The “Show”- Springdell Winter Share Pickup #7 1

Today we went by the farm to pick up our 7th Springdell Winter Share box of the season, which consisted of:

• 2 1/2 gallons of skim milk from High Lawn Farm, Lee, MA (Sarah got 1 qt half & half and 1 1/2 gallon low fat milk)
• 1 half gallon of apple cider from Box Mill Farms in Stow, MA
• 1 bottle of Our Favorite Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing, Dedham MA (Sarah didn’t get this item)
• 1 pkg of Green Lentils from Baer’s Best in South Berwick,  ME. (Jessica didn’t get this item)
• 1 pkg goat cheese from Westfield Farm in Hubbardston, MA (Jess got herbed garlic and Sarah got the cranberry orange flavor)
• 3-4 bok choy
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 bag arugula
• 1 bag spinach 
• 1 bag spring mix
• 2 garlic bulbs
• 1 bag of button mushrooms
• 5 red beets 
• Golden Delicious apples from cold storage

You may have noticed that your share box may differ slightly in terms of the items you’ve received.  For those of you that may be new to the process, we wanted to point out that this occurs sometimes, and is not by accident.  This year, there are 2 winter shares (Group A and Group B) and pickups often fall one week apart.  Please keep in mind that between this week and last week, there has been a temperature shift of over 40 degrees coupled with several feet of snow.  Consequently, Group B’s box will look different than Group A’s.  

We also wanted to assure you that though our share boxes differ, none of us are being shortchanged!  You may see white citrus and tomatoes in your share box, where we will not (as there is a wind chill of -5 degrees at high noon- these items would not withstand much time outside).  Instead, we receive goat cheese.  As we all know, the farm is not a supermarket and does not have the luxury of a climate controlled stockroom out back where they can pull out tomatoes at a whim (though they try their absolute best, and often succeed).   Our farmers are working extremely hard with (and often against) Mother Nature to bring us all as diverse and balanced a share as possible.  We hope you join us in embracing the variety and surprise, the beauty and excitement of the process.

This being said, we are looking forward to diving into Springdell Winter Share Box #7 head first!  We’ll be checking in with you on how it’s all going, and we encourage you to do the same.  

I (Jess) just unpacked the box and the beets went straight to the sink for a quick wash, then into a wrapping of aluminum foil with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.  As the apples were cold, they went directly into the fridge (if I left them out, they’d get spongy).  My 2 year-old ate 2 before they made it in the fridge. Tonight, besides roasting up the beets for use, I’ll be trying something with the bok choy.  More to follow in my next post!  In the meantime, below is a tip from Sarah on how to spice up your rice.  Take it away, Sarah!

—- 

We eat a ton of rice in my house because it’s gluten free and good for you.  Plain rice can get pretty tiresome after a while and I look for ways to change it up.  A great way to do that is color.  We often get such beautiful multi colored heirloom carrots in our share so why not try that?  I took one red, one white, and 2 purple carrots and shredded them on the largest holes in my box grater.  Beautiful!

I diced up some onion and sweat it in the pan, being sure not to brown the onion at all, just drawing out its flavor and softening the onion.  Then I cooked the rice with the onions accordingly with stock for added flavor.  When the rice was done I took the cover off and added the shredded carrots and fluffed it together with the rice.  (Always fluff your rice with a fork, if you stir it, it can become mushy). I put in a touch of Amish roll butter and put the cover back on the pan and let it sit 2-3 minutes.  This way the carrots are not raw but just barely cooked, giving the rice a bit of sweetness and a slight crunch.  Enjoy!