Although my CSA harvests lean heavily toward the most popular produce items, I do like to throw in some less common foods. One of these this year is Jerusalem Artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), or Sunchokes. I like to brush them with olive oil and roast them in the oven with other roots, or to chop them into my minestrone soup. They have a mild, nutty flavor and are high in iron and fiber.
As a crop in the garden, they are super productive - my patch yielded about 3.5lbs per row foot! They also store well, allowing me to round out the CSA shares late into fall and through the winter.
I’m glad I planted them… but my 375 row feet was a bit more than I needed!
My job as a CSA farmer revolves around making each week’s harvest satisfying to all of my members; and considering that everyone has different tastes and eating habits, this is not the easiest thing to accomplish. I make it a point that each week’s share includes mostly the widely popular items ...like carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas or beans, onions, broccoli, potatoes, zucchini, strawberries, etc. But I also like to round out the share with items that not everyone has learned to cook with yet. Items like fava beans, fennel bulb, bok choi, and even beets and kale are new to a lot of people.
So each week I aim to include a recipe with the harvest. Below are some pictures of this year’s recipes so far:
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |