CSA for Wednesday August 3, 2011
Wednesday CSA for August 3, 2011
This week’s CSA box contains corn, edamame, garlic, a small bunch of green onions, bell pepper, potatoes, lots of cherry tomatoes, and slicing tomatoes. The corn is from Roberson Creek Farm. Ben Bergman of Fickle Creek Farm is providing chuck eye steak and a chicken leg pair. Chapel Hill Creamery is providing mozzarella cheese. We will have mixed bunches of summer flowers for the flower subscribers.
A word about the meal plans. I am recommending that you stew some chicken for M1 and save the broth to make the potato soup. I think that stewing chicken is the best approach for summer because it yields meat that can be used in a chicken salad or tossed into a stir-fry right at the end and merely heated rather than cooked. Elote recipes in the meal plans are from my Mexican colleagues.
Rooting Basil. When you get a bunch of basil, the best way to care for it is sit it in a glass of water in your kitchen and use it as needed. Do not put it in the refrigerator. In almost all cases, it will root, and you could pot it and grow if for a winter treat if you wish. Below are some pictures of a bunch that I rooted in my kitchen. The method that I recommend is:
- Remove band or twist time from bunch
- Remove leaves from part of stem that would be under water
- Trim off bottom of stem a slight amount
- Place basil in a glass of water and sit glass in a window that gets plenty of light.
- Change and replenish water as needed
- Use basil as needed by picking from stems
If you look at the pictures closely, you will see that I did not remove the twist tie this time. The plants still rooted but the stems would have been healthier if I had removed the twist tie. These pictures are from a bunch that is about 2 weeks old. You can see that I have used a lot of the basil already. The picture on the left is the entire bunch. That on the right shows the root detail.
Wishing you healthy and delicious meals, All the farmers in the Durham Collaborative CSA,
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