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Fall CSA: Week 6

11/26/2014

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In This Week's Share
Kale (two bunches)
Celeriac/Celery Root
Kohlrabi
Salad Turnips
Brussels Sprouts
Lettuce
Potatoes
Leeks
Delicata Squash
Garlic

What Is That?!
Celery Root! Or celeriac, is delicious peeled and sauteed, roasted, in soups, in stuffing, grated raw in salad, or in the gratin recipe below.

2015 CSA
Sign Up Today!
It's never too early to sign up for next season's CSA. Sign up by January 15th and get a $50 discount! That's two free weeks of the CSA! Also, we're trying to grow our CSA by almost double next year. That's a LOT! And we need your help. Tell your friends, colleagues, relatives, make an announcement at church, at your knitting group, or at a PTA meeting. Basically tell anyone who eats food about our CSA. For every friend you recommend who joins the CSA, you'll get $25 back at the first pick up. That's a free week of food for every friend!

30 Weeks of Food
After the success and fun of the fall CSA, we're excited to offer a three-season CSA next year with the following options:
  • 4-week Spring CSA (May 5-26) $80
  • 20-week Summer CSA (June 2 - Oct 13) $500
  • 6-week Fall CSA (Oct 20 - Nov 24) $150
Click the image to download next year's CSA membership form. (Spring and Fall membership forms coming soon.)

We love growing food for our CSA members and we're happy to be able to do it for even longer next year. We hope you'll join us again.


Thanksgiving Recipes
Brussels Sprouts are a Thanksgiving staple but if you need some inspiration tomorrow, the trusty Martha Stewart has loads of idea.

Celery Root and Leek Stuffing
I defer to Ms. Stewart, yet again. Find the recipe here.

Celeriac and Potato Gratin (or Scalloped Celeriac and Potatoes)
We've had this the last few years for Thanksgiving and hope to make it a permanent tradition. Swiss cheese can be substituted for gruyere.
Ingredients:
    Unsalted butter for baking dish
    1 Tbs. olive oil
    1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
    1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
    2 cups heavy cream
    1 tsp. Dijon mustard
    2 tsp. kosher salt
    1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
    1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/16 inch thick
    1 1/2 lb. celery root, peeled and sliced 1/16 inch thick
    4 oz. Gruyère cheese, shredded
    1 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
    2 tsp. chopped fresh chives or flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 375°F. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallots and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add the cream, mustard, salt and pepper and whisk until just blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the potato and celery root slices. Pour the cream mixture over the potato mixture and toss to coat evenly. In a small bowl, stir together the Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

3. Arrange a layer of potato and celery root slices, slightly overlapping, in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with one-third of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering 2 more times, ending with the cheese. Pour any remaining cream from the bowl over the gratin.

4. Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is golden and the vegetables are tender when pierced, 30 to 45 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the chives and serve. Serves 8 to 10.

Satued Kohlrabi With Shallots and Cream
Ingredients

    3 Kohlrabi, bulb peeled and cubed, leaved finely shredded
    1 Shallot, thinly sliced
    1 Tbsp Unsalted butter
    Heavy cream
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Grated nutmeg to taste
Directions
1. Cook kohlrabi and onion in butter over medium-high heat until almost tender. Stir in kohlrabi leaves, and cook until wilted. Add a generous splash of heavy cream, and cook for a few seconds to reduce. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Serve with chicken, pork chops, or steak.

Kohlrabi Turnip Slaw
Ingredients

     1 pound kohlrabi (about 2 small heads, leaves included)
    1 bunch turnips (about 8 ounces)
    3 tablespoons lime juice
    1 tablespoon peanut oil
    2 teaspoons honey
    1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
    Coarse salt and ground pepper
    1 medium leek, thinly sliced
Directions
1.Separate stems from kohlrabi bulb, trim, and discard tough bottoms of stems. Half leaves lengthwise then thinly shred crosswise. Trim root end from bulb and peel away tough outer layer; halve lengthwise.

2. Fit a food processor with a shredding blade (or use a box grater) and shred kohlrabi bulb and turnips.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together lime juice, peanut oil, honey, and sesame oil; season with salt and pepper. Add scallions, kohlrabi leaves and bulb, and turnip to bowl; toss to coat. Let stand at least 15 minutes.



Wishing you good food, good fun, and good family, from ours to yours.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Eleanor, Patrick, & Ernest

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Ernie likes the view from up there! (Patrick is tall.)
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Still green, still growin'!
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Sleeping snow baby. And Kale!
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Fall CSA: Week 5

11/19/2014

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In This Week's Share: Kale
Salad Mix*
Bok Choy
Tatsoi
Fennel
Cabbage
Salad Turnips
Leeks
Delicata Squash
Garlic
Potatoes

*We harvested the salad a couple of days early to get it out of the ground before the temperature dropped. We recommend eating it within the next couple of days, since it's not quite as fresh as the salad mix we usually give.

