What's in the box?  

Onions
Garlic
Radishes
Red peppers
Sage
Spinach
Carrots
Butternut squash
Red Potatoes  m/l
Cauliflower m/l
Broccoli m/l
Salad Turnips m/l

Notes on the box.  

Store Onions, Garlic, Butternut, and Potatoes out of the fridge.  
Everything else should be stored in the fridge.  Removes tops from Radishes and Salad Turnips for longer storage.  Tops are edible.  
Keeping in line with the amazing cucurbit year we've had (remember all those cukes and zukes?!) we are looking at quite the year for Winter Squash.  These are by far the highest yields on the largest Winter Squash we have had.  Good news for all you folks into Hygge.  Winter Squash is about as Hygge a veggie as you can get, right? Winter Squash is a good storage veggie and will keep for at least a month (probably longer) just hanging out while you make it through your other more perishable veggies first.  Our buddy Paul Huttner says we might have another 80 degree day coming next week, but maybe we will want to turn on the oven to roast things and get cozy soon... and Winter Squash will be waiting for you.

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Grab a baguette!! The soft ripened cheese is one that I'm only able to make when the weather is cooler.  This one is a little stinkier and has more fruity notes than the batch you got in the spring.  I was experimenting with a different starter culture.  I can't say that I prefer it, so I'll be switching back to the other culture.  This cheese is ripe and ready to eat.  You don't have too long.  It will be best eaten within a week or so.  Before you dig in, unwrap it and give it a little time to warm up and breathe.  It pairs really nicely with something sweet.  Honey or fruity jam.  
The hard cheese is called Tarazed.  Some folks get a piece with some wild blue creeping in. I love to grate it and mix it with breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top of gratins or roasted veggies.  

Recipes.

Winter Squash Carbonara with Pancetta and Sage

Martha Stewart Spinach Recipes

Cauliflower Creamed Spinach

On the Farm.

One more week of the main season and then 4 more weeks for those with the season extension or Eat Like a Farmer or Vegetarian Farmer Shares.  We're coasting out of the main 18 week season on warm weather and not a sign of frost and lots of produce still. Nary a cold morning of wet numb fingers and heavy clothing. So we may open up a few more season extension shares if people are interested. Send an email.  These last five weeks will be heavy on some storage items like potatoes, squash, onions, garlic, carrots, and beets. But also plenty of cold hardy greens, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and maybe romanesco. The last delivery of the extended season will be November 2. 

Miranda and Haley together again on the farm!  So nice to have former employees come back for a visit and to spend time in the fields.  

Giant Butternut! Tiny Pumpkin!

A favorite Winter Squash, Black Futsu, will be included in future boxes.

Beautiful Red Potato gems

Little buddy.  

Momo in the clover looking for mice!

Next week!

Forecast for Next Week. 

Much of the same
Plus Brussel sprouts 

What's in the box?

Peppers
Onion
Delecata and sweet dumpling sqush
Spinach
Arugula
Cilantro
Carrots
Beets m/l
Turnips 

Notes on the box.

Be sure to give your Spinach and Arugula a good rinse before eating.  They were harvested in the rain making for some dirt smashing up onto the leaves.  
Onions and Squash can be kept out of the fridge.  The skins of both Delicata (the longer squash) and the Sweet Dumpling (the more round shaped one) are edible, though Delicata is a little more tender according to Otto.  They can both be cut in half, seeds removed, cut into half moons and roasted with a little oil.  Or they are both nice as stuffed squash with quinoa, millet, ground meat or nuts, cheese, and spices.  The squash will keep for probably about a month on your counter if you want to wait for the weather to cool down to eat it.  
Remove tops from turnips for longer storage.  Tops are edible and can mix in nicely with the arugula.  
All of the peppers are sweet.  None are hot.  Enjoy!

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Feta and a long aged Circle of the Sun.  This one is aged for about 18 months and is a smaller wheel, so the flavor is really concentrated.  Not the best melter, but nice grated on top of roasted veggies.  
If you won't be using your feta within about 5 days, it's best to make a little brine to store it in.  1 Tablespoon of Salt to 2 cups of water.  Make sure the cheese is completely covered in the brine to avoid mold growth.  OR for a real treat, why not try some marinated feta?  Cube or slice feta, place in a clean jar alternating with. some combination of thyme, rosemary, dried chili, sun dried tomato, lemon peel zest, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic.....  the possibilities are endless and I'm making myself really hungry thinking about it.  Cover with good olive oil and keep stored in the fridge for at least a few days before digging in.  You can then smear the feta onto crackers, add to roasted beet and spinach salad, pasta, or pizza.  Yeah.  That sounds like a plan.  ;)   

Recipes.

Liberty's Lunch, a warm squash salad

Delicata and Sweet Dumpling Squash, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch hand moons
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, adjust to taste)
4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 450°F. Halve squash lengthwise, then cut off and discard stem ends. Scoop out seeds and cut squash lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Toss squash with black pepper,  salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl, then arrange, cut sides down, in 2 shallow baking pans. Roast squash, switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until squash is tender and undersides of wedges are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.

