[CSA]: Week 13 🍀

Around the Farm

The season of transition is upon us!

For those who read our plea last week, we've found a few farm-friends to help us out this week and save the day. However, we've also chosen the menu items carefully so that we can still provide you with what is ready to harvest on the farm and what our small crew can accomplish.

While people are transitioning in and out, so are the crops. The summer fruit is heading out, while the root crops begin to size up and show up on our plates. The fields are being flipped from melons and cucumbers to spinach and lettuce for fall harvest. 

The appearance of kohlrabi, as well as storage onions, also seems to mark the beginning of true fall.

What's a storage onion?

While we grow a lot of different kinds of onions, they can be easily broken down into two categories: sweet and storage.

Sweet are those that are great for raw eating, are sweeter but, tend to go bad more quickly. For Titus Farms, these are the white and light yellow (Ailsa Craig) onions. Think Vidalia (which btw, can only be grown in Vidalia, Georgia).

Storage onions are those with stronger flavors, harder and heartier than the sweet, that keep much longer. (Think Spanish onions or any onion that has ever made you cry). The presence of the extra sulfur in their flesh gives them pungency but, also staying power. 

Typically, these are the darker yellow onions for us but, I also consider red onions to be better suited for storage. These onions will last for months if stored properly (see below) and, actually mellow in storage. 

Not all onions, turns out, are built the same. 

For a little primer, see the Taste of Home article here.

The Menu

Please Choose 7

• Cherry Tomatoes

• Regular Red or Heirloom Tomatoes

• Garlic

• Shallots

• Kossack Kohlrabi

  • A sputnik-like veggie that is sweet and crispy, even when mildly huge. 

• Red or Yellow Storage Onions

  • We've ventured into the "hotter" onions that are great for storing through the winter!

• Hot Peppers

• Spicy Stuffing Peppers

  • Anaheim or Poblano

    • Anaheim is lighter green, long and, close to a Hatch Chile. 

    • Poblanos are spicier and darker green.

• Sweet Bell Peppers and Carmen/Escamillo

• Eggplant

  • Mini, Long-skinny or some smaller Italian

• Kale!

  • Red Russian, Siberian or Green and Scarlet Curly Kale

• Rainbow Chard

• Fresh Herbs

  • Parsley, sage, thyme, oregano, mint and more!

Maybe List

• Tomatillos

• Leeks!

Recipe Ideas: Onions

As stated above, we've begun to make the switch to the heartier onions!

For best storage results, keep them in a cool, dry place, out of sunlight. Granted, these storage recommendations are really if you intend to store them for a month or more.

Otherwise, the fridge is fine or, in a bowl on the counter is great too.

If you're not sure about storing a ton of onions for any amount of time... there's always pickling!

We love having pickled onions throughout the winter, to add a little something extra to sandwiches, roasted root veggies or a pickle tray. 

If you're not ready to commit to the canning process yet, try this simple, spicy, Yucatan-inspired pickled onion recipe from Pati Jinich here. You can keep these red onions in the fridge for a month or more and they are perfect on tacos (especially fish tacos).

If you are ready to commit to canning, try this Sweet and Sour Pickled Onion recipe from Food in Jars. 

I usually prefer to prepare this French Onion Tart from Smitten Kitchen in the winter, when we're counting down the days until garden tomatoes are rolling in... but, after this cold snap, we've been eating waaay to much cheese, soupy things and carbohydrate laced veggies. Right about now, this tart seems dreamy. It's buttery and ooey-gooey that goes great with some chard or spicy salad.

And, of course, there's the classic French Onion Soup (this one is from Epicurious). If you've never actually made it from scratch, it's a bit of effort but, the results are far less salty and much more delicious. 

However, if you happen to have an instant pot, try this Serious Eats version that is still loaded with flavor. Using the instant pot really, really, helps cut down on the time it took to caramelize the onions so, this was a win!