Once again, virtually everything in this week’s boxes comes from the CSA plot.

Everyone will be getting:
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* sugar snap peas (Camel CSA)
* spring onions (Camel CSA)
* swiss chard/perpetual spinach (Camel CSA)
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* onions (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (St Kew Harvest)

Standard boxes will have the same plus:
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA)
* kohlrabi (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes are overflowing with a bumper harvest from our community vegetable plot in north Cornwall.

We can hardly keep up with the pace of growth. The cucumbers, basil, coriander and rocket in our first new polytunnel are racing ahead.

The tomatoes in the second polytunnel, grown by the lasagne gardening method, are almost ready to harvest.

There are over 100 tomato plants in there, flanked by aubergines, sweet peppers and about 40 chilli plants.

On the field the peas are swelling by the minute, while the first of the outdoor french beans and mange tout peas will be available in the boxes this Friday.

We’ve at long last picked all the broad beans.

The brassicas are also doing brilliantly – calabrese, summer sprouting broccoli and purple kale. We’ve even managed to grow some mouth-watering kohlrabi!

Unfortunately the alternate sunshine and showery weather means it’s a good year for weeds as well –
and it’s proving difficult to keep up wth the weeding as so many of our regular volunteers are away on holiday.

Next year we’re determined instigate a strict mulching regime to enable us to manage the growth and keep them at bay.

 But at least we’ve been able to start drying out our vast crop of onions.

Watch the video: How Camel CSA is helping make local food work

Before the recipe – which comes from Nigel Slater’s Tender – a few points about chard. After all, it grows well on the CSA’s plot so we’ll be seeing it in our veg boxes pretty often and might as well learn how to enjoy it!

• If the stems are wide, they need to be cooked separately from the leaves. Best to cut the stalk a centimetre or so below where the leaf starts. The stem is still tender at this point but will help the leaf keep its shape better during cooking. The leaves can be cooked just as you would cook spinach.
• In a gratin-type recipe, as below, the chard leaves need a good squeeze to get rid of their water.
• Yoghurt, fromage frais and mascarpone are all good as a dressing for freshly cooked chard. Add a trickle of olive oil too, and perhaps a scattering of paprika.
• Chard stalks, however thick, never take longer to boil or steam than three or four minutes.
• Seasoning your chard: anchovies – chopped and cooked to a pulp in olive oil; parsley – can calm the mineral notes of older stalks, especially if used with olive oil and lemon juice; lemon juice and a peppery olive oil – as a dressing for warm leaves and stalks.

Serves 4

Ingredients
450g chard stems and leaves
1 tbsp grain mustard
400ml double cream
a good handful of grated parmesan

Method
Cut the chard leaves from the stems. Chop the stems into short lengths and then cook briefly in boiling, lightly salted water until crisply tender. Dip the leaves in the water briefly, until they relax. Drain well and put them in a buttered shallow dish. Put the mustard in a bowl and stir in the cream and a grinding of salt and black pepper. Pour the seasoned cream over the stems and leaves, cover with grated parmesan and bake at 180C/gas 4 till the top has a light crust the colour of honey.

• More chard recipes from Camel CSA

This week everyone has:

* potatoes (1kg) (St Kew Harvest)
* spring onions (Camel CSA)
* peas (Camel CSA)
* purple/curly kale (Camel CSA)
* swiss chard (Camel CSA)
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)
* onions (Camel CSA)
* coriander (Camel CSA)

Standard boxes will also have an extra kilogram of potatoes plus:
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

A great way of using the cucumbers that are growing so well in the CSA’s polytunnel. I halved the quantities of this recipe (from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook) for three of the cucumbers we had in this week’s boxes. It made three mustard-size jars. It should store for up to a year, but keep in the fridge once opened.

Ingredients for 5 small jars

3 large cucumbers
2 onions
50g salt
600ml white wine or distilled white vinegar
450g granulated sugar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seeds
5 cloves
½ tsp ground turmeric

Method
Peel the cucumbers and cut lengthways into thinnish sticks about 6-7cm long. Thinly slice the onions into half moons. Put the cucumber and onions and salt into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt. Cover with a weighted plate and leave for 2-3 hours.

Rinse the cucumber and onion in cold water and then let stand to drain. While they are draining, put all the remaining ingredients into a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cucumber and onion, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and lift the cucumber and onion out of the liquid. Put into warm sterilised jars. Return the liquid to the heat and boil rapidly for at least 10 minutes to reduce it. Pour the liquid over the cucumber in the jars and cover.

