Welcome to Your Delano Farm Community Shared Agriculture! This guide is aimed to provide you with tips, tricks, and resources to help you to get the most out of your CSA! Thank you for being part our CSA family! Preparing for your CSA 5 Things To Do Before The CSA Season This link has a whole lot of helpful information including advice on storage containers and bags, composting tips, and great seasonal cookbook recommendations! An In-depth Guide to Herb Storage This resource goes into detail about which herbs do better using slightly different storage and cleaning methods mention in the Storage and Cleaning Chart. It also includes some drying and preservation methods. Tips and Tricks From Alton Brown I love this resource! Alton goes through his secrets to keeping and maintaining fresh produce all summer long. He includes things like how he takes an inventory of his produce and makes note of what he will need to eat first and what things will last longer. Very helpful and practical stuff! Equipment This is a list of suggested tools that could make your life easier when storing, preparing, and eating a lot of fresh produce! Salad Spinner This link provides a list comparing several recommended spinners on the market. Spinners make washing and drying greens a little quicker and easier. Vegetable Mandolin This is the most recommended mandolin in the culinary industry because it is inexpensive, small, easy to use, and works wonderful. With this tool you will be able to slice or julianne your veggies in half the time! (Check for availability at Pacific Rim.) Spiralizer This simple and inexpensive handheld spiralizer creates a fun change of pace by turning vegetables into spiral “noodles.” I love and use mine all the time! Produce Washing Basin A washing basin can be very handy when washing a lot of produce at once. This one has a lot of super- efficient and useful attributes and will not break the bank! Chef's Knife Here is a list of some inexpensive recommended chefs knifes. This is the single most important tool that I own! Sometimes I refer to my life as pre-chef’s knife and post-chef’s knife. This is a total game changer. Be sure to get a sharpener too! Paring Knife A paring knife helps to do the more detailed work when cleaning and peeling veggies. Another tool I would never go without. Large Stackable Storage These are like fancy show boxes but work great for produce storage when your crisper drawer becomes full. Depending on the produce, you can hold different items in individual zipper lock bags in the same box, or place them in the boxes loose, layered between paper or cloth kitchen towels. Reusable/Biodegradable Paper Towel A lot of the best storage methods include wrapping produce in damp towels. With this product you can reuse the towel and they are also biodegradable. They are strong and absorbent. I love this product! Veggie Scrub Brush When you need to scrub your root veggies this tool is great! There are many variations out there. Here is one! Sheet Pans For Freezing When freezing vegetables, to prevent them from freezing into one big block, spreading them onto a simple sheet pan does the trick. After they are frozen transfer them into a freezer safe container. Zero Waste Reusable Zip Lock Bags Using Ziplock’s can be wasteful and expensive. These bags are made of silicone and are dishwasher safe. They are great for vegetable storage and do not take up a lot of space! Painters Tape and Sharpie Both items are available at your local hardware store. Labeling your food can be helpful to stay organized and to identify things you may have forgotten (if you are like me) you stored. The painter’s tape will not leave any tape residue on your storage surfaces. Community Get involved with your fellow shareholders! Have questions like, “How do I prepare mustard greens?” or “I wonder how the green beans are looking?” Well I bet someone from the Delano Farm CSA community has an answer! Share recipes, pictures, stories, and love on the Delano Farm Facebook page! Delano Farm Facebook Page STORAGE & CLEANING METHOD CHART Produce Best storage method Storage life Best cleaning method Preservation ideas Arugula Store in a damp paper towel in 4-5 days Wash in cold water with a fridge drawer. Change towel little salt added to draw every day. dirt away from leaves. Dry thoroughly by laying on towels on sheet trays to air dry or blot with clean cloth. Asparagus Store unwashed and wrapped 1 week + Wash thoroughly, trim To freeze: cut into 2-inch in a damp paper towel in the away