CSA Hacks: Preserve the Harvest!

Joining a CSA program, aka Community Supported Agriculture, is an excellent way to be supportive of your local farmers and familiarize oneself with the true seasonality of fruits and vegetables in your area. A typical CSA membership is defined by an investment paid upfront by the consumer, allowing the farmer to cover initial growing costs and have a hold of projected demand for the upcoming season. In return, the consumer receives box of vegetables, always a varied reflection of what’s being harvested, for a set number of weeks. Some farms divide their shares by season, while others divide their shares by type of crop (fruits, vegetables, salad greens, cut flowers, etc). 

As Forrest Gump’s mother once said, “A CSA share is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get." Therefore, it is important to be prepared for the inevitable “bumper crop” box. A “bumper crop” is farmer’s lingo for an unexpected surplus of one crop dictated by variables often out of the farmer’s control that produce favorable conditions for one crop’s harvest. For example, what’s a CSA shareholder to do when they receive more kale than they could possibly eat before it goes to waste?!

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This versatile vegetable keeps up to two weeks properly refrigerated and 6 months frozen. If refrigerating your kale to be used within 2 weeks, sort the kale stalks into manageable bunches and secure with rubber bands at the base of the stalk (i.e without crushing the broadest leaves). You can wash the kale before securing into bunches or wash before cooking.

Rinse the kale thoroughly, shaking the leaves of any sand or dirt they acquired in their earthly life. The unwanted particles will sink to the bottom of the wash basin.  Shake the kale leaves of excess water and place in either a salad spinner or between clean hand towels for drying. 

At this point, you can freeze the kale leaves whole OR roughly chop for uniform storage! 
 I chopped my kale in strips of 1-2 inches and packed into gallon sized, sealable plastic bags. I pressed firmly on the bags, releasing as much air as possible to create a vacuum effect once sealed. It is important to get as much air out as possible for two reasons: maximize freezer space AND make sure that your produce doesn’t develop ice crystals between the leaves.

I have added my frozen chopped kale to everything from soups, to omelets, to sauteed vegetable mixtures and green smoothies. Just imagine being able to enjoy farm fresh kale in the middle of February and your produce storage efforts will be completely worth it! All the best,

Charlotte