Late April Farm Update…What Might Be in the First CSA box?

By Richard de Wilde & Andrea Yoder

April 23, 2024:  Transplanting Onions

Looking back to February and March when we had gorgeous sunny days with clear skies and temperatures in the high 50’s and 60’s, all indications were that we were going to have an early spring.  The garlic pushed through the mulch and was taller than we’ve ever seen it that early in the season.  We worked diligently to stay on top of the greenhouse planting schedule to make sure the plants were ready for the field as soon as our field crew returned from Mexico.  And speaking of crew, we did everything in our power to keep the visa process moving along to ensure a prompt arrival, with a goal of no later than April 1.  Well, we succeeded, and the first group of field crew started work on March 25!  

We dug parsnips and sunchokes, transplanted celeriac seedlings into larger trays in the greenhouse, and did our first harvest of overwintered spinach.  On April 1 we sent our first planter out to the field to seed cilantro, red radishes, dill, baby bok choi and baby white turnips.  We were on a roll!  And then the temperatures dropped, and snow fell from the sky.  By Wednesday, April 3 the spinach field was covered in snow, and we called off work for most of our crew because of poor road conditions.  We cancelled spinach harvest for the rest of the week because the daytime temperatures were never high enough above freezing to melt the snow!  Thankfully the sun came out over the weekend, the snow melted, and we were back out harvesting the following week.  

April 11, 2024:  Washing 
Overwintered Spinach

We’ve done our best to take advantage of windows of opportunity to get our outside work and field work done, but it has been a challenge at times!  We’ve had snow, rain, hail, lightning, high winds, freezing temperatures, and finally this week we’re starting to see the temperatures rise and have had mostly sunny skies!  Is it still early spring?  Yes and No.  As mentioned, we were able to plant on April 1.  April 1 is always our goal for the first planting, but seldom do we get that opportunity to actually be in the field that early.  Those crops that were planted on that day will be ready for harvest on the first of May, likely just in time for that first CSA box!  Our overwintered spinach crop definitely came in ahead of schedule by a few weeks, an indicator of an early spring.  But the cool weather held back the ramps to a more “normal” start of the harvest season.  We had hoped to start transplanting some plants in the field earlier in the month, but rain and freezing temperatures caused delays.  We aren’t too far behind schedule, and we’ll catch up quickly, but we are a little late.

April 11 2024:  Silvestre seeding cover crop
seed in the Asparagus field

Thankfully, we’ve been able to get quite a lot of field work done despite the weather challenges.  We were able to get minerals spread on all our fields at the end of March.  We’ve also been able to spread compost on most of the fields that needed it and we’ve been working on making new compost and turning our piles.  We’ve also managed to do three plantings of our lineup of crops we strive to plant weekly.  These crops include the ones I mentioned above (red radishes, cilantro, baby bok choi, etc.) as well as our baby greens including salad mix, baby arugula and spinach.  We’ve also been able to plant beets, carrots, chard and just this week we managed to complete our parsnip and burdock plantings!  The field crew has been busy laying plastic mulch and drip tape in preparation for many of our crops that are transplanted.  Thankfully we were able to start planting onions and shallots earlier this week and will definitely finish by the end of the week.  The leeks are planted, along with the first plantings of broccoli, cauliflower and spring cabbage and kohlrabi!  By the end of the week, we should have the first planting of kale and collards done as well.  The potatoes are planted, and we even managed to put in a new strawberry field earlier this month!  

First Radishes of the Season!

In addition to field work, we’ve been busy with other projects.  We’ve done oil changes on tractors and field vehicles along with changing filters, checking brakes, lights, etc.  We’ve also checked wheel bearings on all the harvest wagons, so they are ready to go to the field!  We finished some cleanup from a riverbank repair project we were working on last fall.  We had cleared some box elder trees that we burned this spring.  We took the charcoal and added it to our compost windrow, our own biochar!  We are also working on some improvements around a beautiful spring on one of our properties, taking time to clear away honeysuckle and prickly ash so we could plant some ramps in the area.  We also planted another two acres of pollinator plants!

Mini Romaine Head Lettuce......coming 
to CSA boxes in mid May!

