Winter Share Week 5; Taste of Jamaica!

With the arrival of our first snow and a cold week in the forecast, I bet most of you aren’t thinking it feels much like Jamaica around here these days! But despite the shift in the weather, we are thinking fondly of our Jamaican crew this week as we pack up your boxes with many of their favorite crops. Each week of the farm season we offer everyone on our crew a free CSA share in thanks for the hard work they do to grow it. As they make their way down the line of produce many people on the crew take everything on offer. Others place an item or two on the barter table. But most weeks Dale and Kemor and Nataniel don’t hide their good-natured skepticism about most of the vegetables available. Call it picky eating, cultural differences, or unfamiliarity, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a head of broccoli or a bunch of radishes make it into their bag!

But if they hadn’t already headed back to their families for the season they would be all over this week’s share! Sweet potatoes are a frequently grown crop on their home farms, and we’ve gotten some good tips on improving our growing systems from Kemor. Dale loves the tiny and sweet honeynut squash, despite callous remarks about most of our other winter squash that we grow. And last year I had to cut myself off from the addictive beet juice that Kenroy liked to make (see recipe below). It’s always fun to explore the markets and grocery stores when traveling abroad, to see what’s commonly grown and cooked in other cultures. I love that we’ve gotten a sneak peak at what’s popular in Jamaica, and someday I hope I’ll be able to visit some of their home farms and take a deeper dive into some new tastes and textures.

Cheers

Norah and the Sweetland Crew (in all their current locales!)

Week 5 Winter Harvest
Honeynut squash, 2