While squash roasts, mince garlic and mash to a paste with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Transfer paste to a small bowl and whisk in lime juice, chile (to taste), honey, cumin, cilantro, and remaining 1/4 cup oil until combined. Transfer squash, browned sides up, to a platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Eggs and fake Poached Spinach on Toast
One of my favorite things to cook with spinach. Makes a quick and satisfying meal. 
Wash and chop Spinach roughly.  Melt about a Tbsp of butter in a pan.  You can add minced garlic if you like.  Saute spinach in the pan until lightly wilted.  Crack eggs on top of spinach, sprinkle with salt, and cover the pan with a lid.  Cook over medium heat until eggs whites are cooked and yolk is cooked to your liking.  Scoop off onto a plate with toast or your favorite roasted veggies.  Enjoy! 

Grilled Red Peppers.  Getting some last minute grilling in?  Josh halved the red peppers, put some crumbled feta in them, drizzled some olive oil and threw them the grill.  Fantastic!  

On the Farm.

Meat will be delivered to Eat Like a Farmer and Meat Share members next week!  An email will be coming next week with more details and to confirm that you will be able to pick it up.  

October 5 will be the last delivery of the main season, all the ELF shares and season extension shares will be getting deliveries of veggies until the first week of November. 

Look at those long late summer shadows.  The leaves are starting to change.  Even though it's going to be 90 tomorrow, we know that fall is right here.  Summer in September is making things grow faster than expected. We have lots of leafy greens coming. A great squash crop and Brussels. Might even see beans one more time!? Red peppers just hanging out waiting to be picked.  Special thanks to Haley who helped out on Monday and Tuesday this week while Caroline is out of town.  And big props to Josh and Andrew for packing this box on their own!  
We are sorry that we weren't able to get it together to plan a fall harvest party this season.  Our work week is now at 7 days and with market in the city every Saturday and some Sundays as well as cheesemaking every Sunday, we haven't been able to find an open day to work the party in.  We are considering enlisting the help of a party planning/ set up committee for next season to help us pull it off.  Raise your hand if you might be interested!  

Oh!  and NOW is the time to sign up for one of Red Clover Herbal Apothecary's Winter Wellness CSA shares.  We would be happy to deliver it to your drop site.  The Winter Share includes: Elderberry Syrup
Winter Warming Elixir
Winter Wellness Tincture
Herbal Sore Throat Spray
Cold Season Herbal Tea Blend  
These wonderful herbs have successfully kept our family flu free and virtually cold free for years!  We can't say enough about the quality of these medicines and the integrity and gratitude with which Nancy grows, forages, and crafts them.  Other add ons are available, too.  

Andrew and the beautiful greens!

more beauties

big beets

Thank you, steers.

calves are growing quickly!  

feta cut and wrap

Forecast for next week. 

Spinach
Potatoes
Brussels
Kale
Carrots
Cabbage
Parsley
Broccoli
Cauliflowe 

What's in the box?  

Cantaloupe
Water melon for most m/l
Tomatoes
Basil
Spinach
Lettuce
Napa cabbage
Red peppers
Onions
Garlic
Kennebec potatoes
Carrots

Notes on the box.

Looking like some serious late summer around here!  
The spinach can be roughly chopped and cooked or kept raw and eaten as a salad.  
Napa Cabbage is great to make some kimchi or chopped and added to stir fry or soup or made into slaw. Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Red Peppers.  One of our favorite late summer treats.  Slices of these go into lunch boxes and all of them get eaten up!  Sadie can often be spotted munching on one like an apple.  Every time the oven is on, I'm roasting some to put on sandwiches or to mix into pasta or put on quesadillas. Can't get enough of them, honestly.  Hope you enjoy them, too!
Garlic, onions, potatoes, and basil should be stored outside of your fridge.  Cantaloupe, too if you plan on eating it soon.  If not it can go in the fridge.  Everything else should be stored in the fridge.  
 

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Cheese curds!  The perfect snack!  And a younger Herdsman.  I'm still working out this recipe.  There have been a couple of batches that didn't make the cut to get into the CSA boxes.  This batch was made early in the season when the cows were eating hay because the pasture hadn't come in yet. It's a bit salty, but melts well and I really like the tangy flavor.  

Recipes.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad. Uses Napa Cabbage and is a great cool dinner recipe for this warm weather we are having.  

Napa Cabbage, Shittake, and Pork Fried Rice

Cantaloupe Salsa

Basic Pesto from NYT

On the farm.

Tomatoes are done, melons done, basil gone, beans are flowering again so we'll see what happens there. Winter squash looks great, spinach and carrots abundant, potatoes for a winter, broccoli and cauliflower right around the corner, Brussels sprouts tall and filling rapidly. Milk is flowing, grass is growing. What more could a farm want??  Looks like a very nice last few weeks shaping up and a great season extension!  

We are still waiting to hear back from the butcher that the steers are all done, so hopefully we will be getting that meat delivery to our Eat Like a Farmer Shares soon.  Hopefully the weather for the delivery will be a little cooler, too.

We didn't get a lot of photos this week, but click over to see this blog post by our dear friend Iglika. Her blog is called Sprig of Thyme and she is doing two parts from her visit to our farm.  There are some really beautiful photos and gorgeous food styling!  One of my all time favorite pictures of our cow, Cod, really enjoying the grass that she's eating.

Spinach!

Forecast for next week. 

Spinach
Carrots
Brussels sprout tops
Turnips
Cilantro? 
Potatoes
Winter squash - delecata
Arugula
Lettuce
Red peppers