Westfield Area CSA

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Category: Featured Produce

Tomatoes

Featured Produce

28 Jul, 2025

Tomatoes

The tomato, like the eggplant, is a member of the Solanaceae, or Nightshade family.  Tomatoes are native to western South America, but were cultivated in Mexico by Mexican Indians, who were intrigued by its resemblance to the tomatillo – a staple in their cuisine.  With the discovery of the New World, tomato seeds were brought back to Spain, beginning the introduction of the fruit into Europe.  Tomatoes made their way to North America with the colonists who first settled in Virginia. (more…)

Swiss Chard

Featured Produce

21 Jul, 2025

Swiss Chard

Swiss chard, along with kale, mustard greens, and collard greens, is one of several leafy, green vegetables often referred to as “greens.”  It belongs to the same family as beets and spinach and shares a similar taste profile.  Chard is a tall, leafy vegetable with a thick, crunchy stalk (akin to celery but less stringy) that comes in white, red, or yellow, with wide, fan-like, ruffled leaves that are similar to spinach but chewier.  Regardless of the stalks’ color, they have similar flavors and cooking properties, although the white stalks are most tender.  Very tender leaves can be added directly to green salads. (more…)

Green Beans

Featured Produce

14 Jul, 2025

Beans

Green beans, also known as snap beans because they “snap” when broken, are harvested when young, when the beans inside the pod are small and tender and the pods are thin. They are very low in calories and loaded with vitamins K, A, and C, fiber, folate and anti-oxidants. Interestingly, green beans were originally cultivated in Peru and were then spread throughout Central and South America by Indian tribes. Spanish explorers brought them back from the “New World” to Europe in the 16th century, and from there they spread around the world. (more…)

Savoy cabbage

Featured Produce

7 Jul, 2025

Cabbage

Cabbage is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. Closely related to other cole crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.  Smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors seen less frequently.  The cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plants’ life cycles, but those intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year. (more…)

Summer Squash

Featured Produce

30 Jun, 2025

Summer Squash

Welcome to Summer Squash season!  As you may have noticed already, summer squash appears in a variety of shapes and colors, the most prevalent being the well-known green zucchini, the straight or crooked necked yellow squash, and the round, flat, often scalloped edge, patty pan squash.  All these varieties are tender, warm-season vegetables that differ from their fall and winter cousins in that they are selected to be harvested while still immature.  Thus, the entire vegetable, rind, flesh, and seeds, can be eaten. (more…)

Garlic Scapes

Featured Produce

23 Jun, 2025

Garlic Scapes

For those of you familiar with the CSA, these curly beauties are a welcome friend.  For those new to the CSA experience, this may be one of your first “experimental” vegetables.

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Hakurei turnips

Featured Produce

16 Jun, 2025

Hakurei Salad Turnips

Hakurei turnips are a Japanese salad turnip.  They are sweet and much softer than a regular turnip, and rarely need to be peeled; just wash and trim the root ends.  The leaves are also edible but should be eaten within 1-2 days.  Wrapped tightly in plastic, the turnips can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. (more…)

Lettuce

Featured Produce

9 Jun, 2025

Lettuce

It is true, eating all that salad is good for you!  While the nutritional value of lettuce varies with the variety, the following excerpt from the University of Illinois website sets the record straight:  Lettuce in general provides small amounts of dietary fiber, some carbohydrates, a little protein and a trace of fat. Its most important nutrients are vitamin A and potassium.   (more…)

Sunchokes

Featured Produce

18 Nov, 2024

Sunchokes (aka Jerusalem Artichokes)

Sunchokes, of the sunflower family, are native to North America where the natives called them “sun roots” before European settlers arrived. Samuel Champlain, a French explorer found them in Cape Cod in 1605 and pronounced them similar in taste to artichokes. But why “Jerusalem artichokes”? They don’t come from Jerusalem nor do they look like artichokes. There are a few theories: (more…)

Winter Squash

Featured Produce

11 Nov, 2024

Winter Squash

Winter squash is really a misnomer, as these delicious treats are grown in the summer. They are edible well into the winter, however, thanks to their ability to last for months in storage.  First, be sure to check for any soft spots. If there are any, cook that squash right away. Soft spots can easily be cut out and the rest of the squash is usually fine. (more…)