The 20 week season is over. I made it to 18 pick ups. The good news is that we’re extending into a mini-season with bi-weekly pickups. That gives me two more months. I might join another one in the winter. I hear that Kawartha Ecological Growers does year-round and they deliver to Appletree Market and U of T. And hey, I’ve got my year-round farmers’ market (Wychwood Barns), at which my farm has a table.

The farm’s “veggie of the week” is mustard greens, which isn’t exactly one vegetable but a combination of varieties of leafy greens in the mustard family. In this case it’s mizuna, Red Rain, Green Wave, and Red Giant. Here’s what our farmer said about the mustard greens:

This is the first year I’ve grown them, and I am totally impressed. They all have a mild flavour (not too spicy) and can be eaten raw or cooked … except Green Wave, which is quite hot until you cook it slightly, then it mellows. They’re beautiful and they’re perfect greens for this time of year. Soon the hard frosts will wipe them out.

The only information I could find about Green Wave were seed sales and blog posts about CSAs. Since I was on newsletter duty this week and this gives me an excuse to exercise and share my nutritional nerdiness, I learned that mustard greens are detoxifying, can help prevent cancer, they’re an excellent source of antioxidants, they have anti-inflammatory benefits and support the cardiovascular system.

Mustard greens are an excellent source of many vitamins including vitamin K, vitamin A (beta-carotene), vitamin C, folate, and vitamin E. They are also an excellent source of manganese and calcium as well as dietary fiber. They are also a very good source of potassium, vitamin B6, protein, copper, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B2, and magnesium. Mustard greens are a good source of vitamin B1 and vitamin B3 (niacin).

Serving Ideas

• Young mustard greens make great additions to salads.
• Serve healthy sautéed mustard greens with walnuts.
• Adding chopped mustard greens to a pasta salad gives it a little kick.

I included this recipe for sauteed mustard greens from Simply Recipes but was also interested in this recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens.

Here’s what else I chose this week after missing last week:

• Spinach
• Kale
• Spaghetti squash (I now have 4 kinds of squash, all acquired separately, though I could have also gotten acorn squash and others today.)
• garlic
• Sunflower greens
• cilantro

I need regular salad greens. If the farmers’ market can’t provide, it’ll be Earthbound Farms, my off-season choice.

Here’s my squash collection, by the window in my living room.

Now to decide whether or not I want to stay with the 8-point small share or upgrade to a 12-point medium share if I’m doing half the pickups in the fall than in the summer…

Eat well, be well.

What do we want to know about this week? Spinach? Sweet potato? Both?

According to website Nutrition and You

Health benefits of spinach

• Spinach is store house for many phyto-nutrients that have health promotional and disease prevention properties.
• Very low in calories and fats (100 g of raw leaves provide just 23 cal). It contains good amount of soluble dietary fiber; no wonder greeny spinach is one of the vegetable source recommended in cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs!
• Fresh 100 g of spinach contains about 25% of daily intake of iron; one of the richest among green leafy vegetables. Iron is an important trace element required by the body for red blood cell production and as a co-factor for oxidation-reduction enzymes cytochrome-oxidases during the cellular metabolism.
• Fresh leaves are rich source of several vital anti-oxidant vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C; and flavonoid poly phenolic antioxidants such as lutein, zea-xanthin and beta-carotene. Together these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a healing role in aging and various disease processes.
• Zea-xanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, is selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions; thus helps protect from “age related macular disease” (ARMD), especially in the elderly.
• Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is essential for vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin A and flavonoids helps body protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• 100 g of Spinach provides 402% of daily vitamin-K requirements. Vitamin K plays vital role in strengthening bone mass by promoting osteotrophic (bone building) activity in the bone. It also has established role in patients with Alzheimer’s disease by limiting neuronal damage in the brain.
• This greeny leafy vegetable also contain good amounts of many B-complex vitamins like vitamin- B6 (pyridoxine), thiamin (vitamin B-1), riboflavin, folates and niacin. Folates help prevent neural tube defects in the offspring.
• 100 g of farm fresh spinach has 47% of daily recommended levels of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant which helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen free radicals.
• The leaves also contain good amount of minerals like potassium, manganese, magnesium, copper and zinc. Potassium in an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper are used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells. Zinc is a co-factor in many enzymes that regulate growth and development, sperm generation, digestion and nucleic acid synthesis.
• It is also rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.
• Regular consumption of spinach in the diet helps prevent osteoporosis, iron deficiency anemia and is believed to protect from cardiovascular diseases and colon and prostate cancers.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamins C and E, both of which function as antioxidants and fight free radicals. Eating them as part of a meal increases absorption of carotene and vitamin E because fat improves their absorption.