tough ends. pieces, steam for 6 minutes. fridge drawer OR upright in a Drain and cool in ice water. jar of water in fridge. Spread on baking sheet and freeze. After frozen, transfer to freezer safe container. This method prevents asparagus becoming one big ice block. Basil Cut bottoms off the stems and 1 week Remove leaves from stem You can freeze by packing place in glass of water on and wash and dry well leaves into ice cube tray, then countertop. Cold temps (48F+) filling with water and freezing. will cause it to blacken and wilt. Add a basil cube to soups or sauces. Basil will darken, but flavor will not be altered. Beets Can be left uncovered in fridge 3-4 weeks Wash and scrub beets Pickling beets is a tasty drawer or kept in a paper bag. thoroughly. preservation method! Beet greens Wrap in damp paper towel and 3-4 days Wash in plenty of water, a store in fridge drawer. quick soak could help too to get all the dirt removed. Bok choy Wrap in damp paper towel and 1 week Wash thoroughly To freeze: Only use the greens store in fridge drawer. Cloth and not much of the thicker should be changed every day. white part. Blanch for about 3 minutes. Spread out on a sheet pan and freeze, once frozen, transfer to freezer safe container. Broccoli Wrap in a damp paper towel 1 week Wash in cold, salted To freeze: cut broccoli into and store in fridge drawer. water to remove dirt and bite size pieces and steam for critters. Soaking broccoli about 6 minutes. Drain and will help remove cabbage cool in ice water. Lay on sheet worms. After soaking, pan to freeze. Once frozen shake stalks to release transfer into a freezer safe worms. container Produce Best storage method Storage life Best cleaning method Preservation ideas Broccoli raab Do not wash before storing. 3 days Wash thoroughly and trim Place in paper bag in fridge off tough portion of OR stalks. Up right in a pitcher of water in fridge, covering the flowers 1 week with a plastic bag. Brussels Sprouts Store in a paper bag or loosely 1-2 weeks If received attached to To freeze: blanch sprouts packed in a plastic container in stalk, cut or snap them whole or halved, lay out on the fridge drawer. off. Trim any remaining sheet tray to freeze, then stem until you get to the transfer to a freezer safe very base. Remove the container first layer of leaves then soak or rinse the sprouts in warm water for a few minutes to flush out any unwanted critters. Cabbage Store in fridge drawer after 2-3 weeks (loose headed Wash outside of cabbage removing the molded or wilted cabbages 1 week) and peel away damaged leaves leaves Carrots Store wrapped in damp paper 2 months Scrub well, a vegetable towel in the fridge in the scrub brush could be drawer. handy here, remove all dirt. Trim the greens to ½ inch from top of carrots. If you don’t, leaves will absorb water and cause the carrots to soften quickly. Carrot greens Store wrapped in damp paper 2-3 days Remove from carrots, To freeze- cut carrots to towel in the fridge drawer wash and dry thoroughly desired shape, blanch in boiling water for 3-5 minutes (3 for smaller shapes), lay on sheet tray to freeze, transfer into freezer safe container. Cauliflower Store unwashed in a damp 1 week (the longer you Pull off larger leaves and To freeze- cut into bite size paper towel in the fridge wait, the more sweetness discard. Discard all dark pieces, blanch for 6 minutes, drawer is lost) or discolored spots. After cool in cold water, drain, cutting, wash thoroughly. spread onto sheet pan to freeze, transfer to freezer safe container. Celeriac Remove green leaves, store 2 weeks Remove all the green unwashed in the fridge drawer. leaves and peel off the It does not need to be in a outside skin of the bulb container. until you see a clean, Produce Best storage method Storage life Best cleaning method Preservation ideas white interior. Wash thoroughly. Celery Store unwashed in paper bag in 2 weeks fridge drawer. (whole bunches w/o bag in drawer for 1 week) Chicory Store unwashed and loosely 1 week Wash thoroughly by packed in a plastic container in rinsing or soaking (if the fridge drawer. sandy) in lightly salted water. Dry thoroughly. Cilantro Wrap unwashed in a damp 4-5 days Wash by holding the stem You can freeze by packing paper towel or stand it upright and running cool water leaves into ice cube tray, then in a container with an inch of over the leaves. Remove filling with water and freezing. water in fridge. larger stems; you can use Add a cilantro cube to soups the smaller stems or sauces.