This Week’s LUCSA Box

(Archived)

For Box Delivery: 8/26, 8/27, 8/28 - 2026

Fresh Produce:

Collards
Grapes
Sugar Cube Cantaloupe Tomatoes Leeks
Jalapeños

Weekly Staples:

Rishi - Tea Sachets
Mushrooms
Bread
Eggs

Jump to Share Contents List

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

  • Fruitbelt - Sparkling Tonic

  • Underground Meats - Soppressata

  • Underground Meats - Wisco Old Fashioned Salami

Featured Items This Week:

  • Urban Canopy - Shishitos

  • Mick Klug - Nectarines

*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:

"The farm cats have been in full blow affection mode! Like non stop meow, can't be more than 4 feet away, jumping into the weeding crates mid weed! Like babes come on...you good boo??? If you are reading this and have ever thought about adopting a cat, please reach out to us! The farm has lots of the beautiful cats we see around the farm and they def used to be indoor babies. With fall and winter soon approaching an indoor forever home would be ideal! Eh??

Speaking of babies, our lil bok choy seedlings are looking so great and will soon be big enough to transplant! Hopefully there will be lots to go around! Until next time!

xoxo

gossip grower"

Share Contents

Refer back to this page for updated share contents to help you identify produce.

Weekly Staples:

Beverage

Tea Sachets - Rishi Tea & Botanicals (Milwaukee, WI)

Storage Tip - Store in a cool, dry place.

Bread

Wednesday: Ciabatta Publican Quality Bread (Fulton Market, Chicago, IL)

Thursday: Multigrain Boule
FranHer Bakery (Pilsen, Chicago, IL)

Friday: Challah
FranHer Bakery (Pilsen, Chicago, IL)

Storage Tip - Keep your bread cut side down in a bag on your counter for two to three days. At that point you will want to slice or rip/cut your bread into pieces and freeze for future toast, croutons, or panzanella! If it’s particularly hot, you may want to move it to the refrigerator after a day or two (the only time we will tell you to refrigerate bread).

Mushrooms

Wednesday: Lion’s ManeWindy City Mushrooms (Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL)

Thursday: Lion’s ManeWindy City Mushrooms (Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL)

Friday: ShiitakeRiver Valley Ranch (Burlington, WI)

Storage Tip - Open the paper bag to reduce moisture, and keep mushrooms out of plastic. Smoke, dehydrate, or par-cook and freeze for longer storage.

Eggs‍ ‍

Pastured Eggs - Finn's Ranch (Buchanan, MI)

Storage Tip - You can freeze your eggs to make them last longer. Crack and scramble in a container, or crack whole into oiled muffin tins, and keep frozen for up to 6 months.

This Week’s Fresh Produce:

Collards - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI)
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!

Sugar Cube Melon - Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, MI)
Storage Tip - Ripen at room temperature on your counter. Melon will give off a noticeable aroma of melon when it is ripe and the flower end of the melon will have some give. Cut up into slices or squares and you can keep refrigerated for a week. If you do not want to cut the entire melon, leave the seeds in the uncut half and cover with plastic wrap.

Grapes - Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, MI)
Storage Tip - Store in crisper and allow for some air flow to minimize moisture.. These go quick so eat within 2-3 days.

Leeks - Garden Gate Farm (Fairbury, IL)
Storage Tip - Gently wrap and keep in your crisper for up to a month. Keep the dark greens in your freezer for stock!

Tomatoes  - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI), 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

Jalapenos - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI)
Storage Tip - Store dry in an open plastic bag in the crisper for up to two weeks.

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

Parsley - The Urban Canopy (Auburn Gresham, Chicago, IL)
Storage Tip - Keep in an open plastic bag in the crisper for up to two weeks.

Kale - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI)
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!

Blue Potatoes (Unwashed) - Wild Coyote (Berrien Springs, MI)
Storage Tip - Keep cool, dry and out of direct light, on your counter, in a cupboard or in a perforated paper bag for up to 6 months.

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.

Recipes

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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.