I like sweet potatoes roasted or steamed. Both make a great salad topping. Spinach often goes in my smoothies. I like sauteing or wilting it.

I picked up some wild blueberries and raspberries at a farmer’s market on Wednesday. Great straight, in smoothies and in salads!

Image via Wikipedia

Dinner last night: Last week’s salad greens sauteed with garlic, kale and spinach. Some of this formed the base of a frittata with shiitake mushrooms.

Here’s what I’ve researched about shiitake mushrooms:

Shiitake mushrooms have been used medicinally by the Chinese for more than 6,000 years. They’re among the varieties of mushrooms that boost the immune system.

They’re a good source of essential vitamins and minerals, including pantothenic acid, potassium, zinc, copper and selenium. The iron in dried shiitake mushroom may be equally as bioavailable as supplemental iron in the form of ferrous gluconate, a commonly used low-dose iron supplement.

The proteins in shiitake mushrooms are composed of 18 types of amino acids, including 7 of the 8 essential amino acids in a ratio similar to the ‘ideal protein’ for humans. Of these amino acids, shiitake is especially rich in leucine and lysine, which are deficient in many grains. These mushrooms are an excellent source of protein for vegetarians and vegans.

Shiitake is also rich in enzymes, and researchers have found over 30 enzymes in shiitake. Two of particular note are amylase, important for proper digestion, and cellulase, which dissolves fiber. The wealth of enzymes in shiitake can help with deficiencies of these important compounds.

Shiitake contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. In its sun dried form it has the highest content of vitamin D of any plant food. (Read more here and here.)

Says the American Cancer Society:

A compound called lentinan is believed to stop or slow tumor growth. Another component, activated hexose-containing compound (also known as 1,3-beta glucan), is also said to reduce tumor activity and lessen the side effects of cancer treatment. The mushrooms also contain the compound eritadenine, which is thought to lower cholesterol by blocking the way cholesterol is absorbed into the bloodstream. These claims are currently being studied.

Pick some up – though make sure you cook them first because while lentinan could be a cancer-fighter, it’s also a toxin that can cause an itchy rash. Also pick up some lobster mushrooms. I’ve been seeing them fresh at farmer’s markets along with chanterelles, and there’s a recipe that I want to try. They deserve a blog post too, especially if I cook with them.

Maybe next week I’ll focus on kale, which I enjoy steamed, sauteed, dehydrated and blended into smoothies. I could list a bunch of kale nutrition facts off the top of my head. I knew very little about mushrooms before hitting the interwebs for knowledge.

Eat well, be well.

Cantaloupes were named after the Italian city Cantalupo. Cantaloupes grow on vines and when perfectly ripe, the fruit has a raised netting on a grayish-beige skin. The pale orange flesh is extremely juicy and sweet. You can find cantaloupes in the Northeast during the summer months. Cantaloupe can be used in recipes, but remember that it is also delicious enjoyed plain!

Selection:

• Choose cantaloupes that are heavy for their size, and have a sweet fruity fragrance at the blossom end.
• Avoid cantaloupes that are shriveled, bruised, punctured, or have cracked rinds.

Storage:

• Keep uncut cantaloupe in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Keep away from other fruit because melons emit a gas that speeds up the ripening of other kinds of fruit.
• When stored a halved melon, leave the seeds inside to help keep it fresh.
• Cut cantaloupe should be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Servings and consuming:

• Top cantaloupe slices with yogurt and chopped mint.
• Slice melons in half horizontally, scoop out seeds and use each half as a basket in which to serve fruit salad.
• Fruit skewers, ice pops, pickles.
• Add some sparkling water or vodka to fresh squeezed cantaloupe juice or blended cantaloupe for a delightfully refreshing drink.
• In a blender or food processor, purée cantaloupe and peeled soft peaches to make delicious cold soup. Add lemon juice and honey to taste.

(See this list of 125 recipes that use cantaloupe.)

