FIRST WEEK OF THE SPRING SHARE AND OUR 2013-2014 CSA! Here we go...your first box of farm fresh vegetables! If you have any questions about the CSA or about What's in your box, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com or ring us on 5988-5287.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this week. Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop. The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is. We endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. A "*" next to an item indicates that this is something that is being rotated through the boxes. If you did not receive it this week, expect it in the next one or two weeks.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies. We envisage that many of the vegetables you are receiving this week will last for two weeks with careful attention to storing upon arrival.

NOTES ON THE SHARE *Artichokes – There are two varieties being harvested 'Green Globe' and 'Purple Jesi'. The 'Purple Jesi' have thorns on the tops so be careful. These are easily cut off before steaming or grilling. Our children LOVE steamed artichokes!! Recipes below. *Cauliflower - We are harvesting heads from an Autumn sown crop of 'Green Macerata'. This is normally a cauliflower...but with heirloom seeds, sometimes they grow "untrue" to their parent. Such is the case with this planting. The heads being produced are either true green cauliflower or a purple broccoli. Both are delicious! The broccoli and its broccolini work great in a stir fry. Fennel – This is 'Zefo-Fino' and boy is she a beauty! We planted these in the late Autumn to harvest in the Spring. Pea shoots – Pea Shoots are a delicious, nutritious leaf with high levels of vitamin C, vitamin A and folic acid. They contain 7 times more vitamin C then blueberries!! They are lovely chopped up for a salad or added at the last minute to a stir fry. Our children make a meal of them straight from the paddock. We always bring them as a salad to dinner parties because they are so delicious and a great conversation piece! Stir Fry Bouquet – This is a large bunch which includes bok choy, red bok choy, green kale, 'Red Russian' kale, Tat soi, and a spicy combo of any of the following - Mibuna, Mizuna, 'Red Streaks' mustards, 'Golden Streaks' mustard and 'Purple Osaka' mustard. You can eat this raw or stir fry it. The leaves are all tender and so are the stems! Mesclun – The meslun mix includes 10 varieties of lettuce, beet root greens, corn salad, endive, orach, purple basil, cress, and silver beet. Mesclun contains high levels of vitamin C and more calcium and iron then lettuce alone. Mung Bean Sprouts – The crisp and juicy sprouts are very nutritious, rich in protein (20%), iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus selenium, zinc and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B12, B17, E, A, C; they help regulate cholesterol. Although these are ready to eat, you can keep growing the sprouts longer by putting them in a jar on your counter. Rinse and drain them twice a day. Enjoy these raw or cooked. Parsley – Bunches of curly parsley. Radishes – 'Cherry Belle'. These are a very mild radish so succulent...perfect raw with a squeeze of lime, olive oil and salt! Rocket – Bunches of tender young rocket. Spinach – Bags of English spinach.

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING So much to share about what's growing...Spring! Even while many of the Summer and Autumn harvested crops are being planted this month, the food ready for harvest are those crops that do not mind growing during cold nights and in cold soil...GREENS!. You will notice lots of greens in the boxes for the first three weeks.

We do have carrots and beet root up and growing. The last of our overwintered root crops were dug last week. The carrots go to seed at this time of year, making their root very woody. Our Spring sown carrots are still 3-4 weeks away from harvest. We just sowed our third planting though. Root crops that like cool soil and nights are radishes and turnips. We have Japanese Turnips coming on and a few plantings of radishes. We did receive feedback that last year there were too many radishes and turnips. So we have tried to space the plantings out a bit for the early spring.

We planted peas in mid July, hoping to have them by the first week in October. They are flowering now and forming pods but still maybe two weeks away from harvesting.

Our broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are continuing to grow, although the wind of last week was very destructive to the crop. We hope to begin harvesting broccoli in three weeks.

The broad beans are still growing, even though the wind flattened half the crop. The pods are starting to swell and we may be harvesting them next week.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Fennel and Radish Salad Steamed Artichokes Pea Shoot and Bok Choy Salad Spinach and Feta Triangles

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.