The first CSA boxes will go out for delivery May 9/10/11 and it looks like they are going to be nice boxes!  We’ll have to see how ramp season plays out, but we’re crossing our fingers that the season will extend long enough that we can put ramps in that first box.  We anticipate including baby arugula, fresh red radishes, nettles, overwintered parsnips and sunchokes as well as some potatoes we squirreled away from last fall!  We’re also feeling like we may see asparagus pushing through any day now, especially if the temperatures warm up as predicted.  Asparagus for the first box?!  We’ll take it!  Plus, we have a crop of cilantro that overwintered from last fall, a side benefit of a mild winter!  We can’t recall ever including cilantro in the first CSA box, but it looks like it will be in that first box as well this year!  We have a crop of mini romaine head lettuce planted in one of our greenhouse tunnels and hope that will be ready for the second or third delivery.  We’ll be putting together herb packs later this week with plans to deliver them with the third & fourth delivery weeks.  

Oscar & Luis laying drip tape in the 
new strawberry field

As in every year of farming, there are opportunities and challenges and if we play our cards right, we can turn those challenges into opportunities to succeed!  While April has brought us a variety of conditions to work with, we’ve also had a lot of productive work and have made great strides towards the start of what we hope will be a very prosperous growing season!

While deliveries are just around the corner, we do still have plenty of CSA shares remaining.  In fact, we would like to pack another 200-250 boxes each week in May!  So, if you have not yet signed up, please submit your order soon so you don’t miss out on any deliveries!  And for those of you who are already signed up, please tell your friends, neighbors and anyone else you can think of who might be interested in delicious vegetables!  Remember, we offer referral coupons to those of you who help us recruit new members, so it’s win-win all around!

We hope your spring is off to a great start and we look forward to sending delicious vegetables your way very soon!

Always Learning……

Transplanting Watermelon's 
on a sunny spring day!

By Andrea Yoder

Winter is our time to reflect on the previous year as we ask ourselves many questions.  What challenges did we face last year?  Where were we able to overcome and where can we make improvements for better outcomes in the future?  What worked really well last year?  What important lessons did we learn?  As farmers, we have many things to manage including weather, soil and plant nutrition, plant disease and pest pressure, weather (oh, sorry that is already on the list), time, resources, and the list goes on.  In the course of any given day, we collectively make hundreds of decisions, pivoting as needed so we can continue moving towards our end goal.  What is that end goal?  To produce high quality food and maximize the overall genetic potential of our crops, i.e. we hope to have high yields so we can feed more people and so our farm may remain sustainable.

Winter is also the time of year when we attempt to catch up on some reading, which recently led me to the stack of articles from the Acres U.S.A publication that I had been accumulating since last summer.  There were two articles in particular that caught my attention.  One was written by Gary Zimmer, a Wisconsin farmer, farmer educator, hands-on agricultural researcher, author, and longtime friend of Harmony Valley Farm.  The article he wrote was entitled “Managing Change:  Soil health management is a farm management decision.”  The other article of interest was an excerpt from a presentation by Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology at Purdue University.  The article was entitled “Distressing the Stressors:  We can manage plant disease by managing plant nutrition.”

Cover crop planting in between rows of melon 
plants, a management technique to add
fertility and prevent erosion.

Both of these gentlemen emphasized the need for management, often requiring change, on the farm.  As much as we’d like everything to stay the same, the world around us is constantly changing and this impacts all aspects of our lives, including our farming decisions.  In these two articles, the focus was on nutrient management, both in the soil and in the plants, in order to maximize the genetic potential of a crop.  But Gary made an important observation: “Forty years ago, when I was teaching agriculture and was introduced to biological farming, we didn’t seem to have these extreme weather events we’re experiencing today.  …But these extreme weather events we see today have allowed us to change our management practices as a necessity.”  Dr. Huber stated “So, what we’re doing when we’re farming is managing an ecology.  It’s an ecology that involves the plant and also the chemical and physical environments, and especially the dynamic, biological environment of the soil, which then impacts both the plant and the pathogens and pests.  As we’re trying to make the conditions as favorable for the plant as possible, and we’re trying to reduce the opportunity for those pests and diseases to have an impact and to diminish the plant’s genetic potential.”  

Temperature probe in a 
compost windrow....a delicate
balance of temperature, time & 
microbial activity!

As farmers, we fully realize we are lifelong learners.  We will never “figure it out,” for just when we think we’ve mastered farming, something in this dynamic system will change.  Temperature, moisture and heat impact the bioavailability of nutrients in the soil as well as the ability of a plant to take them in and utilize them.  The presence or absence of one nutrient can impact the balance of other nutrients and biochemical pathways in the plant’s metabolism, either enhancing or impeding the genetic potential.  And then, as if things weren’t complicated enough, the nutrient needs of a plant change depending on the stage of growth.  So, what is a farmer to do?  