Nutrition:
Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamin A on account of its concentrated beta-carotene content. Once inside the body, beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin A, so when you eat cantaloupe it’s like getting both these beneficial nutrients at once. One cup of cantaloupe is just 56 calories, but provides 103.2% of the daily value for vitamin A.

One cup of cantaloupe contains 112.5% of the daily value of vitamin C. Vitamin C stimulates white cells to fight infection, directly kills many bacteria and viruses, and regenerates Vitamin E after it has been inactivated by disarming free radicals.

Cantaloupe is a very good source of potassium and a good source of vitamin B6, dietary fiber, folate, and niacin (vitamin B3). The combination of all these B complex vitamins along with the fiber found in cantaloupe make it an exceptionally good fruit for supporting energy production through good carbohydrate metabolism and blood sugar stability.

More cantaloupe nutrition information.

…I want to pickle cantaloupe now. I bet one of my friends has their own recipe.

I also got cantaloupe from the same grower. Two melons made for a super-heavy load to carry, especially after a couple of pints of stout.

I chose 1 large zucchini (though they were 3 for 1 point), 4 ears of corn that appeared worm-free and beautiful on the outside (yeah, you can’t judge something by its outside), four peaches, a bulb of garlic for storage (I collect garlic over the summer when it’s in season) and stuffed paper bags with salad greens and gorgeous spinach.

I’ve written about watermelon nutrition in this blog before but for this week’s newsletter I went a bit deeper. I opted not to discuss citrulline there in depth, and not because it’s a nonessential amino acid and antioxidant.

The word citrulline is derived from citrullus, the Latin word for watermelon.

Our bodies use citrulline to make the amino acid arginine, which helps cells divide, wounds heal, and ammonia to be removed from the body- so we can interpret that to mean that these amino acids help detoxify the body. Citrulline has been referred to as “natural Viagra” because it relaxes and dilates blood vessels, though it’s not body-part specific. According to the Livestrong website, watermelon can improve sexual stamina (in men and women) and erectile dysfunction. Arginine can benefit erectile dysfunction, along with preclampsia, migraines, and female sexual dysfunction. So citrulline can be linked to orgasms and sexual function for both men and women? That’s convenient. Watermelon is a summer fruit, everyone’s hornier in the summer, people want summer flings… It’s as if heat, bare skin and watermelon were meant to go together! Pass the watermelon!

Conveniently and coincidentally, Joel from Well Preserved chose to post about dehydrating cantaloupe and melon today. I know what I’ll be doing with some of the melon that I cut up! Into the dehydrator sprinkled with Buster Rhinos’ habanero salt.

I’ve got a profile on cantaloupe for you but that’ll just have to wait for another day. Cantaloupe’s just not as sexy as watermelon.

Eat well, be well.

I stopped by the Sorauren Park market on Monday but there was nothing I needed or wanted. I was >this< close to visiting Trinity Bellwoods yesterday after my CSA pick up and was only about 9 blocks away but 9 blocks is a lot to walk when you’re carrying a backpack + 2 bags and my streetcar app was incorrect. It would have been more geographically convenient to go straight from work, but I wanted to see what was available at the CSA first. I’ve already paid for my share in the farm. I partly own those vegetables and fruit before they’re grown.

Here’s what 8 points got me yesterday:

• 4 ears of corn
• 1 cantaloupe
• 1 big bunch of kale
• 2 bulbs of garlic. I stock up all season. They keep for months when stored in a cool, dark, dry place- though with the summer heat my garlic has been perishing.)
• 4 peaches
• A bag of spinach. I should have stuffed that bag to the limit but was concerned about waste, forgetting that when you cook spinach it cooks down a lot.
• Salad greens. I always seem to have enough for 4-5 meals.

On Monday I realized that I still had corn left from last week. I peeled back the husk on one and a worm fell out and began to wriggle on the floor. It disappeared as I was looking for something with which to it pick up. I examined the remaining ears to any sign of worms and ended up throwing them all out. They seemed wormy, but they’d also been sitting out for a week. I hate wasting stuff.

This week when I picked up the fresh corn I carefully examined for signs of worms, without peeling back the husks. Corn keeps better when it’s protected. I looked for such signs as holes & dust. Worms, and signs of worms, are an indication that you’re getting organic. I don’t mind some worm damage if it’s at the end. It can be cut off.

