10/29 box

ALSO in this week's box:

Whole Wheat Batard from Root Baking

Eggs from Tiny Joy Farm @Berea and Riverview Farm

Mountain Fresh Creamery 2% Milk from Candler Park Market

See In Every Box for more detailed information.

Note: There may occasionally be last-minute changes to box contents depending on the goods that are available from the farm. While we try to keep this website up-to-date as possible, we cannot guarantee that what's in your box will exactly match what's on the website.

Here are some photos of one Paideia family's CSA meals:

Many of our foods today can be pickled in very similar ways, so instead of a recipe, we are posting a general primer on quick pickling that can be used for any vegetable you fancy!

From this box, try pickling:

• Chard Stems

• Sweet Peppers

• Radishes

• Turnips

• Fresh Turmeric

HOW TO MAKE QUICK PICKLES

via thekitchn.com

What Is a Quick Pickle?

Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar, too) solution and stored in the refrigerator. Quick pickles don’t develop the deep flavor that fermented pickles do, but they also only require a few days in the brine before they can be enjoyed. They do not require canning when refrigerated.

Pickling is best done with super-fresh vegetables. Save the slightly bruised specimens for soups or other forms of preservation. Almost any vegetable can be pickled, and the shape you choose to pickle in is entirely up to you. For example, carrots can be peeled and sliced into matchsticks or coins. Cherry tomatoes are best preserved whole. Green vegetables, such as green beans or asparagus, can be blanched in boiling water for two to three minutes and then shocked in an ice bath to preserve their color, but this step is purely optional.

• Thinly slice: cucumbers, summer squash, ginger, red onion

• Cut into spears: carrots, cucumbers

• Peel: carrots

• Blanch: green beans (optional, but helps preserve their color)

Brine Basics:

For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, but you can adjust the ratio to your preference. Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination. Steer clear of aged or concentrated vinegars like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.

Flavorings:

The secret to a really unique, flavorful pickle is in the spices you add to the brine. Dill pickles are nothing more than cucumbers flavored with garlic, dill seed, and red pepper flakes. Carrots become more exotic when pickled with coriander, ginger, turmeric, and thyme. Other classic combinations include green beans with garlic and fresh dill, cherry tomatoes with black peppercorns and garlic, and squash with onion and garlic.

• Fresh herbs: dill, thyme, oregano, and rosemary hold up well

• Dried herbs: thyme, dill, rosemary, oregano, or majoram

• Garlic cloves: smashed for mild garlic flavor, or sliced for stronger garlic flavor

• Fresh ginger: peeled and thinly sliced

• Whole spices: mustard seed, coriander, peppercorns, red pepper flakes

• Ground spices: turmeric or smoked paprika are great for both color and flavor

BASIC RECIPE

1 lb fresh vegetables

1 cup vinegar, such as white, apple cider, or rice

1 cup water

1 tablespoon kosher salt, or 2 teaspoons pickling salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)

Spice to Taste, i.e.

2 sprigs fresh herbs, such as thyme, dill, or rosemary (optional)

1 to 2 teaspoons whole spices, such as black peppercorns, coriander, or mustard seeds (optional)

1 teaspoon dried herbs or ground spices (optional)

2 cloves garlic, smashed or sliced (optional)

1. Prepare the jars. Wash 2 wide-mouth pint jars, lids, and rings in warm, soapy water and rinse well. Set aside to dry, or dry completely by hand.

2. Prepare the vegetables. Wash and dry the vegetables. Peel the carrots. Trim the end of beans. Cut vegetables into desired shapes and sizes.

3. Add the flavorings. Divide the herbs, spices, or garlic you are using between the jars.

4. Add the vegetables. Pack the vegetables into the jars, making sure there is a 1/2 inch of space from the rim of the jar to the tops of the vegetables. Pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing.

5. Make the brine. Place the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar (if using) in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Pour the brine over the vegetables, filling each jar to within 1/2 inch of the top. You might not use all the brine.

6. Remove air bubbles. Gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more brine if necessary.

7. Seal the jars. Place the lids on the jars and screw on the rings until tight. (Note: it's entirely possible to make these without sealing jars!)

8. Cool and refrigerate. Let the jars cool to room temperature. Store the pickles in the refrigerator. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age — try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open. They can be stored for up to 2 months in the fridge.

If you ever have a recipe/preparation ideas you'd like to share from your CSA box, please email paideiacsa@gmail.com. We would love to see what you're cooking!

Here's some dishes from a Paideia family's meals in the past few weeks:

Each week, we will be featuring one of the people who makes this CSA happen: the vendors, the farmers, the organizers. This week, we are concluding our virtual tour of the Grassroots Growers Alliance with Thomasville Heights Elementary School Farm (THES Farm) and Eva Dickerson, head farmer and educator.

Thomasville Heights Elementary School Farm was started in June 2018 on an old sports field at a Title One elementary school. It now comprises of 2,000 square feet of vegetable beds and food forest on that field, where students have already grown and harvested hundreds of pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables. As part of GGA, that food goes towards feeding more than 130 families on a biweekly basis, including many families in the Thomasville Heights community itself through their partnership with Urban Recipe. In addition, the farm also provides an educational platform that strengthens curriculum with hands-on learning for students of all ages at the school, connecting them to food, the outdoors, and their community. This educational component ranges from harvesting crops, to soil labs, to field trips to other local farms. Recent programs include a new class for 4th graders that not only teaches farming, but also food and nutrition. We are so grateful for the share of our CSA produce that comes from THES Farm every week!

WHY I FARM: Eva Dickerson

We're doing something a little different with this one. Instead of a response written by Eva, it turns out she already has some wonderful short films of her talking about her work, including the one linked below. It's the first episode of Seeds of Resilience, a series the Food Well Alliance has done on Black farmers in Atlanta and features her talking to Jamila Norman of Patchwork Farms. (For a bit more on her background, I've supplemented with a paragraph based on the short phone conversation we had.)

Growing up, Eva was inspired by the impact of the Black women around her who grew food, and during her time as an undergraduate at Spelman College, she apprenticed with many local Black farmers, working at Habesha, Soul Fire Farm, Semente Farm, and Mayflor Farm, as well as managing West End Farmers Market. Now, she works as the farmer-educator at THES Farm, where she manages the farm and makes sure that they grow enough food to meet community needs, as well as working with teachers, administration, and community members to develop curriculum and learning opportunities for students of all ages at Thomasville Heights Elementary School. When asked about why she continues to do what she does, she responded, "Well, we'll always need food," adding that she loves the kind of outdoor education the urban farm provides and the opportunities it presents for engaging with her students.