This Week's Vegetable Harvest:
- Pie Pumpkins (grown by Vicky Westerhoff of Genesis Growers)
- Brussels Sprouts
- White Japanese Turnips
- Fresh Dill
- Mixed Bag of Gold & Chioggia Beets
- Red & Green Head Lettuce
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli
Wednesday Morning in Photos
The turning leaves manage to brighten another overcast October morning. I remind myself to be grateful that it's not raining!!
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As the morning fog starts to clear off, I head out of the house for a walk around the farm. I make a mental list of the things we need to do this morning--washing turnips, harvesting broccoli, bagging beets and packing CSA boxes.
Walking out to the back fields to check on the broccoli harvest, I startle a pretty large buck. Or rather, he startles me. I am fiddling with my camera as I come around the corner, and I manage to get within 10 yards of him before I look up to find him staring right at me.
Nick and Andy, in waterproof outerwear, harvest the broccoli that will go into today's CSA boxes. Nick says he can tell this is a good crop by the way the leaves snap off with a distinct crispy sound as he harvests the broccoli.
Notes from the Farm Kitchen
I’ll admit that a pie pumpkin makes a nice fall decoration, but it would be a real shame not to make good culinary use of such a sweet, flavorful pumpkin variety. If you’ve never done so, try making pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup from scratch. All you need to do is cut the pumpkin in half or in wedges, scoop out the seeds, and bake it in the oven just like you would any member of the squash family. Scrape the flesh from the shell and –voila!—just like the canned stuff, only better!
Dill is one of my favorite fresh herbs because it's relatively easy to grow and it pairs so beautifully with many of fall's flavors, including carrots, beets, cabbage and brussels sprouts. At the end of the growing season I dry some in my food dehydrator for use throughout the winter. Another technique is to dry it in the microwave. I don't have a microwave myself, but I've read that you can do it in the following way: Spread the dill in a single layer on a paper towel and microwave on high for 3 minutes. After microwaving, remove and discard the hard stems, crumble the leaves, and store in an airtight container protected from light.
Because gold and chioggia beets don't bleed like traditional red beets, cooking with them opens up a whole new world of possiblities. I like to keep both of these varieties on hand because grating one or both types of beets on top of some chopped leaf lettuce is a fast and easy way to create a beautiful and very colorful salad. I use raw, unpeeled beets for this and it couldn't be easier. Another great application for raw, grated beets is to use them in quick breads, muffins and cakes. Try substituting golden beets for some of the grated carrot in a carrot cake or adding some chioggia beets to a spice cake. Beets keep forever in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
This particular variety of turnip is called Hakurei and it's so mild and sweet that it's really in a category unto itself. Our kids eat raw hakurei turnips at snacktime and have even been known to wander out in the fields and pick them right out of the ground. (Our kids seem to think that everything tastes better with a little dirt on it!) For more grown-up occasions, I cut raw hakurei turnips in wedges and serve them alongside carrot sticks and dip. Hakurei turnips are also wonderful braised with some butter and salt. For a tasty way to fix the greens, check out the recipe for Carolina-Style Greens that appeared in one of my newsletters this summer.
This Week's Recipes
Curried Hakurei Turnips
Braised Hakurei Turnips
Two-Way Street Beets
Beet and Braised Beef Soup (a great way to use leftovers from last week's share)
Fall Vegetables w/ Horseradish Dill Butter (can be modified to accomodate many different fall veggies)
Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)... sweet potatoes, parsnips, acorn squash, carrots, spinach, lettuce and broccoli