Later in the evening I shucked an ear of corn and found a perfect cob beneath. There’s a moment of happiness right there.

Eat well, be well.

Here’s what I tweeted from the pick up site yesterday:

3 types of melons, blueberries, corn, fennel, garlic & LOTS more at the @EverdaleFarm CSA pick up today!

This is only some of it.

I’d run out of fruit and was rationing the last few days so it felt like I’d found an oasis or hit the jackpot. I split a HUGE yellow fleshed watermelon with a friend and picked up muskmelon (cantaloupe) and honeydew. All three took about an hour to cut up and the juice ran off the cutting board, down the cupboard and onto the floor. Yeah, the ants will love that. (I cleaned.)

Watermelon tastes like summer to me and it is SO nutritious! Antioxidant rich, they’re high in vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin A vitamins B1 and B6.  They’re packed with magnesium (involved with over 300 cellular metabolic functions), potassium and lycopene. Turns out that watermelon seeds are high in zinc and iron, which makes me feel better about pulverizing them in my Vitamix for smoothies. For more information on watermelon, read nutritionist Julie Daniluk’s 5 reasons to eat watermelon and this article from Natural News. Julie’s article lead me to the National Watermelon Promotion Board’s website/blog and there’s some cool stuff on there.

Cantaloupe melons are a good source of potassium, Vitamin A, and folate. It’s high in antioxidants.  The sweetest of the melons, honeydew is rich in potassium and one serving of honeydew melon will give you almost half of the vitamin C you need for one day! They’re also high in vitamin B6 and Folate but low in antioxidants. I recently waited nearly a week before cutting into my cantaloupe, then blended it up with the remainder of my vodka and took it to the beach. Refreshing!

Melons kick ass for taste and nutrition.

But it wasn’t all fruit. I picked up salad greens because I eat salads daily for lunch during the work week and a packed small paper bag usually lasts exactly 7 days. I make my own vinaigrette (Kozlik’s tarragon mustard has become a staple ingredient) and throw on extras such as sprouts, hard boiled eggs, avocado, cilantro, and recently, sweet fruit. (Try wild blueberries and peaches.) Beans, tempeh, quinoa… almost anything goes. I’ve even used pickles in salads.

Garlic is in! Two weeks ago seemed to be the big garlic harvest. The Cutting Veg, home of the Global Garlic, harvested 15,000 bulbs over the long weekend as reported in their newsletter. Farmer Carl of Everdale Farm (my CSA) said in his weekly update “Garlic harvest is complete! They are curing in our greenhouse and in a barn.” I plucked two bulbs, stems attached. I will acquire much more this season, as much as I can. It will last for months stored in a paper bag – though my kitchen has been so hot that garlic has been perishing more quickly.

Corn! I don’t love corn on the cob because it gets in my teeth but I also do love it, especially fresh. Especially barbecued with some salt, lime and chili. I picked up 3 ears so that I could cut the kernels off and use them in salads. I don’t have a barbecue. Freshly picked, corn is good raw. I don’t know why more people don’t eat it raw off the cob.

So much to choose from. I don’t like fennel and only buy it if it’s called for in a specific recipe (though I want to try chef Ezra’s recipe for “Salad of watermelon, celery, fennel, mint & grilled Haloumi cheese“, without grilling the Haloumi), which means that I think I’ve bought it twice ever. The containers of blueberries were sadly tiny. I’m not so into radishes, still have kale from weeks ago, don’t really eat potatoes, couldn’t decide what to do with broccoli, etc.

Image via Wikipedia

My final selection was labelled cauliflower but it’s romanesco, aka “Roman cauliflower”(a fractal vegetable, for you fractal nerds).  Romanesco broccoli, or Roman cauliflower, is an edible flower of the species Brassica oleracea, and a variant form of cauliflower. Romanesco is rich in Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, and fibre.

The selection was abundant. One of the reasons I love summer.

Tonight’s dinner includes yam from a previous week, an ear of corn and some of the cauliflower.

Looking for a CSA/harvest share to get your own fresh fruit and vegetables directly from the farmers through November? There’s still space in ours for pick up in the Annex, or try The Cutting Veg. They might still have space in one of theirs.

Eat well, be well.

Image by Chris Campbell via Flickr

Registration is open for Everdale’s 2011 season, starting June 14 and running until October 25!

