March 27, 2023 Newsletter

Box Contents

2 lbs Gold Nugget Mandarins 

1.5 lbs Sifra Potatoes

1 bu Yellow Carrots

1 hd Green Cabbage

1 bu Spring Onions

1 bu Red Mustard

.67 lb Braising Mix

Farm Notes:
 

Dan and Holly have been CSA site hosts since 2003, and Riverdog shoppers since the 90s. I correspond weekly with Dan about what sort of shenanigans are happening over at Dan's site. It's always this story. This time I got a chance to get some of his story and here's how it went:

Maya: What influenced you to become a Riverdog site host, and what was your connection to Riverdog before becoming a site host?

Dan: We first moved into the house in 2003, 20 years now, and first couple of years in the house we were Riverdog subscribers… But then the site host moved away. In the Riverdog Newsletter, which back then was only on paper, Holly and I joked that they were having a beauty contest for a new site host in the neighborhood. And we just looked at each other and was like “this is perfect for us.” We responded and a week or so later they wrote to us “congratulations, we’d love to use your house as—”

Maya: The new "Miss Site Host…”

Dan: (Laughs) Yeah exactly. And we put on the tiara... and we’ve just been doing it ever since. Over the years we’ve had various friends sign up to get their veggie box from Riverdog. Some come, some go, some stay on. We enjoy doing, supporting, sustaining the Community Supported Agriculture. Making it easier for farmers to get food to the people that want it.

Maya: Thank you for doing that. Now I wonder, if your site is a bit of a party spot, you’ve invited your friends to join the program...

Dan: I wouldn’t call it a party spot. We have people who would come by whom we would chat with. If I was around the house or just coming home when people would pick up. There’s a number of people I know well enough to chat with. Party spot seems a little bit exaggerated. We put out boxes of vegetables, not a cooler of beer..

(Maya and Dan laugh)

Dan: We should try that sometime.

Box Contents

2 lbs Gold Nugget Mandarins 

1.5 lbs Sifra Potatoes

1 bu Yellow Carrots

1 hd Green Cabbage

1 bu Spring Onions

1 bu Red Mustard

.67 lb Braising Mix

Gold Nugget Mandarins – Here is something special about the ranch where the mandarins in your box are from. Gold Oak Ranch is home to the second largest Oak tree in Yolo County. Why special? The oak trees of the Capay Valley are some of the great giants that line the grassy hills along the Cache Creek River giving us nothing short of a serene landscape. Hard work and sustainability are what helps these fertile farmlands thrive. We are glad to share these values with Jose Luis Melendez, David Scheuring, and the Gold Oak Ranch crew. Enjoy these bright slices of the valley, in salads, juiced, as a snack to go. Zest from the peel can be used as a vibrant addition to your morning tea

Sifra Potatoes –We grow a whole range of potatoes here at Riverdog that you can also order on our Farm Store. Try em' all and impress your friends with your knowledge of potato varieties. This week you'll find Sifra potatoes in your box. They are a bit waxy, amazing as chips, and so flavorful they make an excellent addition  to your soup! Also excellent in a roast like this Lemon Roast Potatoes recipe found here.  It’s a great idea to store your potatoes in the refrigerator, especially when they’re new and haven’t been cured.
 

Yellow Carrots – You can "eat the rainbow" here at Riverdog with the variety of carrots we grow. Quick- which varieties do we grow here at Riverdog- we have Red carrots, Red Dragon carrots, Nantes (orange) carrots, Yellow Carrots, Deep Purple carrots, and White carrots. Every time I'm around these carrots I find it's necessary to do research, and eat one of each. Check out what the Spruce Eats has to say about the different carrots here. Carrots can be stored in the refrigerator for one to two weeks, remove carrot greens first.
 

Green Cabbage – My friend and local Riverdog CSA member, Matt, swears by cabbage soup. Maybe not everyday for the rest of your life, but this versatile, hearty wonder can turn any meal into a veggie comfort food. In the winter, I live on cabbage soup. This soup can be made easily and simply by sauteing onions, garlic, olive oil, spices (don't leave out the coriander), adding cabbage and stock, and letting it simmer. For a truly "feel good meal," combine your cabbage with our succulent, organic ham in a crock pot or skillet. Amazingly, all those leafy greens can survive the frost, imagine what benefits they can bring to you. Cabbage is one of the most versatile vegetables around (braised, stuffed, stewed, roasted, fermented, pancaked?)-- and notorious for storing well.

 
Red Spring Onions – Spring onions, scallions, green onions; the internet wants to know: are these the same things? The internet might have some different answers for you according to Bon Appetit, BBC good food, Healthline, oh, and this site.. But what we do know is the spring onions are young onions. Onions are usually picked for storage in the summer so Spring onions are just onions picked in spring. This gives the younger onion a chance to have a milder, sweeter flavor. You can eat all parts of the greens raw, chopped in a salad, as a top to any of your dishes, stir fried, in a stock, or even searing them on the grill (yum). In a perforated bag, spring onion can last in the fridge for up to four or five days.

Red Mustard–  I can't hear the words mustard greens without thinking of a type of mustard greens dish my mother used to make growing up. Otherwise known as Japanese Giant Red Mustard, this type of mustard we grow is sharp, with almost a garlic-like, mustard flavor. Delicious when paired with fat, citrus, and salt. A simple saute would include olive oil or pork fat, garlic, navel citrus juice, 1/4 cup of broth (vegetarian or meat.) You can bring this to a simmer and add the greens for five minutes. Then serve. If you're not such a huge fan of bitters, one secret tactic is to blanch the bitters before throwing them in the pan. Store the leaves in your fridge, in a bag.

Braising Mix –  Riverdog owner Tim Mueller writes, "braising mix is a bit of a misnomer as my family mostly eats it raw as salad, it definitely does not need to be cooked, although it’s delicious cooked as well!" This is the last of our braising mix for the year. Enjoy and delight in its many flavors and textures, however you prepare it. You can store the braising mix in a bag

-Maya, CSA Manager