This Week’s LUCSA Box
For Box Delivery: 7/29, 7/30, 7/31 - 2026
Fresh Produce:
Blueberries
Nectarines
Green Beans Fennel Sweet Corn
Green Bell Peppers
Weekly Staples:
Sputnik - Coffee Beans
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!
Rishi Sparkling Botanicals Tea - Grapefruit Quince
Beeler’s Bacon
Prairie Fruits - Chevre
NEW to the Shop!
Urban Canopy - Spearmint
Urban Canopy - Apple Mint
Urban Canopy - Parsley
Urban Canopy - Anise Hyssop
Urban Canopy - Jalapeños
Urban Canopy - Poblanos
Restock Alert!
El Molcajete - Mole Sauce
El Molcajete - Tortilla Chips
Giladi’s - Hummus (Classic and Hot Giardiniera)
*Reminder: Add-Ons must be ordered by Monday at 11AM
Item Spotlight: Nectarines
Nectarines, botanically classified as Prunus persica var. Nucipersica, are sweet, smooth-skinned stone fruits belonging to the Rosaceae family. The small fruits grow on trees that can reach up to nine meters in height and are favored for their edible skin, semi-firm flesh, and sweet, spice-filled flavor.
Nectarines emit a honeyed, sweet, and aromatic scent when ripe and contain a somewhat balanced, sweet, and tangy flavor. Depending on the variety, the fruits may also provide warm spice, nectar, and wine-like nuances.
They have a sweet flavor well suited for fresh and cooked preparations, including grilling, poaching, baking, roasting, or sautéing. The fruits can be consumed straight, out of hand, with the skin on, or sliced and eaten with sugar or cream as a dessert.
Look out for nectarines from Mick Klug in your next share!
A Message from oFarm:
" 'Growing Thru History'
Okay girlie pops this months 'Growing Thru History' is scoped out, maybe a bit of a stretch, but current events still count as history right?? I'm sure we're all very well aware of this whole cyclospora outbreak???? If not baybe.....must be nice... Everyone panicking about not eating salads right now and only eating things you can peel! And like yeah, currently unless you directly know where your food is being grown and coming from you should use your best judgement on what to consume, but also in general please WASH YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES! Back to the issue, which underlying all of this is that there has always been a lack of protection for farm laborers and access to basic human bodily rights.
For all unaware, cyclospora can only be spread through human fecal matter. So either that means for produce to be contaminated there must either be: human poop in the fields, the farm is using poopy water to irrigate, or there's human poop in the packing facility? Either way none of these sound great right?? Well fun fact, most Big Ag farms, and even smaller localized ones, don't provide access to restroom facilities in their fields, including compostable toilets. So what's a worker to do? Speaking with community that has worked on some Big Ag farms in California, they can confirm that this is just the standard on some sites. "People either go the bathroom in the fields or some workers come wearing a diaper." Woof! Luckily during my time on our farm site, we pushed to implement a new standard of having a port-o-john on site. But previously our other options were: going in the wooded area by the train tracks, holding until the library was open, or hoping the Popeye's down the street would let us use their restroom.
Okay, off the soap box for now but I'm sure we'll circle back to this topic another time. Until then; enjoy the fennel ;)
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
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes - Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, MI)
Storage Tip - Tomatoes should be kept at room temperature on the counter away from sunlight. Consume within a few days.
Curly Kale - Earthlore Farm (Beaverville, IL), Sol de Chicago Farm (Chicago, IL)
Storage Tip - Make sure greens are good and dry. Either loosen or remove the rubber band. 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 in a glass of water like a bouquet!
Garlic Scapes - Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, IL)
Storage Tip - Keep green garlic and garlic scapes in your refrigerator's crisper drawer in loose plastic or mesh bags so that air circulates around them. They should stay fresh for at least one week and up to two weeks.
Baby Artichoke - Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, IL)
Storage Tip - To store fresh baby artichokes for 5 to 7 days, sprinkle the stems lightly with water, place them in an unsealed plastic bag, and refrigerate in the crisper drawer.
*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.
