Our season is 22 weeks, so there are 3 more deliveries after this week. This is an egg week and week 21 will be the last egg week.
Our farm was in celebration mode this week! Farmer Neil and Serena were married on Saturday. It was nice for all of us to take a day away from the farm and spend some time with family and friends. What a beautiful day and for a truly wonderful couple. May they enjoy many happy years together!
Other news this week was the chill. Sunday night brought freezing temperatures to the farm. These temperatures pretty much mark the end to any warm season crops still in the ground. We are trying to keep some tomatoes going in one our unheated greenhouses. This is the latest we have kept tomatoes , we will keep you posted on how they do. However these cold temperatures do not mark the end of our growing season. We still have plenty of greens yet to harvest and storage crops to be distributed.
Speaking of greens, we are currently harvest turnip greens. Like most greens turnip greens pack a nutritional punch. Among other nutrients, they are high in Calcium and vitamins A, K and C. Turnip greens can be cook like any leafy green. As with other greens, if the bitterness is too intense, try lightly boiling or steaming them before a saute. Turnip greens are often the green used in classic greens dishes served in the southern part of the country. Here is a link for a beautiful turnip green tart (page down to see the recipe!) http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/turnip-green-tart-recipe.html You could substitute any green for the turnips and I find the use of cornmeal in the crust really interesting. Maybe recipe for the upcoming holidays?
We are in the midst of our radish harvest. We are harvesting our gourmet salad radishes right now as well as some of our winter or storage radishes. Members who have been with us in the past know how much Farmer Don loves his winter radishes! This week we are sending out some Black Spanish radishes. These are easy to recognize in your box, because, their skin is black. Their flesh, however is creamy white. These radishes can be grated or sliced and eaten raw or cooked. Historically these radishes have been grown in Europe since the 1500's! I think that would qualify them as an heirloom? They are also used medicinally to treat a variety of conditions. Recently, from an article published in 2012, their juice was shown to reduce cholesterol and gallstones. Although the study involved mice and not humans, it does show real promise for using the juice from radishes for lowering blood lipid levels. On farm we do eat them sliced raw and also add them to soups and our roasted vegetable mix.
Please watch your emails for the opening of our 2015 CSA registration. This should be occurring soon. We will again be offering early sign up and returning member discounts.
Our winter buying club will continue as long as the weather allows us to harvest. Last year we delivered buying club orders into December. Within the next few weeks our own apple orchard pork will appear for sale through the buying club and we are working with a neighbor for possibly adding some grass fed beef. If you have questions concerning the buying club, please contact us at the farm.
This week we will be at Forks Farm market. This is the last regular season Forks market of the year. If you have not made it to market, why not visit this Saturday. This is a great market right on farm, featuring vendors selling a great variety of local products. As always, if you come to market, please stop by our table and say hello to Farmer Don!
Well the sun is up, although we seem to be fogged in. Time to finish the newsletter and move onto the chores of the day. So, be safe, be well and enjoy the veggies!
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