Season: Fall 2021
Size: Full Share
Week 3 of 12
October 16th, 2021
Hi CSA Members,
I am excited to join you for another CSA season here at Finca Tres Robles. For those of you who are first time CSA members, welcome! My name is Mary and I am the Operations Manager at the farm. Along with the rest of the team – I will be helping seed, plant, care, harvest, and pack the vegetables in your share each week. After a few weeks off in the summer I am looking forward to the fall season.
The fall season is off to a good start, even with the flash flood we had on Saturday, October 2nd. Thanks to you, Saturday members, who braved the weather and made it out! It is amazing here in Houston how fast flash flooding can happen. The week before the flood we were behind on seeding and planting. Other things came up. The weather was bad on Tuesday, we had an all-day quarterly meeting on Thursday. So, we didn’t get to the seeding and planting that we needed to that week. This, of course, stressed me out a little bit. I wanted to get it all done. Little did we know that it was a blessing in disguise. If we would have planted and seeded then everything new would have been washed away that weekend. The older crops were established enough and survived with minimal damage. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. By the end of Saturday, I was pretty happy with us being behind schedule.
We have had a handful of cool mornings and beautiful days. Although, as I am writing this on Tuesday at 1:32pm it feels like summer again. You feel the changes in the weather on a day-to-day basis out here. Sometimes an hour-by-hour basis. We have a cold front coming in this weekend and those mornings on the farm feel rejuvenating.
We are all caught up now and all the crops are looking happy in the greenhouse and in the field. Soon, they will be on your plates!
Enjoy!
Mary
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE
Radish
A vibrant bulb (varies in color depending on type) with a pleasantly crunchy texture and very pungent, peppery flavor. Radishes are a great addition to salads or as a snack to enjoy by themselves or with dips. They are also enjoyed sauteed, braised, or roasted, neutralizing a lot of the bite and increasing their sweetness. Try pickling them, as well!
Pear (Lightsey Farms)
These pears are a bit hard to the touch, but juicy and sweet on the inside.
Lettuce Mix (Whitehurst Farms)
This salad mix is full of flavor. Try mixing with the dwarf bok choi and lettuce from Verde Greens. Add some dressing and it’s good to go!
Acorn Squash (Gundermann Acres)
These squash have a nutty flesh that is prime for sauteing, grilling, or roasting.
Lettuce (Verde Greens)
This lettuce is especially delicate and crisp. It gives salads a clean crunch and it’s broad leaves could also act as a receptacle for lettuce wraps.
Red Potato (Gundermann Acres)
Enjoy!
Thai Basil
This basil has a sweet, peppery, and clove-like taste and provides a lot of the flavor characteristic in thai noodle/stir-fry dishes! This thai is a wonderful addition to salads, salad dressings, sauces, and even adds a pleasant fragrant addition to your traditional pesto!oni
Collard
A round, hearty leaf that is mildly earthy. Try using in a salad or sauteing with other cooking greens. Collards also holds up well as wraps!
Okra
Okra has a very unique taste and texture-the taste has been described as somewhere in between eggplant, green beans, and asparagus and the texture as crunchy exterior with a softer inside due to its large soft seeds. We love eating our okra raw or roasting to bring out its tenderness. You can also try pickling your okra, it’s delicious!
Hot Pepper (Gundermann Acres)
These serranos are absolutely delicious. They are versatile enough to chop up and add to anything that needs that spicy kick, have fun!
NEXT WEEK’S SHARE
This is our best guess for what will be included in the share next week.
Holy Basil, Chard, Pepper, Lettuce, Radish, Misome, Potato, Squash, Cucumber, and Eggplant!