Hello 2022 Red Wagon CSA!

Welcome returning and new CSA members.

I’m Mo McKenna. I’ve been working at Red Wagon for over a decade in some capacity or another. Mostly now you will see me here, writing the recipe farm blog. I’ll also be at the CSA pickups at the Farm and at the new CSA pickup in Lafayette. I’m really looking forward to our new venue and seeing new faces!

Whether you are a new or returning CSA member sometimes getting a CSA share can be a little overwhelming. I thought I would share a few things I like to do before the first pickup of the season.

Clean out your refrigerator. You need room for all the new vegetables, if you can see them you will use them. If they are buried them will probably languish and die :-(

I try to do this before every pickup, I try. I at least like to clear out my vegetable bins to make room for my new vegetables and to remind myself what I have and need to use up. Lots of room now!

Review how to best wash and store the different CSA crops you will be getting. You can start here and here too.
Have a plan for your food tops, peels and scraps. Will you compost? Make vegetable stock? Give it to your chickens?
Have a plan for bringing your CSA haul home. Will you use bags or a basket? Gather what you like to use; plastic, paper or cloth. I have a basket with different bags to put my vegetables in right away when I pick them up. Lettuce and chard and kale don’t wilt if I put them in plastic right away and onions don’t get everything messy if bag them when I pick them up.

A couple other tips I are;

If you are unfamiliar with a item we offer, take it and try it even if it sounds weird! That’s what CSA’s are all about! Branching out! Ask people at the pickup what to do with something you haven’t tried before or look here for recipe ideas. There is almost certainly a post on every crop we grow.
Plan a simple dinner for your CSA pickup evening. Early in the week Kai will always post a blog here to help you plan with what we are hoping to harvest for the week for you. You can always make a simple pasta or grain dish or maybe just make some toast and sauté some the vegetables you just picked up and put an egg on it!