Well, I think it boils down to the fact that our job of being observant, humble problem solvers will never end.  For instance, as we move forward into a new year, we will be looking back at last year’s sap analysis results to guide us in making decisions and choices for how we’re going to manage crops this year.  Sap analysis is kind of like a blood test for plants.  We collect leaves from the plants and send them to a lab so they can measure the nutrient levels in the plant at that stage of growth.  The results help us better support the plant when we understand what the plant needs at that time.  For example, we’ve had problems with our zucchini plants in the past few years.  The plants are gorgeous with dark green leaves and a strong, healthy appearance.  Production is strong, harvest yields are high, and then they start to yellow, production drops off and within a few days the appearance of the field makes a dramatic change.  We’ve learned that at this stage in the plant’s growth we need to support it with additional iron and manganese. The yellowing leaves are the outward symptom of nutrient deficiencies that we can correct by delivering nutrients to the roots of the plant through drip irrigation, a process called fertigation.  This is where I’m reminded of my love of biochemistry and nutrition as I find it so rewarding to understand the “why” behind a symptom and then be able to intervene in a way that is beneficial to the plant, but also to the human being that eats the fruit or vegetable produced by that plant.  We support the plants, and the plants support us.

A field of healthy zucchini plants, the result of 
sufficient nutrition!

Changes in the climate and our environment can also impact pest populations, migration patterns, etc. which in turn can have a huge impact on our crops in some years.  As an example, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in Japanese beetles over the past few years.  In fact, they have become so much of a problem that within the last two years we invested in over 100 Japanese beetle traps that we placed on the perimeters of fields that contained plants the Japanese beetles seem to prefer.  In 2022, our worst year, we collected over 500# of beetles!  Somewhere along the way, there was a change in the ecology of the system which allowed these beetles to thrive and increase their populations.  As farmers, we had to respond, or we faced the reality that these little beetles would defoliate acres of plants that would certainly affect the quality and yields of these crops.

Rafael, checking the germination
of newly planted seeds.

So, as we go into another growing season, we do so with the confidence that we have a lot of experience and lessons learned from past growing seasons that we will take with us into a new year.  But we are also embarking on a new growing season with an open mind, observant eyes, and a desire to continue to learn and try new things.  Rafael experiments with and research better ways to manage weed pressure.  Richard is brainstorming more efficient ways we can stimulate and build healthy populations of important soil microbes that will help our plants better defend themselves against pests and plant disease.  And every year our observant crew members continue to contribute valuable observations that they make every day in the course of their work that led to improved systems, greater efficiency, and ultimately a more sustainable Harmony Valley Farm.  We know we have our work cut out for us this year but be reassured that we will do the best we can to manage the ecology of our farm with the intention to provide you with the highest quality, most delicious vegetables we can grow!  

December 14, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Tetsukabuto Squash

 

Cooking With This Week's Box

French Onion Cheese Bread
Photo from www.foodiecrush.com

Tetsukabuto Squash:  

Kabocha Squash Pie with Black Pepper & Ginger

Kabocha Squash Curry with Chickpeas 

Red & Yellow Onions:

French Onion Cheese Bread

Balsamic Caramelized Onion Pasta 

Porcelain and/or Italian Garlic:  

Roasted Garlic Pizza 

Cheesy Baked Garlic Dip 

Japanese & Orleans Sweet Potatoes:  

Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes with Miso Maple Tahini 

Perfect Baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes 

Egg Yolk Stuffed Latkes
Photo from www.foodnetwork.com

Russet or Peter Wilcox Potatoes:  

Egg Yolk Stuffed Latkes 

Caramelized Onion & Potato Soup 

Rainbow Carrots:  

Shredded Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing 

5-Minute Ginger Soy Carrot Salad 

Celeriac:  

Celeriac and Apple Remoulade 

Celeriac and Wild Rice Chowder 

Green Savoy Cabbage:  

Vegetable Lo Mein with Cabbage and Mushrooms
Photo from www.hipfoodiemom.com

Crispy Oven Baked Egg Rolls

Vegetable Lo Mein with Cabbage and Mushrooms 

Kohlrabi or Black Futsu Pumpkins:  

Kohlrabi Apple Slaw with Hazelnuts 

Squash Fondue  

Baby Beets:  

