This Week’s LUCSA Box
For Box Delivery: 12/17, 12/18, 12/19 - 2025
Fresh Produce:
Chestnuts
Lettuce Mix or Microgreens
Watermelon Radish
Rosemary
Garlic
Gold Turnips
Weekly Staples:
RISHI - Tea Sachets
Mushrooms
Bread
Eggs
Any share changes must be submitted to lucsa@theurbancanopy.org by Monday at 11AM
Weekly Add-Ons
Add locally-sourced food and home goods to your box to round out your CSA delivery. Add-ons save trips to the grocery store and allow you to get more of what you want conveniently delivered inside your LUCSA share.
Access the Add-On Shop through our member portal.
This Week in the Shop:
Prairie Fruits - Chevre — On Sale $7.00
Mick Klug - Apple Cider — On Sale $5.00
Middlebrow Beer (Bungalow) — On Sale $3.50
Off Color Beer (Beer for Ball Games or Apex Predator) - On Sale $3.50 ea
*Reminder: Add-Ons must be ordered by Monday at 11AM
The UC Holiday Gift Bag
Grab your gift bag for your box this week or next. Featuring a bunch of our local favorites as well as some special small batch items from the UC Processing Kitchen. You can put together an amazing holiday spread or give it as a gift to show off some amazing Midwest products. Order via the Add-On shop.
Bag Contents
- Underground Meats Soppresata Salami - 8oz
- Nordic Creamery Aged Raw Cheddar - 8oz
- J2K Capraio Cave Aged Tomme - 4oz
- Urban Canopy Multigrain Caraway Crackers - 3oz
- Urban Canopy Tomato Jam - 8oz
- Urban Canopy Spiced Illinois Pecans - 7oz
- Wisconsin-made Beeswax Wrap
- Cute holiday print gift bag
NEW IN SHOP
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NEW IN SHOP 〰️
Add On Item Spotlight: Urban Canopy Thumbprint Cookies
Just in time for the holidays from our kitchen to yours!
A pack of frozen, unbaked thumbprint cookies that pairs perfectly with one of our jams. Just dollop some jam in the center and toss them in the oven for freshly baked cookies.
Ingredients: whole wheat flour, sugar, butter, heavy cream, eggs, baking powder, vanilla. (12 cookies per pack)
*Jam not included, sold separately
Urban Canopy Thumbprint Cookies — NEW! $16
Urban Canopy Jam Preserves (Available in Raspberry and Blueberry) — On Sale $6.00
NEW IN SHOP
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NEW IN SHOP 〰️
Upcoming Holiday Closures
LUCSA will be closed for two weeks during the upcoming holiday season.
Our final week of deliveries in 2025 will be 12/17 - 12/19.
There will be no deliveries: 12/24, 12/25, 12/26 or 12/31, 1/1, 1/2.
All current impacted service dates will receive a credit back to the account for the full amount of ALL subscription services scheduled for that day. The credits will be applied to either that current billing cycle or the following depending on each member's subscription renewal date.
If you are a half share member and would like to reschedule instead of receiving a credit, please send any questions or requests to lucsa@theurbancanopy.org
We will begin deliveries in 2026 the week of 1/7
Add-On Shop hours will return to the standard Friday @ 11 AM to Monday @ 11 AM.
Add -On Shop items to be delivered for the week of 1/8 will be available to purchase starting Friday 1/2/26.
Please send any questions or requests to lucsa@theurbancanopy.org
Item Feature: Chestnuts
The chestnuts in this week’s box come from a family farm way up north on the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan. Bare Knuckle Farm is the hard work of this Piskor Family. It is an amazing and peaceful place. Ethan FIscher, who is writing this and sometimes helps with LUCSA but more often is working in the UC Processing Kitchen, has been lucky enough to help with the October chestnut harvest a couple times along with his partner and his two dogs. It is not the easiest. The nuts are encased in tough bright green spiny burs. Very spiny. You need to break that open to pry out the 2-3 chestnuts. The nuts then need to cure for a couple weeks at just the right temperature to allow their starches to convert to sugars for better flavor. The harvest is also difficult since you are competing with deer and squirrels who are much faster at collecting the best chestnuts.
Chestnuts are best known as a roasted snack for the holidays. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Simply score the shell of the nut with an X using a sharp pairing knife and roast for 15-20 minutes in a 450’F oven. Or use an open fire. Then peel the shell and let the nut cool. Toss with some sea salt and melted butter. But they can also be steamed or boiled for a more tender nut. Chestnuts make a great snack on their own, but are also popular used in stuffings. Italians incorporate them into risotto and soups. Buttery and sweet, they are also amazing as a rich puree.
Substitutions
Items for those already opting out of beverage, bread, mushrooms, or eggs OR having a conflicting allergy; subject to change, even if specified. Please refer back to this newsletter throughout the week for updates
Beets - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI)
Storage Tip - Separate greens from the root for the root to last longer the fridge. Keep the roots dry and tightly sealed in a bag in the crisper for up to a month. Greens should be used within 2 days.
Spinach - Family Farm Fresh (Rockville, IN)
Storage Tip - Keep plastic bag or container with a towel or paper towel for up to a week.
Kale - Family Farm Fresh (Rockville, IN)
Storage Tip - Make sure greens are good and dry. You can wrap the greens in a paper or cloth towel to cut down on extra moisture. Then store in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to a week. Or keep on counter in a glass of water like a bouquet!
Acorn Squash - Happy Valley Farm (Black Earth, WI)
Storage Tip - Keep undamaged squash in a cool, dark, dry place, out of the fridge, for up to 6 months.
*Farming is never 100% Predictable
Please keep in mind that share contents may vary due to market availability so contents may vary slightly from this list. We appreciate your flexibility.
Pro-Tip for Produce Longevity
When your share arrives, immediately unpack your produce and move into proper storage containers!
Always Wash Before Eating
As a general best practice with all produce including ours, we recommend washing produce before eating.
Please Remember to Save and Return LUCSA Packaging
We request that you return your wax box and Finn’s Ranch egg cartons during your next delivery. Help practice sustainability by helping us re-use all of these items for future deliveries.
For more recipe ideas, follow us on Instagram
Our recipe reels provide additional information on how to use produce and processing items each week!
We have created a handy Produce Guide which includes most items you will be getting in your box this season and through out the year. It is helpful for identification and has lots of storage tips, and also includes a log of recipes. It’s not a bad idea to bookmark this page!
Previous Boxes
If you missed a week and want to see what was in a previous share, we archive a PDF of all our previous newsletters here.
You can also use it to look at previous seasons if you are interested to see what crops are coming.
