The Last Week of Fall: Wet Weather Means Cooking Season

The last CSA week of Fall. Plus a pumpkin from our CSA-only U-Pick patch.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• “Purple Viking” Potatoes
• Big Carrots
• Celery
• Yellow Onions
• “Buttercup” Squash
• Baby Fennel
• Collard Greens or Stir-Fry Greens
• Fresh Thyme

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

COMING SOON: Winter Season!
Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, Celery Root, Leeks

This is the final week of our Fall Season. The Wet Season is upon us, and the crew is still out there working on harvesting all the winter squashes that took forever to ripen. This summer and fall were much cooler than last year’s droughty season, so some things just didn’t make it.

That said, it’s been an above-average growing year. We have had plenty of food to share with everyone. We have fall crops earlier than usual because we planned better and planted earlier. So, a few notes about what we’re sharing this week:

Purple Viking is my favorite potato variety. They are beautiful to dig out of the ground, with their pretty purple and pink blotched skins and snow-white flesh, and they’re delicious just about every way there is to cook a potato. They’re not the highest-yielding potato, but they’re still my fave.

Our carrot plantings were a little too far apart this year, so we’ve had a bit of a carrot gap this fall. I feel good about having carrots every week from May through September, but I’m a little sad that it’s been irregular this fall. The carrots you’re getting this week are the end of the summer carrots. Not pretty, but flavorful, and better to use them up than waste them. Next week we’ll be starting the last patch of skinny carrots. We may have a few carrot gaps through winter, but hopefully we’ll be picking most weeks.

We start picking Celery when I first feel like making soup. It doesn’t handle much freezing weather, although it can take a little frost, so we need to try and get it all harvested before Thanksgiving. We’ll be pacing that harvest through the next four-five weeks.

Buttercup Squash is an old-fashioned variety, prized for it’s rich flavor and dense flesh. See the Winter Squash page and watch the videos for hints on how to cook these larger squashes. They’re delicious for soups, purées, or pies and breads. Click here for more information about squash.

The last planting of fennel isn’t going to reach full size and it doesn’t like freezing weather. So we’re sacrificing it now, to enjoy while it’s tiny and tender. Use it for a salad, or stir-fry it. The stir-fry greens bags may be tender enough for you to use as salad—it just depends on your chewing preference.

AND if you haven’t yet picked up carving pumpkins, this week is your last chance. Take as many as you want!

We are making some big changes to the farm next year. We’ll have new subscription offerings and a different structure, but we hope to continue seeing you and welcoming you as part of our farm family. Look for information about our 2017 season in your email inbox in early November.

If you are not continuing with us into Winter, we hope you enjoyed the Fall season, and have a lovely winter break!