UPDATE: The next bed of peas weren’t quite ready yet but the pickers pulled up the older bed to harvest what remained on the plants – help yourselves to them! Equally, some of the broad beans will be quite small but you can cook these in the pod … And if you’re cooking very large ones, it’s worth shelling the beans once they’re cooked.

Expert grower Jane Mellowship apologises for the slightly low quality of last week’s peas. She explains that, as we only pick once a week, it’s a bit tricky to get them into the boxes at the ideal size. But this week’s should be better – being picked from the next bed of peas. The pickers will also be using up the broad beans so some of these might be quite large.

Everyone will have:
* potatoes (Mark Norman)
* onions (Camel CSA)
* garlic (Camel CSA)
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* lettuce (Camel CSA)
* radish (Camel CSA)
* perpetual spinach (Camel CSA)
* broad beans

Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus:
* round cabbage (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

A Sarah Raven recipe – she uses tagliolini, but fine spaghetti or linguine would do just as well.

Preparation and cooking: about 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
250g broad beans, shelled weight
350g tagliolini or fine spaghetti
75g fried pancetta or prosciutto
2 tbsp finely chopped summer savory or thyme, to serve
grated parmesan, to serve

For the beurre blanc:
4 tbsp white wine
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 heaped tbsp finely chopped shallots
salt and black pepper
175g unsalted butter, cold and diced

Method
To make the beurre blanc, reduce the wine, vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper in a small saucepan until you have only a tablespoon of liquid left. Whisk in the butter bit by bit over a very low heat, until thick and creamy. Season. Keep it warm in a vacuum flask or bain-marie.

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Cook the beans in it for 4 minutes. Remove them, saving some of the cooking liquid, and cool them quickly in a sieve under cold running water. Pop some of the bright green beans out of their skin by pinching with thumb and forefinger – this adds a wonderful colour. Discard the skins and puree half the beans with a tablespoon of the cooking water.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until just al dente, leaving a tablespoon or two of the cooking liquid in the pan. Add the bean puree, pancetta or prosciutto and the beurre blanc and stir. Season carefully.

Lastly, throw in the remaining beans and stir. Serve with summer savory or thyme and grated parmesan.

Everyone will have:
* onions (Camel CSA)
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* broad beans or peas (Camel CSA)
* kale (Camel CSA)
* lettuce/rocket (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (St Kew Harvest)

Medium boxes will also have:
* extra potatoes
* radishes (Camel CSA)
* chard (Camel CSA)
* garlic (Camel CSA)
* courgettes (Mark Norman)

Large boxes will have:
an extra kilo of potatoes
extra onions, broad beans, kale, calabrese, radishes, chard, cucumber, rocket
* a large bunch of beetroot (Mark)

* = grown to organic principles

This week’s offering from Angela Hartnett’s ‘Midweek Suppers’ in the Guardian is ‘the ideal quick meal’. The other main ingredient is calabrese/broccoli.

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cucumber
25ml soy sauce
75ml sesame oil
10ml white wine vinegar
2 heads of broccoli cut into florets
2 tbsp olive oil
4 salmon fillets, skin removed, 120g each
½ bunch of dill, chopped
salt and pepper
horseradish cream, to serve

Method
Leaving the skin on, cut the cucumber into 8cm long strips, discarding any seeds. Place in a bowl and add the soy sauce, sesame oil and white wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper and allow to marinate.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the broccoli and cook for five minutes until just cooked. Drain and allow to cool.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the salmon for two minutes on each side, depending on the thickness (up to a maximum of five minutes in total). Remove from the pan and allow to cool until it is cold enough to handle. Then break it into flakes.

In a large bowl, mix the salmon, broccoli and marinated cucumber, tipping in as much of the marinade as you like. Finish with the chopped dill, mix well and check the seasoning.

Serve on a large plate with spoons of horseradish cream or grated fresh horseradish. Serve immediately.

A quick note from Mark Norman: the green onions need to be used reasonably quickly – unlike the ones that have been harvested and dried, they won’t keep.

This week everyone will have:

* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* green onion (Camel CSA)
* lettuce (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
* swiss chard (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (Mark Norman)
calabrese (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Standard boxes will also have:
* peas (Camel CSA)
* broad beans (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

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