Roasted Baby Beets with Hummus 

Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese

Beauty Heart Radishes:

Beauty Heart Radish Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 

Beauty Heart Radish and Sesame Seed Salad 

Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese
Photo from www.platingsandpairings.com

Well Friends, we’ve made it to the end of the season. Thirty boxes of delicious, certified organic vegetables harvested, packed, and delivered. What a privilege and a pleasure this season has been! As we close out the season, I hope you enjoy this final selection of recipe inspiration as you cook your way into the winter and a season of rest. This week’s featured vegetable is a late season selection, Tetsukabuto Squash. Like so many selections throughout the year, we’ve chosen this vegetable specifically for this part of the season because it is known for its storage potential.  It’s also a very versatile squash and may be used in sweet and savory dishes.  So this week’s featured recipe is a Kabocha Squash Pie with Black Pepper & Ginger (See Below).  Enjoy this with holiday meals or just spice up a cold winter evening with this tasty creation!  If you’re not feeling the pie concept, check out this recipe for Kabocha Squash Curry with Chickpeas.

What are you going to do with all these root vegetables? Well, just because its winter doesn’t mean we’ve retired the “salad” concept.  Turn your carrots into a simple Shredded Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing or this 5-Minute Ginger Soy Carrot Salad.  Use the celeriac to make Celeriac and Apple Remoulade.  And those gorgeous beauty heart radishes? How about this Beauty Heart Radish Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette or a Beauty Heart Radish and Sesame Seed Salad.

Turn this week’s head of cabbage into a filling for these Crispy Oven Baked Egg Rolls or if you want something super simple, try this recipe for Vegetable Lo Mein with Cabbage and Mushrooms.  And for something fun to try on the weekend, check out this recipe (and video) for Egg Yolk Stuffed Latkes.  

Ok friends, it’s time for me to sign off for the winter.  Think of us as you eat through the rest of your HVF vegetables and know that we will be ready to meet up with you again next spring! Before we know it, it will be time to resume box packing with beautiful bunches of ramps, sweet, overwintered spinach and the first asparagus of the season.  We look forward to growing vegetables for your table again next year. And in the meantime….be well, eat well and have a restful winter. 

Chef Andrea  

Vegetable Feature: Tetsukabuto Squash

Tetsukabuto Squash, what a mouthful! We have saved this squash for this specific week—the final delivery of the season. As with so many of the vegetables we grow for you, there’s a strategy and a reason for why we choose them and where they fit into our seasonal vegetable lineup.  Tetsukabuto squash is a variety that originated in Japan. The name actually means “Iron Helmet.”   It does resemble a helmet, and the “iron” part comes from the fact that it has a durable skin that serves to protect it during storage. This variety is a hybrid developed in Japan. It’s a combination of Kabocha squash and Butternut.  It has a deep, orange flesh that is rich, sweet, flavorful, and decadent. One interesting fact about this squash is that its flavor actually improves with time in storage, another reason we saved it for the end of the season!

Tetsukabuto squash may be used in any recipe calling for kabocha squash but may also be adapted to recipes calling for Butternut squash, or the like.  Its rich flesh makes it a great candidate for using to make baked goods, such as this week’s pie recipe, along with quick breads, muffins, cookies, and other desserts. It also shines nicely when featured in curries, soup, and stew. Of course, you can also keep it super simple and just bake it, turn the flesh into puree and eat it with a pat of butter!

Store your Tetsukabuto squash at room temperature until you are ready to use it. You should be able to store it for several months but keep your eye on it and if you notice a bad spot starting to form, that’s your cue that it’s time to eat the squash!  

Kabocha Squash Pie with Black Pepper & Ginger

Yield: 8 servings

“A creative twist on a classic pumpkin pie recipe, this kabocha squash pie is flecked with chipotle chili powder, black pepper, and ginger.”

