My husband thinks I’m nuts. I signed up for a one-time winter share from our CSA. Approximately 100 lbs of veggies, they said. We picked it up yesterday and it filled the truck of my van.

Here’s what we came home with:

5 stalks of Brussels sprouts

4 cabbages

a plastic grocery bag of white potatoes

a plastic grocery bag of sweet potatoes

a paper lunch bag of onions

2 heads of garlic

1 bunch of small leeks

a plastic grocery bag of kale

a plastic grocery bag of beets and carrots

a plastic grocery bag of celeriac and parsnips

a plastic grocery bag of broccoli, radishes, and turnips

about 8 butternut squash

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s a pretty good list. We were told we would get acorn squash and pie pumpkins but those didn’t materialize and I was disappointed. I’ve been holding onto several acorn squash recipes I wanted to try! I thought there would be more potatoes and carrots than we got. Really, this isn’t nearly enough for an entire winter, but I’m happy to have locally grown, organic produce to use for as long as it lasts me.

The next problem is what to do with it all! When I signed up for the share, I thought, “Oh it’s in late November, it will be cool enough to keep it in the garage!” Silly me. The optimal storage temp is between 32 and 40 degrees. Our garage has been at about 50 since it’s been rather warm out. Our main basement is heated. There is a basement crawl space that is at 54 degrees. I have a second fridge in the garage, but it is completely full right now with Thanksgiving stuff (turkeys, cream, pie crust)!  So, for now, we’ve filled a cooler and a box in the garage and we will move most of it to the garage fridge after the holiday. And it should get cooler so that we can leave some of it out in a box in the garage.

I’m planning to pickle the beets. I will boil and freeze the kale (which I often add to dishes like you would chopped spinach – no one notices!). I am planning to make sauerkraut with some of the cabbage. I will cook and freeze some of the butternut squash. The potatoes, onions, and carrots will be used up quickly around here (Thanksgiving). The Brussels sprouts are a problem since I’m really the only one who likes them. I’m not too fond of celeriac, so I need to figure something out with that.  Any celeriac suggestions?

My husband thinks I’m nuts. I signed up for a one-time winter share from our CSA. Approximately 100 lbs of veggies, they said. We picked it up yesterday and it filled the truck of my van. Here’s what we came home with: 5 stalks of Brussels sprouts 4 cabbages a plastic grocery bag of white … Read more →