Veggie Times Week 12
On the farm
We will begin taking orders for bulk tomatoes. They are $25/half bushel of mixed varieties. We will likely start delivering these next week, but will be available on a first come basis while we have tomatoes. So, if you’d like to reserve a box please let me know your name and pickup location and I will email you to confirm your order and then again when I will be bringing your tomatoes to your pickup location. Thank you!
Greetings! We hope you all had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend. Here at the farm we are still harvesting all of our summer crops, but we are moving slowly into fall crops. Spaghetti Squash which is our earliest winter squash is just about all ready to be harvested, so full shares will get this week and next week half shares. Brussel Sprouts are looking great and parsnips are too. We are struggling a bit with carrots now, again due to rain. The last of our second planting has pretty much rotted due to being too wet and now we are noticing the same thing happening with our third planting. We have one more planting left to mature and we are really hoping it dries up so we get a good crop of storage carrots for the final boxes of the season. This is why we are taking a break on carrots for the week, so hopefully they will grow a bit and get bigger and my dry up some! Our peppers have really slowed down, but we have been giving them magnesium which is helping them to start flowering again, so we will still get fruit for another week or two before it frosts. When I was walking around the fields today I was really happy to see how well our late season greens are doing. This week we are excited to be giving baby greens to both shares. Finally, the last boxes of the season are looking great, a lot of winter squash out there, more potatoes to come, parsnips, brussels sprouts, beets and more!
Finally, my social media plug...If you are into facebook, and want to hear more regularly about farm happenings, please join our private CSA members group. We post pictures almost daily of farm happenings and recipes, and we are loving some of the pictures other folks are posting too. Keep it coming!
Recipes
*A note on celery* you'll notice our celery doesn't taste like store bought celery...it's much much stronger flavored. I like to use it mostly in soups and cooking where a strong celery flavor really shines.
*If you aren’t sure about leeks try using them instead of an onion. I use them interchangeably. I also love to freeze leeks. I just slice them into rounds and freeze on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Once frozen I transfer to gallon bags, and I can crumble up whatever I need for cooking.
Potato Leek Soup
8 cups chicken stock
6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
4 leeks (white and light green parts), thoroughly washed and sliced
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Put the chicken stock, potatoes, leeks, celery, bay leaf, thyme in a large pot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Boil until potatoes are soft 15-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender (or in batches in a food processor or blender) blend the soup until smooth. Pour the soup into a medium pot; add the cream and simmer until the soup has thickened, about 20 minutes.
Friend Parsnips
1 pound parsnips
6 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel the parsnips and cut into thin sticks about a quarter or an inch thick and three inches long. Discard the woody core of each parsnip. Drop the parsnips into a saucepan of boiling salted water, and cook until they are almost tender (about 3 minutes). Remove and pat dry with paper towels. Melt butter in a large frying pan. Sprinkle parsnips with salt and pepper, and add to the butter. Fry over medium head until the parsnips are crisp and golden.
Cider Braised Kohlrabi
1 large kohlrabi, peeled, and sliced into long thin slabs
3/4 cup apple cider
2 Tbsp butter
1/8 cup chopped sage, thyme, or rosemary
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter over medium heat. Add sage, and sauté a few minutes being careful not to let the sage brown. Add kohlrabi, a sprinkle of salt+pepper and reminding ingredients. Cook covered over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Stir kohlrabi about every 10 minutes to coat with glaze. Watch carefully over the last few minutes of cooking to be sure liquid is absorbed and kohlrabi is lightly caramelized. If kohlrabi is cooked through and liquid is remaining,raise heat and cook without the lid, stirring often until liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Roasted Squash with Parmesan and Herbs
2 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 shallots, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
6 cups roasted spaghetti squash
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium. Add shallots and garlic and cook until softened, 7 minutes. Stir in thyme and rosemary and cook until fragrant, 1 minutes. Add squash and toss to combine. Cook until warmed through. Stir in parsley and parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.
If you are looking for a good way to use up your tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, try fresh pico de gallo.
If you want to save any of your tomatoes you can skin them in boiling water and then put them in an ice bath, but I also just core them and toss into freezer bags. When I’m ready to use them I partially defrost them, remove skins (they come off easily) and use just like canned tomatoes. Also try halving or quartering your tomatoes and roasting them. They freeze well this way too. Cherry tomatoes are great roasted and frozen as well.
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