seeding). This stage of plant growth is important, not only to plants, but also to predator insects on the farm who rely on mature plant stages to complete various stages of their own life cycles.  Take time to notice the difference between the leave formations and thickness of the stalks this week and next versus those that you see towards May.

Alright, let’s get down to the business in the kitchen: First some pictures, and then the goods…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Whole Guinea (2-2.5 lbs) - Free-range, pastured, Guinea hen. Our Guineas are raised along side our other poultry with no antibiotics or added hormones.

Rabbit (Whole or 8-way) - American Chinchilla rabbits raised on pasture at White Oak Pastures.

 

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (We’ll have more egg shares available in May! Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

 

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Salad Mix w/ Spinach  – The true taste of Spring in a convenient triple washed bag of green goodness.

Stir-fry Mix  – Mix into your salad mix for a little spice, or flavor any meal with this tasty and nutritious green addition

Georgia Collards OR Swiss Chard – Your collards are harvested on the main stem as we are slowly transitioning to the next crop and removing plants from the field after flowering. Limited Swiss Chard this week.

Red Russian Kale – More Green Goodness. The hits just keep on coming!

French Breakfast Radishes – We’re pickling lots of these this week for a fresh batch of pickles.

Hakurei “Salad” Turnips – These amazing albino beauties are perfect for eating raw, or adding to salads or any meal that calls for a root veggie. You may remember these from the jars a few weeks ago. Delicious!

Organic Herb: Rosemary – Rosemary can be used in all of the recipes linked above for the Rabbit and Guinea. But rosemary is also a terrific addition to morning eggs and other veggie dishes.

**Fava beans –  Click HERE to learn about allergy information and more than you probably want to know about Favas, also called Broad beans. Everyone gets a pound of these little wonders, still in the shell. In Nepal, they are eaten as a green vegetable when the pods are young, generally stir-fried with garlic. I’m recommending shelling your beans this week and adding them in with the turnips and stir-fry mix with some toasted sesame oil and pine nuts. Here are more ideas:

Sautéed Favas: Food.com

ideas with pics: Huffington Post

 

CSA Crate and Peril

We strive for zero-waste on our farm so, of course, we employ reusable packaging whenever possible. To meet this goal and stay cost-effective, we rely on all of you to do your part returning all of your crates with your name tags each week. And 95% of you are doing a great job.  Here’s some helpful packaging related news for both veggie, meat and egg subscribers…

MEAT

1. Always remember to place your name card in the plastic sleeve. And then just keep it there – We need it to know you are returning your box each week.

2. This week, we will begin reusing frozen gel packs in lieu of evaporating dry ice. Please keep these gel packs in the bottom of your box and return them to us. (If you hide them in your freezer, you will forget about them  - please just leave them in your crate)

3. The insulated pads are almost more expensive than the box. The crate, pads, freezer packs and your name tag belong together – please don’t break up a happy home.

VEGGIES

1. This one is the simplest – just remember to place your name card in the plastic sleeve. And then just keep it there – We need it to know you are returning your box each week.

EGGS

We always appreciate you returning your used White Oak Pastures egg cartons.  Please only give them back to us if they are clean though

Finally, don’t be surprised when you see a second “confirmation” email for following the White Oak CSA Blog.  I have a good inclination that not everyone has registered to receive the Blog updates so I am going to take the time to enter each one of our email addresses so I will know for a fact we’re all getting these updates. I love you all, and want to make sure every one gets their $50 crate fee back so you can spend it on one of our Thanksgiving turkeys.  See you tomorrow – we’ve got some good treats in store!

2013 CSA: Week 5

Ok, you know that its Spring when the Blog update that should have been written by 3:00pm is just now getting started well after 10:30pm…

And even though its late, I have to start this update off by publicly bragging on my crew. We’ve been stretched thin this week with some of our crew performing mandatory vaccinations on our youngest laying hens. This means that last night, the alarm went off at 2:30am and they vaccinated from 3:00am until 6:30am. Then they showered, ate a light snack of a breakfast, and gleefully harvested and packed this morning and managed to get the first plantings of squash and cucumbers into the ground this afternoon. They’re all troopers! And I’m blessed and honored to have them at my side. I’ll save other farm musings for later and jump right into the thick of things… Let’s talk food!

All manner of greens remain the star of the show this week: Fresh first cuttings of salad mix, young tender arugula and mizuna. More beautiful radishes and the first turnips of the spring. Also, there’s a special treat that you can either eat or plant in your own garden. For our favorite  omnivore members, Party wings and a succulent Boneless Shoulder Roast await you in your meat share as well. It’s going to be a delicious week!

We’ve placed the order for dairy and will begin distributing those orders as described in the previous e-mail. And starting in May, we’ll also be offering Pecans from our good friends George and Becky Rogers at Pecan Point Farm. These are some of the best pecans I have ever tasted. They’re grown without chemical sprays and with lots and lots of love. We bought just enough so we can offer them to you at $9/lb. You’ll see it on the order form for May, but I was too excited to wait. I’m awful at surprises.

And here’s what we have for you this week:

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Meat CSA: (call us on Monday by noon for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

Party Wings (2-2.5 lbs) - Free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken wings that have been cut into drums and flats for your convenience. Our chickens are raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

Grass-fed Shoulder Roast (3 lbs) - The most flavorful and versatile roast of all. Great for slow smoking, oven or crock pot cooking.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

1 dozen beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week. (We’ll have more egg shares available in May! Please email me or call our office today to get on the waiting list! 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Ruby Red Swiss Chard – Is back, and redder than ever! So nutritious and so beautiful.

Baby Bok Choi  – We’ll have some grown-up versions of these on the way, but they were way to cute at this age not to share. But not too cute to eat, throw them in the stir-fry this week with your Stew beef. Towards the end though, because these are great tender little gems that can also be eaten raw. We’ll share some recipes for these in later weeks – One of my favorites!

Salad Mix  – First cutting! The true taste of Spring in a convenient triple washed bag of green goodness.

Arugula OR Mizuna  – Guess which one you have! The serrated leaf is Mizuna and the rounded-lobed leaf is Arugula. Both make for excellent Spring time pre-basil pestos.

Georgia Collards – Excellent protein content. Try using the raw leaves as a wrap for yummy burritos!

French Breakfast Radishes – So gorgeous and delicious -We’ve been spacing these plantings out pretty well so we hope to share fresh radishes all spring long. Enjoy!

Multiplying Onions - The leeks are behind us and the Sweet vidalia type onions are a few weeks away still. If you absolutely need an allium, you can always have one growing in your own flower bed. Your multiplying onions this week are not washed very well because you can plant separate the individual onions and plant them 6″ apart in full to partial sun. Water them in and mulch around them and by fall, you should have 8-12 more onions in its place. Keep separating them again and again and pretty soon you’re an onion farmer.

Organic Herb: Lemon Balm – A member of the mint family and known for its medicinal qualities and calming effects. Cut these up and freeze them in ice cubes for a terrific tasting easy twist on ice water or iced-tea. Great for hot teas too. Also this makes a nice natural mosquito repellent if you crush the leaves and rub over your exposed skin.

New this week, Purple turnips - They’re still putting on size, but we robbed some to share with you this week. Your share just looked empty without more roots in there with all of those gorgeous greens. More carrots and beets to come, but for now – Be proud to eat Purple!