To register online, Click Here
To print off and mail in your registration form, Click Here

About Everdale’s Harvest Share Program:

Everdale’s harvest share program is based on the Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) model that is becoming popular all around the world.  Here’s how CSA farms generally work: the CSA farm receives a set fee from you prior to the start of the growing season. In return, you receive produce from the farm every week during the harvest season. In southern Ontario, the harvest season is about 20 weeks long (June-October).

Everdale’s version of the CSA model is called the “Harvest Share Program”. Everdale’s Harvest Shareholders receive fresh fruits and vegetables grown on our certified organic farm and on other local farms.

Pickup Dates and Locations

Everdale’s Harvest Share program begins in mid-June and runs until the end of October. They have two membership options, depending on which pickup location is closest to you:

• in the Annex neighbourhood in Toronto (187 Brunswick Ave.), on Tuesday afternoons
• at the farm in Hillsburgh, Erin township, on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings

Member Benefits

• 20 weeks of fresh, local, organic food
• 20-30 seasonal fruits and vegetables to choose from each week
• 4 share sizes to suit your needs
• take-what-you-need fresh herbs
• farm events and activities
• cut flowers and u-pick peas and beans (farm pickup location only)
• a choice of how many weeks you would like to pick up your share!

Working Share Option

Everdale also offers the option of a Working Share, which means that you can get your Harvest Share in exchange for working on the farm or at one of our pickup locations.  For more information about the Working Share, Click Here

The number of Harvest Shares available in 2011 is limited, so sign up now!

For full details about the 2011 Harvest Share Program, Click Here (PDF).

Also see my blog post It’s not too early to consider your 2011 CSA share from last month.

Other related articles

• Green Things Growing: What Is A CSA Anyway? (meghantelpnerblog.com)

Image via Wikipedia

From Farmer Daniel of The Cutting Veg:

Hello Farm Folk,

The Cutting Veg is thrilled to offer another year of freshly harvested, local, organic produce through our Four Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) locations in the GTA! A CSA is a mutually beneficial partnership in which individuals or families receive fresh, local, organically grown produce weekly, while supporting local farmers and sustainable growing practices. The Cutting Veg Organic Farm grows and sources local, organic produce, and community members come to their chosen depot from June to October, to choose their weekly share. CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT! With March having arrived, planting season is around the corner, and in a matter of weeks we will be in the field, planting peas, onions, arugula, salad greens, Asian greens, and more.

Pick-up locations:

• Holy Blossom Temple, near Bathurst & Eglinton (Tuesdays, 2:30-6:30pm)
• Park Road Healing Arts, near Bloor & Yonge (Thursdays, 3-7pm)
• Temple Sinai, near Wilson & Avenue Rd  (Tuesdays, 2:30-6:30pm)
• Kavanah Garden, Bathurst and Rutherford rd. area  (Thursdays, 3-7pm)

For more information, or to register for the 2011 season, visit http://www.thecuttingveg.com, or contact Daniel at 647-388-7444, or daniel@thecuttingveg.com.

This year I will once again be involved in Everdale’s CSA at First Narayever Synagogue near Bathurst and Harbord (part of Hazon’s network of CSAs) and will post information on that one when information becomes available. It might seem odd that I’m on the organizing committee for one and promoting another (I vaguely recall one person commenting on this last year), but I’m happy to spread the word about different Community Supported Agriculture programs such as The Cutting Veg. I believe in eating local food, in season. I believe in making Community Supported Agriculture as convenient and accessible as possible. It’s community supported agriculture and these programs must be located in places convenient to their users.  It’s not competition among Community Supported Agriculture programs, it’s partnership and awareness-building. Be a part of your community’s!

Related articles via Google:

• From my friends at Well Preserved: How to choose the right CSA for you… (Note to Joel and Dana: The post appears 5th under a search for “choosing a CSA harvest OR agriculture”.)
• From The Farmer’s Marketer: Choosing Your CSA Farm Share: Seven Selection Criteria (plus a consideration)
• From The Kitchn (Apartment Therapy): Choosing a CSA
• From Planet Green: Why Try Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

Related articles (Zemanta)

• Why Join a CSA? (triplecordcsaorganicproduce.wordpress.com)

• Spinach
• Kale
• Eggplant
• Apples
• Romanesco
• Garlic