Photo from www.brooklynsupper.com

Kabocha Puree

1 large kabocha squash 

½ tsp olive oil

Pinch sea salt

Water, as needed

Dough

1 ¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp sea salt

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, frozen

5 - 6 Tbsp ice water

Filling

1 cup heavy cream, divided

2 Tbsp flour

1 ½ cups kabocha squash puree

3 eggs, room temperature

½  cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp fresh, finely grated fresh ginger

1 Tbsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper , plus more for serving

¼ tsp chipotle chili powder

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp sea salt

1. To make the kabocha squash puree, preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the woody stem from the top and bottom of the kabocha. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff from the center. Rub squash all over with a small drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt.
2. Pour 3 Tbsp water in a rimmed baking sheet. Set the squash cut side down, cover tightly with foil, and slide into the oven. Bake until soft, roughly 50 to 60 minutes.
3. Set aside to cool, then scoop the soft squash out of the peel and into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher; for a smoother texture, puree with a food processor or stick blender.
4. To make the dough, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and sea salt with a fork. Grate in the frozen stick of butter, rubbing butter into the flour with your fingertips until the flour has a crumbly texture. Drizzle in the ice water, mixing just until the dough mostly holds together. (If you’re new to homemade dough, you can always add more water –– just enough so the dough’s easy to work with.)
5. Dump dough out onto a section of plastic wrap, gather it onto a disc, and wrap tightly. Set in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a shallow 9-inch pie pan and set aside.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a 12-inch disc. Set in the pie pan, trim excess dough from the edge, and crimp the edges. Pierce all over with a fork.
8. Carefully set a sheet of foil onto the dough, and add either dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Set on a rimmed baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, lift out the foil with weights, and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes.
9. Set aside to cool while you prepare the filling (but keep the oven at 375°F).
10. To make the filling, in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the flour and ¼ cup of the cream. When mixture starts to bubble and thicken, slowly whisk in the remaining ¾ cup cream. Continue whisking until mixture begins to bubble and thicken once again, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
11. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine kabocha puree and eggs until light and frothy. Whisk in the sugar, spices, and sea salt. Whisk the cream mixture into the squash mixture.
12. Carefully pour filling into the pie shell. Sprinkle a pinch of ground black pepper over the top. Set on a rimmed baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake until all but a 4-inch circle in the center of the pie is set, 45 – 55 minutes. If the crust starts to darken too much, shield the edge with foil.
13. Allow pie to cool completely, several hours or more, before serving. Serve slices with twist of pepper and a dollop of very lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Walters and featured at www.brooklynsupper.com.

November 30, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Shallots

 

Cooking With This Week's Box

Shallots:

Creamy Garlic Pork Chops
Photo from www.saltandlavendar.com

Whipped Rutabaga with Crispy Shallots (See Below)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots (See Below)

Porcelain Garlic: 

Creamy Garlic Pork Chops 

Fermented Honey Garlic 

Red & Yellow Onions:

Spicy Sweet Onion Jam & Cheddar Grilled Cheese 

Baked Brie with Balsamic Onion Jam 

Sausage & Onion Sheet Pan Quiche

Sweet Potatoes:

Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry

Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies
Photo from www.minimalistbaker.com

Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies 

Fluffy Sweet Potato Pancakes 

Black Bean Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes 

Orange Carrots:

Carrot Cake Cookies

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal 

Grilled Beef Short Rib Tacos with Roasted Carrot Butter & Pickled Radishes 

Peter Wilcox Potatoes:

Simply Roasted Apples & Potatoes 

Crispy Panko Potato Latkes 

Jester or Starry Night or Heart of Gold Squash:

Roasted (Acorn) Squash with Maple Bacon Drizzle 

Honey Butter Roasted (Acorn) Squash with Burrata and Pomegranate 

Crispy Panko Potato Latkes
Photo from www.toriavey.com

Autumn Frost Squash:

Butternut (Autumn Frost) Squash, Caramelized Onion & Feta Pie 

Risotto with Sunchokes, Butternut Squash and Gorgonzola   

Red Daikon Radish:

Quick & Easy Pickled Daikon Radish 

Japanese Pickled Daikon Radish

Rutabaga:

Parmesan Mashed Rutabaga 

Rutabaga & Apple Salad

Parmesan Mashed Rutabaga
Photo from www.stetted.com

Red Cabbage or Kohlrabi:

Cabbage Apple Slaw with Honey Lime Dressing 

Kohlrabi Chicken Salad

Parsnips:

20 Minute Honey Roasted Parsnips 

Pureed Parsnip & Cardamom Soup with Caramelized Shallots

Red Sunchokes:

