Dwindling palette

The farm colors are dwindling but beautiful.  Asparagus fronds are brilliant yellow for just a week or two.

Carrot-green at left, cover-crop-green on the right.  We’ve begun harvesting carrots to store and sell through the winter but have a long way to go.

Empty bins lined up and ready for carrots.

The red and green kale are hanging in there.  They can handle a lot of cold without damage.

Our workers are the brightest thing in the landscape in their rain gear.  Caitlyn after a muddy daikon harvest.

Delivery count-down

November 5 = final delivery for purple EOW members
November 12 = final delivery for weekly and for green EOW members

Last chance to get a 2015 receipt

Go to this link to send yourself a receipt for your 2015 CSA shares.  I need to wrap up the books for the year, and will disable the receipt link in about one week.

Veggie List and Veggie Notes (October 29/30, week #24, green EOW)

Butternut squash OR sweet potatoes
Broccoli, a modest amount
Cauliflower OR Romanesco broccoli
Red mustard greens, 1 bunch
Carrots, 2 lb
Parsnips, 1.5+ lb
Kohlrabi, 1
Frying peppers, about 5
Yellow onions, about 2
Garlic

Next week’s box will probably contain German butterball potatoes, winter squash, Brussels sprouts, beets, onions, celeriac, cauliflower OR Romanesco broccoli, and more.

Butternut squash – These are the ‘Metro’ variety again.
‘Beauregard’ sweet potatoes – Here are a few things we’ve learned about sweet potatoes:
– For best flavor, cook your sweet potatoes so they brown and caramelize.  We have a simple, favorite way to roast sweet potatoes.  We used to prepare sweet potato fries.  Now we just quarter the potatoes, rub with olive oil, dust with salt and place cut-side-down on a cookie sheet.  Roast in a 450 F oven without turning until soft.  The flavors will caramelize (like sweet potato fries) but preparation is simpler and the cooking time less exacting.  Slender sweet potato fries go from undercooked to overcooked in the blink of an eye.  Larger slices are less exacting, and therefore are easier.  Small sweet potatoes can be cut just in half.  Jumbos will need to be chopped into pieces.  Otherwise, they will take a long time to cook.
– Store your sweet potatoes at room temperature.  They suffer chilling injury below 50 F.
– The sweet potatoes we grow require slightly longer cooking than ones from the supermarket, perhaps because they contain higher moisture so soon after harvest.
– Sweet potatoes are good at any size. We have cooked everything from tiny to jumbo and consistently find that all sizes taste good.
Red mustard greens (bundle of red and green leaves) – These might be the final greens for the season.  We’ll see.  We grew two types of red mustard greens this year, one of which looks like red bok choy.  As usual, you can eat both the stems and leaves.
Parsnips (tapered, cream colored roots) – Those long, white roots are not carrots, they are parsnips. The two vegetables are related.  When cooked, parsnips are sweet and starchy.  For the best flavor, brown them to caramelize the sugars.  Here are a few ideas for parsnip preparation:
– Caramelize the parsnips by roasting them in a vegetable medley.
– Parsnip fries are delicious: cut like French fries, coat very lightly with oil, place on a cookie sheet and roast in a hot oven until brown and cooked through.
– Try substituting grated parsnips in a potato pancake recipe. They brown beautifully and are very tasty.
– Steve loves pan-fried parsnips with onions and garlic.
Kohlrabi (pale green, round vegetable with thick skin) – Crunchy and sweet, kohlrabi is a great addition to salads.
Storage:  Kohlrabi bulbs will store for a month in the refrigerator.
Uses:  Kohlrabi are good peeled and eaten out of hand, or added to sandwiches.  It is good mixed into salads, or prepared as a salad on it’s own.  You can grate it, slice it, or cut it into matchsticks.  It’s also good cooked.  If you have it, the Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook has a long list of kohlrabi suggestions.
Frying peppers (sweet red or green peppers) – Eat these soon!  We don’t think they will store for long.

THIS WEEK’S RECIPES

Comforting Classics

Savory Butternut Scones
Cheesy Orecchiette with Ricotta and Mustard Greens
Braised Brisket with Parsnips
Tangy Kohlrabi Slaw, with Cumin and Honey Dressing
Bourbon Ginger Glazed Carrots
Roasted Romanesco

Outside the Box Recipes

Butternut Squash Tahini Spread
Smoked Pork and Quinoa Soup with Mustard Greens
Parsnip Pancakes
Smoked Trout Salad Sandwich with Kohlrabi, Apple and Onion, on Rye
Curried Carrot Pilaf with Kohlrabi
Decadent Cauliflower Puree

Kitchen Sink Recipe

Mashed Fall Vegetables with Bacon Vinaigrette

Quick and Easy Meal Idea

Fajitas with Chicken, Onions, and Peppers