This Week’s LUCSA Box
For Box Delivery: 9/2, 9/3, 9/4 - 2026
Fresh Produce:
Green Beans
Grapes
Peaches Tomatoes Shishitos
Onions
Weekly Staples:
Fruitbelt - Sparkling Tonic (Non-Alcoholic)
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:
SALE!
Heady Cup - Lemon Heady
Heady Cup - Cold Brew
Rishi Sparkling Botanicals Tea - Grapefruit Quince
Underground Meats - Soppressata
Underground Meats - Wisco Old Fashioned Salami
Prairie Fruits - Chevre
WiscoPop - Cherry
Sparkle Sparkling Water - Lime
LaClare Creamery - Goat Mozzarella
Featured Items This Week:
Mick Klug - Plums
Urban Canopy - “Cowboy Candy” Candied Jalapeños
Urban Canopy - Jalapeños
Urban Canopy - Poblanos
Urban Canopy - Italian Basil, Thai Basil
Urban Canopy - Scallions
Urban Canopy - Parsley
Urban Canopy - Mint
*Reminder: Add-Ons must be ordered by Monday at 11AM
New Vendor Highlight:
Ruby Fine Hibiscus Tea (Chicago, IL)
Ruby Fine Hibiscus Tea is a unique blend of hibiscus tea, brewed with ginger, local honey and pink salt. Brothers Jan and Miles Menafee from Oak Park founded Ruby, a Black-owned and Chicago-based beverage brand, in the Summer of 2025, after two years of experimentation and feedback from family and friends.
Ruby Fine Hibiscus Tea is named after Jan and Miles’s great-grandmother Ruby Wright, who first taught them that you can taste the love in anything that you make. It’s that love that the brothers pour into every bottle of Ruby in honor of their great-grandmother.
Check out Ruby Fine Hibiscus Tea in our Add-on Shop!
A Message from oFarm:
" sobbing It is with the heaviest heart that the farm crew must finally say goodbye to one of our sweeties, who has literally been on this site for like 7 years!!!! This longest standing sweetie is departing from this path to traverse an even more expansive one and we are wishing her the world and more!! This GG takes hold of the torch and now has the longest on site experience???? Woof! Which kind of adjacent, our own Southside Wiley Coyote has been making his presence known more as of late...But don't worry! We are good about scaring him away, so he doesn't get too familiar with us.
Until next time!
xoxo
gossip grower"
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
Chard - The Urban Canopy (Auburn Gresham, Chicago, IL)
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.
Cabbage - Garden Gate Farm (Fairbury, IL)
Storage Tip - Cabbage is best stored whole and unrinsed until you're ready to use it. Cutting into it will cause it to lose vitamin C, which will lead to faster spoilage. To store a head of cabbage, place it in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge. A head of cabbage will last up two months when stored this way.
Beets - Happy Valley Farm (Black Earth, WI)
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.
Sweet Corn - Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, MI)
Storage Tip - Corn should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten quickly. The sugars that are found in corn kernels turn into starches quickly once they are picked and it happens even faster if they are kept at room temperature. You can keep it in the husk or in a plastic bag in the fridge in order for it to not dry out. Corn should be eaten in 2-3 days.
*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.
We’re unfortunately not able to re-use; non-Finn’s egg cartons, rubber bands, bags, berry containers or glass jars.
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.