Yummy Stir-Fry
Bok choy, tatsoi, salad turnips, fennel, leeks, garlic, kale, and even cabbage are all delicious stir-fried. Just get a big pan nice an hot with your choice of oil (olive, coconut, sesame), chop the veggies you want to use, and toss them in the pan. (Don't add the garlic first or it might burn.) Add a splash of soy sauce, rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sake, or wine if you want a little acid in the dish. Once the veggies are nearly cooked, push them to one side and pour a beaten egg onto the bare part of the pan. Count to ten then scramble the egg. Once the egg is cooked, toss it into the veggie mixture and serve over rice. It's that easy!

Farm News
Brrrrrrr, it's cold out there! This week's low temperatures are keeping us indoors doing paper work, updating our website, looking into grants for building projects, and seeding more microgreens in the sunny greenhouse. Luckily we avoided all that snow that they got up state!

Our brand, spankin' new tine weeder arrived last week! We can't wait to use it in the Spring and we look forward to better weed control next year.








Wishing you a warm, cozy week!
~Eleanor & Patrick

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Fall CSA: Week 4

11/12/2014

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In This Week's Share
Brussels Sprouts
Broccoli Greens
Tokyo Bekana Greens*
Baby Chard and Beet Greens
Fennel
Beets
Watermelon Radishes
Salad Mix
Butternut Squash
Delicata Squash
Garlic

*Tokyo Bekana Greens are a type of Asian green in the kale/cabbage family. They look like lettuce and you can use them in salads. They are also yummy sauteed or used any way you would use Chinese cabbage.
  We Just Can't Stop! We're extending the Fall CSA for another two weeks. We have lots of food in the ground and in storage, so let's keep it going! You can expect lots of salad greens, cooking greens, Brussels sprouts, carrots, potatoes, leeks, garlic, turnips, and winter squash. Pick up dates are November 18th and 25th at the usual times and places. The membership fee is $50, paid the first week. Email us if you're interested.

Hooray for a few more weeks of fresh veggies!
 
Fennel
Patrick likes to eat fennel raw like an apple. In fact, on the farm you know he can't be far when you get a whiff of that sweet anise aroma. It's also good raw in salads, pickled, or roasted with beets or other root vegetables. We've been using the hollow sections of the stems as straws for seltzer water. Rumor has it, Frank Sinatra sipped his Chianti through a fennel straw. Try it with your favorite mixed drink!
 

Baby Chard and Beet Greens
These are great as a substitute for spinach. They're in the same family but we find that they have a more buttery flavor. Enjoy them in a Cobb salad, sauteed with oil and garlic, or in a quiche.
 





Best Butternut Squash Soup
This was in a newsletter a few weeks ago, but I'll include it now for any new members.

Ingredients:
1 Large butternut squash, cut in half, seeds scooped out, brushed with olive oil
1 Onion or large shallot, chopped
1/2 to 1 Stick butter, depending on your preference (olive oil works too)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
Heavy cream (optional)

Steps:
1. Heat oven to 375 and bake squash on baking pan until top is soft when poked (30-40 minutes). Once cooked, remove from oven, set aside to cool.
2. In a pot or dutch oven heat butter over medium-high heat. Once butter foams, add onion. Reduce heat to medium and stir frequently, until onions turn tender then brown
3. Meanwhile, once squash is cool to the touch, remove flesh from the skin, discarding the skin and reserving the flesh.
4. Once onions are caramelized, add cooked squash and 2-4 cups of water, depending on desired consistency and amount of squash.
5. Blend with an immersion blender, upright blender, or food processor until very smooth, almost fluffy.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Reheat soup before serving.
*If  the onions have given the soup an acrid or bitter flavor, you can cheat with a glug of maple syrup.
**If using, add a hearty dollop of cream to each bowl when serving.
  Farm Blog You can now find the CSA newsletter and other farm news on our farm blog. Check it out!


Hope to see you next week!
~Eleanor & Patrick

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Harvesting salad mix. We use long swaths of synthetic fabric called row cover to protect our crops from frost.
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Eat your veggies!
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Just seeded experimental winter spinach, arugula, and microgreens because, well, why not?
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Brussels Sprouts
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Fall CSA: Week 3

11/4/2014

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Farm News
This week we'll be finishing constructing our "caterpillar tunnel" hoop house, finishing the garlic planting, seeding experimental spinach and arugula outside as well as in trays in the greenhouse to be planted in the hoop house in December. It's a mad dash to beat the inevitable cold and dark of the nearing winter. The early evening darkness has brought a little reprieve, though, as we're forced inside for warm supper and, heck, maybe even a board game or two.

CS-Eggs
Our laying hens have gone to a friends who can keep them warm and lighted. For the last week of the CSA, we'll be getting eggs from our pal Soibhan at Rain Dance Farm. They're delicious, certified organic, and what we eat when we don't have our own eggs.

2015 Farm Share
It's never too early to become a member for the 2015 CSA. If you join by January 15th you get a $50 discount. That's two free weeks of the CSA! And for every friend that you recommend you get another $25 back! Don't miss out on these great deals! Join today and tell your friends!

Until next week!
~Eleanor & Patrick

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