🌱 From the Field: The Stories Hiding in Your CSA Box

Every vegetable in your CSA share has a story, and some of the things happening inside those vegetables might surprise you. This week’s box gives us a perfect opportunity to dig into a few interesting facts about potatoes, jalapeños, and tomatoes that you may not know.

🥔 Why Potatoes Prefer the Dark

There’s a good reason we tell you to store potatoes in a cool, dark place. Potatoes are actually underground stems called tubers, and when they’re exposed to light, they begin producing chlorophyll, the same pigment that makes plant leaves green. That’s why potatoes left in the light can eventually develop green areas.

The green color itself isn’t the problem, but it can be a useful warning sign. Light exposure can also increase naturally occurring compounds called glycoalkaloids, including solanine. At elevated levels, these compounds can give potatoes a bitter taste and can be harmful if consumed in large amounts. That’s one reason potatoes are grown beneath the soil and why it’s important to keep them away from light once you get them home.

🌶️ Why One Jalapeño Can Be Mild and the Next Can Bring the Heat

If you’ve ever eaten one jalapeño that barely registered and then taken a bite of another that set your mouth on fire, you weren’t imagining things!

A jalapeño’s heat comes from compounds called capsaicinoids, including capsaicin, and the amount can vary considerably from one pepper to another. Genetics play a major role, but growing conditions can influence heat as well. Water availability, plant stress, maturity, and other environmental conditions can all affect how much heat develops in a pepper.

Here’s something else that may surprise you. The seeds aren’t actually the primary source of a jalapeño’s heat. Much of the capsaicin is produced in the pale inner tissue that surrounds and supports the seeds. Removing that inner tissue along with the seeds can make a jalapeño noticeably milder. If you like the heat, leave it in!

🍅 Why Local Tomatoes Don’t Need to Be Built for a Road Trip

Tomatoes offer another interesting example of how the way food is grown, harvested, and sold can influence what eventually ends up on your plate.

Tomatoes headed into large commercial distribution systems may have a long journey ahead of them before reaching the produce department. Firmness, shelf life, appearance, and the ability to withstand handling are all important considerations. Tomatoes can also be harvested at the mature-green stage and allowed to ripen after harvest, giving them more time to make their way through packing, transportation, and distribution.

Locally grown tomatoes have a much shorter journey. Because they don’t need to spend days moving through a national distribution system, they can be harvested closer to the stage when they’re ready to be enjoyed. Instead of preparing for a long truck ride, their trip may simply be from our field to the farm and then into your CSA box.

🌱 There’s More to Your Vegetables Than Meets the Eye

A potato turning green, the surprise heat of a jalapeño, or the way a tomato is harvested may seem like small details, but they’re all reminders that there’s a lot more happening inside our food than we can see. Biology, weather, growing conditions, harvest timing, and even what happens after a vegetable leaves the field can all influence what eventually reaches your table.

That’s one of the fun parts of eating directly from a local farm. Your CSA box isn’t just dinner for the week. It’s a chance to see a little more of the science, experience, and decision-making that goes into growing your food.

What’s in the Box? 🌽🍅

The August harvest is bringing plenty of bold flavors to this week’s CSA share. Tomatoes and peppers are hitting their stride, sweet corn continues to be a summertime favorite, and fresh green top onions and jalapeños add a little extra flavor to the mix. Add in potatoes and kohlrabi, and you’ve got the makings of everything from fresh salsa and grilled vegetables to hearty summer dinners.

Here’s what’s inside:

  • 🌽 Sweet Corn
  • 🧅 Green Top Onions
  • 🌶️ Jalapeños
  • 🟢 Kohlrabi
  • 🍅 Roma & Round Tomatoes
  • 🥔 Potatoes
  • 🫑 Green Bell Peppers

Need a little inspiration? Here are some simple ways to make the most of this week’s harvest:

🌽 Sweet Corn: Pahl’s sweet corn continues to be one of the highlights of the season. Boil it, grill it, or cut the kernels from the cob to add to salads, salsas, and other dishes. Remember to get your corn into the refrigerator as soon as you get home.  The colder you keep it, the better it will maintain that fresh-picked sweetness.

🧅 Green Top Onions: Don’t forget that you can use the whole onion! The white portion provides a little more traditional onion flavor, while the green tops are milder and make a great finishing touch for potatoes, tacos, eggs, soups, and salads. Keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to use them.

🌶️ Jalapeños: Jalapeños can add anything from a little warmth to a noticeable kick, and the heat can vary from pepper to pepper. Dice them into fresh salsa, add them to tacos, roast or grill them, or slice them for burgers and sandwiches. Removing the inner ribs and seeds can help tame some of the heat. Wash your hands well after handling cut peppers and avoid touching your eyes.

🟢 Kohlrabi: If kohlrabi is still new to you, think of it as a crisp, mildly sweet member of the cabbage family. Peel away the tougher outer layer and slice it into sticks for snacking, shred it into a slaw, or cube and roast it alongside your potatoes. Keep it refrigerated for excellent storage life.

🍅 Roma & Round Tomatoes: Two types of tomatoes give you plenty of options this week. Roma tomatoes have a meatier texture that works especially well for sauces, salsa, and roasting, while round tomatoes are perfect for sandwiches, salads, and slicing. Leave tomatoes at room temperature until ripe for the best flavor and texture.

🥔 Potatoes: Sometimes simple is best. Toss potatoes with olive oil and your favorite seasonings and roast until crispy, make a fresh potato salad, or wrap them in foil for the grill. Store potatoes in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place rather than in direct sunlight.

🫑 Green Bell Peppers: Crisp green peppers can be enjoyed raw with dip, chopped into salads, stuffed and baked, or sliced for the grill. They’re also a natural match for several other items in this week’s box—combine peppers, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños for an easy farm-fresh salsa.

This is a particularly fun box to mix and match. Tomatoes, peppers, jalapeños, and onions naturally belong together, while sweet corn, potatoes, and kohlrabi give you plenty of options for sides. Sometimes the best CSA meals come from looking at what’s in the box and letting the harvest decide what’s for dinner.