Happy Fall! The official change of the season is evident in the fields this week. We are bringing in the last of the winter squash, the tomatoes have dwindled, and we are getting ready to dig sweet potatoes! The Main Season CSA is in it’s 17th week out of 20 weeks so there are 4 weeks left including this one to enjoy the fall harvest! The last Main Season pick up will be October 20th and then the Late Fall CSA will begin October 25th for those who have signed up. The farm store will continue to be open regular hours until October 27th. Between harvests we will be cleaning up fields no longer in use. This means pulling up plastic, rolling up landscape fabric, and taking down some extra fences in order to disk in plant debris. We like to get this done as soon as possible so that we can prep the fields to seed cover crop. The earlier we can plant our peas, barley, and rye the more it will grow this fall, and therefore the more protection it will provide for the soil over the winter months. That soil protection is particularly important during severe rainstorms (which we have had pretty frequently lately!) because it prevents our precious topsoil from eroding.
Melissa and a junior helper check the rain gauge after last Tuesday’s storm - 2.5 inches!
This week in the CSA:
Delicata and Honey Boat Squash - These sweet squash have edible skin and are easy to slice up for quick baking. Transitional.
Acorn squash - This is a great squash to stuff with a grain, veggies or sausage (see the recipe below for one idea!). Transitional.
Scallions - Transitional.
Carrots
Beets
Cabbage - Tendersweet and Savoy
Potatoes - King Harry or Kennebec (both are white storage potatoes). Transitional.
Onions - Transitional.
Garlic
Peppers
Winter Squash including: Red Kuri, Buttercup, and Spaghetti (all winter squash was grown in our Transitional field this year).
Kale
Salanova
Lettuce
Arugula
CSA Pick-your-own:
Green beans
Last of the summer picking, members will have a choice of cherry tomatoes, husk cherries or tomatillos
Herbs - cilantro, basil, thyme, oregano.
Hot peppers - Serrano and Fresno have the most.
In the farm store:
We will have most of the veggies listed in the CSA available as well as tomatoes, spinach, butternut squash, and broccoli. We will also have corn from Verrill (this will be the last week), honey from Double B honey (produced by bees right here on the property!), and eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds. We are hoping to have raspberries again from Silferleaf Farm but if we don’t, we will still have their delicious raspberry jam and raspberry infused vinegar, which is fantastic on salads!
PYO Flowers:
The flowers will last until we have a frost so if you have bouquets left to pick now is the time! Flowers in bloom right now include zinnias, amaranth, orlaya, Sweet Annie, bachelors button, celosia, statice, verbena, cosmos, gomphrena, ammi, torch, and more.
Potato Pie
Original recipe source unknown, but it has been a favorite in Lise’s family for years!
1 10-inch unbaked pastry shell
1 pound cottage cheese
2 cups mashed potatoes (about 3 large potatoes)
½ cup scallions, sliced
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Put the cottage cheese through a food processor to make it smooth. Beat the mashed potatoes into the cottage cheese. Beat in the sour cream, eggs, salt and cayenne. Stir in the scallions. Spoon into pastry shell. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake at 425 for 50 minutes until golden brown.
Acorn Squash with Kale and Sausage
adapted from Self, November 2013
2 medium acorn squash, halved down the middle, seeds removed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 large leek or 1 bunch scallions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups tightly packed torn kale
1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
Heat oven to 375°. Cut a thin slice off round side of each squash half to create a stable base. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; coat with cooking spray. Place squash flesh side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil; bake until golden and tender, 30 minutes. Remove from oven; flip squash and set aside. Heat broiler. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add sausage; cook, breaking into coarse pieces, until brown, 6 minutes; transfer to a bowl. To same skillet, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and leek; cook until leek is soft, 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook, 30 seconds. Add kale and toss; add broth. Cover and cook until kale is tender, 5 minutes; stir in sausage. Divide kale-sausage filling among squash. In a bowl, combine walnuts, Parmesan and panko; sprinkle evenly over squash bowls and coat with cooking spray. Broil until panko is golden, 2 minutes.