CSA Week 19: October 11-15 (The last week)

Just a reminder that this is the last week of the regular harvest season CSA share. The winter share will start up in early November. More details on the specific dates/times of pick-ups to come but you can expect a good mixture of winter storage vegetables (beets, carrots, regular and sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, squash) and cold weather greens (spinach, kale, chard, etc.). Thanks to everyone who made it out to the farm on Columbus Day for our CSA Harvest Celebration! It was one of those beautiful clear fall days and pizza and cider were delicious. Hopefully everyone who made it enjoyed themselves!

Fall finally has arrived for real here on the farm; we'd gotten a few light frosts but the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and beans survived but the cold of the past few nights finally wiped them out. While it's sad to see them go, it makes things a little simpler around here, not having to worry about harvesting them and covering them up at the end of the day. Otherwise, we continue to work on harvesting the storage crops (today we harvested all the Napa Cabbage), building the new greenhouse, and getting the greenhouses planted with cold weather greens.

This week's share:


Preparation Tips/Recipes:

Celeriac: Many of you will be receiving celeriac or celery root this week. It has a flavor similar to celery and should be peeled before using. It can be used as celery would in soups and stews. It also is great grated raw and served in a salad or slaw or chopped up and roasted with other root vegetables (and some peeled winter squash, maybe) along with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Daikon Radish: Another item you will be getting this week is daikon radish. It is an east Asian radish that is quite mild. It is great eaten raw in a salad, or cooked in a stir fry. It also used in making Kimchi, a fermented vegetable dish from Korea. Kimchi is becoming more and more popular in this country as people begin to explore raw and fermented foods more and more. Flack Family Farm makes a delicious Kimchi that is worth a try.

Winter Squash: As you can see from what is included in the share this week, it may be a good week to make some soup. The weather has cooled off and I know I am always in the mood for a good winter soup when the temps drop. You will be getting onions, celery or celeriac, garlic, and a bit of squash this week so squash soup is an easy soup to make and also a great soup to freeze.

Curried Squash Soup

1/2 stick butter
1 winter squash (butternut, buttercup, Red Kuri, or Pumpkins work best)
2 cooking onions
2 cloves garlic
1 apple
2 medium potatoes
3 cups chicken stock (more or less depending on consistency you want to achieve)
2 tablespoons curry powder
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add onions, garlic, and curry powder. Cook until onions are clear. Peel and cut squash in to chunks and add to pot. Cut apple and potatoes in to chunks and add. Pour stock over everything and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste. Let simmer until squash is soft and blend until smooth in a blender. Serve hot with some fresh bread and butter!

That's all for this week! Thanks from all of us here at the farm! We'll see the winter share members in a couple weeks and hope to see the rest of you next June!