Falling into Winter

Mario and I scoping out the Brassicas for our first Winter CSA harvest. Hard to believe we have such a beautiful, bountiful harvest the first week of November!

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Potatoes
• Squash (Spaghetti, or a choice)
• Arugula or Mizuna
• Purple Salad Mustard
• Yokatta-Na (similar to Baby Bok Choy)
• Onions
• Garlic

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON: Spinach, Celery, Baby Bok Choy

I can’t believe I’ve missed so many weeks without a blog post. But today is the first week of our Winter season, and it’s starting up with a bang!

The Brassicas this fall are stunning—it’s been a challenge to keep the cauliflower heads and broccoli crowns at a manageable size. This one was easily bigger than my head. They’re delicious this time of year though, so eat up. So far, no frost!

It looks like we’re going to get another eternal fall, where the days are above 50, the nights are above 40, and we certainly have no drought to worry about for a while. Indeed, the whole farm is back to it’s muddy season. But it’s great for plant growth, and the brassicas are perhaps the finest example of this.

We planted nearly an acre of different Cauliflower varieties—several white types which will all mature in such a way that we will have cauliflower for about 6 weeks, as well as green, orange, and purple. And, the glorious Romanesco, fractal cauliflower, which will mature just in time for Thanksgiving. We also have several thousand Brussels’ Sprout plants which we hope will mature around the end of November. Another acre of various types of Broccoli are helping to round out the spectrum, including a sprouting purple variety for December and a big patch of spring sprouting broccoli. That will be most welcome come April!

This little woodlot at the back of the farm is an incredible source of biodiversity. It’s full of songbirds, frogs, and raptors! This Cooper’s Hawk wouldn’t let me get any closer, keeping an eye on me in the cauliflower from its’ bean-pole perch. It was a beauty—and scared all the songbirds away for a bit.

Our beautiful Brassica patch is next door, and I credit part of it’s bounty to the abundance of wildlife living there. You see, there is an acre or so of woodlot, carefully maintained by our neighbor, Bob. The over story is Alder and Ash, and there is a thicket of brush. And it’s absolutely full of songbirds and frogs. There was a Red-Tailed Hawk nest there last summer, and now we are seeing a boom in the Kestrel and Cooper’s Hawk populations. All of those songbirds mean great, joyful insect control in the brassicas. In prior seasons, we had many more insect pests that we have had here. It’s a beautiful system.

Freshly-grated horseradish is surprisingly pungent. Clear sinuses all around!

Two years ago we planted a patch of Horseradish, and we’re finally starting to harvest. We don’t have quite enough to put in all the CSA shares, but we are keeping some in the trading box. Be sure and grab some if you want to give it a try.