WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items in your box this coming week. Some items and quantities may vary depending on your harvest day. The photo is of the full share.

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.

NOTES ON THE SHARE Beetroot – An assorted bunch. Bok Choy – Medium size bok choy 'White Stem'. Carrots – Mixture of ‘Scarlett Nantes’, ‘Cosmic Purple’ and ‘Red Core Chatenay’. The carrots are growing into longer medium size carrots. Cauliflower – Some boxes are receiving cauliflower, some broccoli and some cabbage depending on the harvest. We have both white and purple cauliflower. The purple does change when it is cooked, so enjoy it raw to really enjoy its delicate purple/green colour. Cucumbers – The first cucumbers are from the main vine of the plant. Cucumbers are very proficient viners, though, and soon every side vine is producing a profusion of cucumbers. At this stage, only the main vine is fruiting so we are not quite at the glut of cucumber stage. We are growing long cucumbers and short cucumbers. The shorter are sweeter and apparently "burpless". This week each box will receive one or two cucumbers but we hope as the harvest increases you will receive more. Garlic – One clove in every box. We have begun to clean the garlic and sort out our seed garlic for next year. The remainder of the harvest will be divided into the summer and autumn share boxes. Green Beans – The harvest has started with the variety this week being 'Strike'. Lettuce – 'Green Mignonette' and 'Parris Island Cos'. Each share is receiving an extra lettuce this week as we have extra. Thursday deliveries received their extra last Thursday. Parsley – 'Italian Plain Leaf' Potatoes – The past week we have been moving through the last of the first planting of 'Nicola' and into the 'Royal Blue'. These have blue skins and yellow insides. We have had these roasted, mashed and steamed. Rosemary – Small bunch in every box. Use for your Christmas roast or with roasted veggies. Shelling Peas – The peas are ready! 'Green Feast' is the variety. The natural sugar in peas begins turning to starch immediately after picking. So try and eat your peas in the first days of receiving your box. We love the shelling process - sitting with a friend, your children and a cup of tea and sharing the day while you prepare the meal. These are so sweet they barely need cooking (steam for three minutes) or just put them raw into your salad...if they even make it past the table. Sugar Snap Peas – The 'Sugar Anns' are coming to an end. We will continue to harvest what is there and divide it between the boxes. You may receive green beans or sugar snaps. Spinach – This was seed sold as summer spinach. I was surprised when I opened the seed packet as the seed looked like silverbeet. I planted it though to see what it was like and how it worked in our climate. 'Perpetual Gator' is a silverbeet. We are harvesting the whole plant when it is flavourful and delicate...good enough to eat raw and definitely worth mixing into a salad. The leaves are tangy. It works well in cooked dishes as well. We have had it in tarts with spring onions and feta cheese and also mixed it into a stir fry at the very end. We are harvesting the last of 'Perpetual Gator' and moving into English spinach 'Long Standing Bloomsdale'. Spring Onions – We are thinning direct seeded red onions and bunching these. Once the plantings are thinned, we will have green onions 'White Lisbon'. Squash – The variety is 'Jaune Et Verte' but in Vermont we just called them Patty Pans. These are delightful summer squash if picked when young. We have added a recipe for them and will get them into everyone's boxes throughout the season. They are small, round with scallop edges and a light green colour. Really lovely baked! Thyme – Bunch in every box. Zucchini – Medium zucchini this week. The plants are still just beginning to produce so there is not an abundance of zucchini...yet!

NOTES ON THE SHARES We photographed the full share this week. There are 12 different items in the full share this week not including three different herbs and garlic. We estimate that the full share contains about 60% more produce then the half share and will feed a family of four. We appreciate all who have responded to the survey. Although it may seem a bit early for a survey, the vegetables that we are growing take anywhere from 25 to 180 days to ripen from seed. We are planting new seed every week. We felt it was better to be able to alter or vary things based on feedback so that the crops you receive in mid to late January more accurately reflect what you would like to be receiving. Please email through any feedback or other crop suggestions. NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Crops that are starting to ripen which will begin to appear in your boxes in the coming weeks are cherry and roma tomatoes, capsicum, sweet corn, celery, climbing purple beans, yellow beans, leeks and onions and red cabbage. We will keep putting photos of the developing crops on the website.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS This week we have a recipe donation from Baxter at Palate Earth. Yoga in the Park has begun all over the Mornington Peninsula…and has spread to Silver Sands, SA as well! Baxter will be leading yoga classes in the Sorrento park, behind the Hotham Police station each morning from 8-9 and then starting 27 December 7.30-8.30 + 9-10am. Yoga in the Park is also happening in Mt Martha, Somers, Flinders, and Mornington. Free range, organic yoga for all ages and stages! Cleansing Green Drink

Other recipe suggestions for the week are: Spinach and Chicken Curry Bok Choy Salad Roasted Potatoes, Beetroot and Carrots

You can also search by key ingredient on our website recipe page for many more ideas.