What's in the box?
medium share (it was dark when I took the picture, weird lighting!)
- Winter Squash - Delicata, Sweet Dumpling, Acorn
- onions
- potatoes
- peppers
- garlic
- curly kale
- leeks - medium and large
- hakuri turnips - small
- scarlet turnips - medium and large
- cauliflower - medium
- parsley - medium
- green storage cabbage (a few small shares got savoy cabbage)
Notes on the box.
Winter Squash do not need to be refrigereated. All the varities in the box this week have edible rinds, though the acorn squash rind may be a little tough.
The leeks were mostly swallowed by weeds this season. Sorry for the small harvest of them!
The turnips will store longer with the tops removed. The greens and the roots are edible.
The cabbage is a storage cabbage. It is really wonderful for making saurkraut or other kimchi. Or you can make soup or roast it. Or you can let it roll to the back of your fridge where it will keep for a few months!
If you find yourself with peppers rolling around in your crisper, you can dice them up, put them in a freezer bag and freeze them. They are good in soups and such later on. Or you can roast them and then freeze them.
Cheese Shares.
This week we have Antares, the cow milk manchego. Some of the wheels got rubbed with olive oil, safflower, calendula, and chamomile flowers. Others didn't get the rub on the rind. Both are really nice and have an edible rind. This cheese has been one of our most popular at market so far. It pairs well with sweet flavors like grapes, but also goes well with olives and nuts. It's very herbal and has some sharpness especially if you eat the rind. The wheels with the rub have fruity and floral flavors which aren't as pronounced as the wheels without.
Recipes.
Caldo Verde
- 1/4cup olive oil
- 12 ounces chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds potatoes (red or yellow), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 pound hearty greens of your choice (kale, collards, or cabbage), stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and pepper flakes and season with pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, and water; increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Transfer 3/4 cup solids and 3/4 cup broth to blender (or use an immersion blender to blend potatoes and broth until thickened). Add collard greens to pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chorizo and continue to simmer until greens are tender, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
3. Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to soup in blender and process until very smooth and homogeneous, about 1 minute. Remove pot from heat and stir pureed soup mixture and vinegar into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Bell Pepper Salad
- 3 bell peppers, any colors, thinly sliced
- 1/2 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- several salad or scarlet turnips, thinly sliced and halved
- turnip greens, chopped (optional)
whisk together dressing:
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp apple cider or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp stone ground or dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
mix dressing and veggies together and allow a few minutes for flavors to come together
Cauliflower and Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Goat Cheese
Smokey Balsamic Red Pepper Compote with fried eggs
Cabbage and Mushroom Galette with Horseradish Sauce
On the Farm.
It's raining again! This has been by far the wettest August and September that we have ever experienced while farming. These are normally the driest months, making harvest a lot easier than it's been. It's also caused the quality of certain crops to be not as great as usual. And the warmer weather is good for the growth of some crops, but others prefer cooler temps to size up or sweeten up. Weird weather, but we are doing our best to cull out the bad produce and give you only the best of what we have.
The Harvest Party is this weekend! We will have pumpkins to bring home, cheese for tasting, pulled pork, farm tours, and a bonfire when it gets dark. We will also have some sun art paper for a little art project and plenty of tractors to climb on and a big sand pile, too. The forecast is looking beautiful and clear. Hopefully this one won't end with a sudden thunder storm as the last few harvest parties have! We will start the fun around 4 PM and eating around 6 PM. We ask that you bring a side or dessert to share and you can bring your own favorite beverage. Kids and guests are welcome, so feel free to bring your friends. Unfortunately, our dogs don't like other dogs. Sorry! No pets, please. Let us know if you are planning on coming and how many people you'll be bringing.
Please let us know if you have any questions. For directions, you can search google maps for Turnip Rock Farm and we show up! Remember that weekend traffic in Stillwater can be pretty bad, so you may want to take 94 over the river.
We want to say a big Thank You to our Peak Season members. This is the last box of the peak season. We hope that you have enjoyed your CSA experience with us! We will let you know when we open sign-ups for next season, or you may sign up for our Winter Share, information is below.
If anyone wants to sign up for our season extention, please go ahead and sign up for a Winter Share. It's listed as a Winter Share, but it's really more of a Fall share that extends the regular season for 4 more weeks after the last delivery of the regular season goes out. Our Eat Like A Farmer members are already included, but we have space for others that would like to get 4 more deliveries of storage veggies, frost sweetened greens, and other Autumn treats. We only offer one share size for this option, so you may want to find a friend to split with if you have a smaller household. You can check out last seasons blog posts to get an idea of what you may get in your Winter Share. We have also added the option to add on eggs and cheese along with the veggies. Contact us if you have any trouble with the sign up or any questions.
It is officially Autumn! A nice warm start to it. Dana, Ben, and Sam gathered apples from the wild apple trees that we have on the farm and pressed cider. Photos by Dana.
