September Eighteenth
Thank you to everyone who came out to the farm this last Sunday for our annual Fall Farm Tour and Potluck. The Farm events require a good deal of effort and time on behalf of your farmers. An additional “Thank You” to Turtle Stack Brewery for coming out and spending the afternoon with us as well! These events are meant to increase transparency as to where your food is coming from, cultivate community and hopefully leave an impression on you so that you have an image in your mind as to where your food is coming from after having been here.
After having been here you may remember the huge and beautifully rounded and balanced maple tree standing tall and proud and solo on the highest point of the farm. You may remember the big red barn and the big red machine shed. You might remember the warmth you felt in the greenhouse or the smells of the cooler or country air. You might remember the images of the vegetable fields and the wagon ride tour. We tidied things up a bit so your farm looked as clean and well-kept as a farm can look. We want you to remember it as a beautiful place where your food comes from.
Quite honestly, we want you to fall in love with your farm. We want you to remain monogamous, committed and loyal to your farm. In a period of time where there are a very many different CSA farms to choose from (especially in the Madison area), and ways to access organic food, there are many different people ‘farm hopping’ or ‘trying out’ different CSA farms each season. The concept of changing farms from year to year feels understandable and conceivable because we live in a disposable, customizable, and plastic culture where nothing is sacred anymore or intended or expected to last.
My hope is that some of the most cherishable things in life are not things at all. That which we hold most firmly in our hearts aught to be the people who love us and the places that nourish our bellies, souls and communities. Places like the tables that summon our families for meals, the churches, the nature reserves, the parks and the farms that grow our food. The rewards of having a friend for one season are fresh, exciting and fun. But the rewards to having a friend for many, many years provide a deeper kind of sustenance.
We want to be your forever farm. It might feel early in our relationship to be asking for this level of commitment, but we wanted to give you some ‘food for thought’ this week rather than just food. If you find a farm to know and love you will experience the richness that comes from sticking it out through the good and the bad, the thick and the thin. We will write the history of this land together and discover that which can only be discovered from remaining committed and loyal to someone or someplace for a very long time.
Napa Cabbage- Also called chinese cabbage. These are the large heads of leafy green cabbage type in your box. Napa cabbage are a true gem of the Fall Season. They are an asian type cabbage that makes a lovely asian slaw. Many people like to make kim chi out of this type of cabbage. It is tender enough to eat raw but also holds up very nicely when cooked.
Spaghetti Squash- These are the smaller winter squash type that have a yellow outer skin. Spaghetti Squash are all the rage in the gluten-free world. Cut the squash in half lenghwise, discard the seeds with a spoon and place on a baking pan with a 1/4-1/2 inch of water at the bottom so it doesn’t burn to the pan when cooking. Bake at 350 for an hour. After about an hour, take it out of the oven and scoop the noodle-like flesh out and use it however you like! Recipe suggestions below!
Carrots- 1lb per member.
Red Potatoes- 2 lbs per member. A couple more weeks of potatoes coming up!
Tomatoes- 3lbs We are now getting to the end of tomato season. Tomatoes are going out of season very quickly and the quality is down. We are still picking them a little, but they’re not quite as lovely as they were a few weeks ago. Remember to remove them from your plastic bag and allow them to sit on your counter to ripen. Store them in your fridge if they’re too ripe to buy yourself some time before you use them up. Make fresh ‘Pico’ with in-season tomatoes while you still can again and again!
Mini Sweet Peppers– 1 Pint of these lovely peppers for snacking, if they even make it into your house;) So delicious!
Sweet Peppers- 4 per member. 4 amazing sweet peppers for you! We try to pick peppers with 80% color. They will ripen just slightly off the vine. All peppers start out green and ‘ripen’ to either red, yellow or orange depending on the variety grown. We grow a very wide selection of sweet peppers ranging from the pointed tip carmen types to the blocky red, orange and yellow bells to the rounded three-lobers of all colors as well. We hope you enjoy the sweet, crispy flavors of summer! We’re hoping for another generous giving next week of sweet peppers!
Kohlrabi- The return of the kohlrabi! Remember that you can eat the leaves of the kohlrabi and use them like kale! Peel your kohlrabi and enjoy the crunchy, crispy inside cut into sticks with a veggie dip, sprinkled with salt or any way you desire!
Eggplant- 1 per member. You may have received either a standard or an asian.
Melon– You could have received any type of melon. This is the final melon giving of the season. You could have received either a cantelope or honeydew. There were a few watermelons left as well.
Yellow Onion- For everyday use!
Fennel- Such a rare treat! If you’re new to using fennel, I encourage you to be bold and brave! I can be sauteed and caramelized like an onion in butter or your favorite oil. I can be shaved very thin onto salads or even cooked and pureed into soups. It is wonderfully diverse. Enjoy the stronger licorice flavor if eaten raw or the the more subtle fennel flavor when cooked. In the same family as celery.
Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers x 2- We made a tiny mistake this week with the Hot peppers! One hot pepper was in the bag with the tomatoes and one of the Hungarian Hot wax peppers (which many of them were red, long and skinney and could be mistaken for a sweet pepper).
Next Week’s best Guess: sweet peppers, potatoes, spinach, fennel, kohlrabi, carrots, cabbage, winter squash, onion, garlic