Sunchoke & Sweet Potato Gratin 

The Best Roasted Sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) Recipe 

Can you believe we’re in the final month of the year and the 2023 CSA delivery season?!  Our valley is blanketed in white, and this week was a reality check with single-digit temperatures!  We’ve pulled out our insulated pants, snow boots and lots of layers of clothing as we work in the chilly outdoors.  In the kitchen, I finally feel like I’m ready for soup to be a mainstay on the menu each week and it’s time to start doing more long, slow braises.  These final two CSA boxes of the delivery season will hold a lot of vegetables, some of which you’ll use over the next two weeks, but I’m guessing many households may have extra vegetables to carry over into the new year.  No worries—everything in these final boxes has storage potential. So, as you unpack your box this week, take a little extra time to make sure you store each vegetable appropriately and check in on them periodically. If you notice something starting to sprout or a bad spot starting to form, it’s time to use that item.  If you have some root vegetables that get a little dehydrated, don’t throw them out!  Use them in a soup, stew or a pot of meat or vegetable broth. They’re still usable and they’ll rehydrate in the liquid.

Ok, let’s dive into cooking!  This week’s featured vegetable is Shallots. Shallots often provide a nice, subtle, sophisticated background flavor; however, I chose two featured recipes this week that use shallots in a more forward manner.  Check out this recipe for Whipped Rutabaga with Crispy Shallots (See Below). This would be a great side dish to serve with roasted chicken or braised beef. This other recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots (See Below) showcases the beauty of roasting shallots to bring out their natural sweetness.  

Spicy Sweet Onion Jam & Grilled Cheese
Photo from www.kalamazoogourmet.com

While we’re talking about onions, let’s take a look at a few tasty recipes to use the red & yellow storage onions in this week’s box!  Check out this recipe for Spicy Sweet Onion Jam & Cheddar Grilled Cheese, a very gourmet upgrade to a simple sandwich!  Looking for something tasty to take to holiday parties? This Baked Brie with Balsamic Onion Jam recipe will be a showstopper for sure, and it’s really quite easy to prepare with just a little patience and time to gently caramelize the onions for the jam.  Lastly, you know I love a good quiche, so this recipe for Sausage & Onion Sheet Pan Quiche caught my eye.  If you’ll be hosting overnight guests over the holiday season, this is a great recipe to prepare and serve for breakfast if you’re cooking for a crowd!

Let’s talk about roots for a moment.  This year we had a phenomenal crop of rutabagas! This humble vegetable is often either someone’s favorite or you look at it and aren’t sure what to do with it.  I always recommend to keep it simple with rutabagas, such as in the featured recipe for Whipped Rutabaga with Crispy Shallots (See Below) or Parmesan Mashed Rutabaga.   While you may not think to use rutabagas in a raw preparation, I always like to mention this recipe for Rutabaga & Apple Salad.   It’s simple, but tasty and makes for a very nice winter salad.

Sunchokes can sometimes be another difficult root vegetable (tuber to be specific) for some CSA members. I recommend pairing sunchokes with sweet potatoes in this Sunchoke & Sweet Potato Gratin.  My other all-time favorite, and very simple, way to use sunchokes is to roast them.  Here’s a simple recipe for The Best Roasted Sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) Recipe.  Of course you could also add carrots, potatoes or any other roots along with the sunchokes to make a medley.  

And what are you going to do with more carrots? Eat them for dessert in these tasty Carrot Cake Cookies. Serve them for breakfast in this Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal or put them on the menu for Taco Tuesday with this recipe for Grilled Beef Short Rib Tacos with Roasted Carrot Butter & Pickled Radishes.

Every season of the year comes with its own set of culinary adventures, and winter is no different. If you feel like you’re falling into a root rut, venture outside of your usual preparations and go-to recipes and see if you can find something different to make with your storage vegetables.  Chances are there is something out there to add a little pizazz back into your meals. Of course, if you’re stumped you can also check out our private Facebook page and see what suggestions your fellow CSA members may have!  Just a reminder, we will not be packing or delivering regular CSA Vegetable boxes next week. We will however be delivering End of Season special orders and Meat shares. I’ll meet you back here in two weeks as we pack the final box of the season!  Take care & happy cooking!—Chef Andrea 

Vegetable Feature: Shallots

by Andrea Yoder

Shallots are similar in appearance to an onion, but they are not “just another onion.”  The variety we grow has an elongated shape with rosy, pink skin and thin, purple layers on the inside.  Shallots are both strong and delicate at the same time. We like to describe it as elegant and sophisticated, meaning the flavor remains bold, but balanced and soft around the edges. It’s kind of hard to explain but pay attention when you start to use them, and I think you’ll understand what I’m talking about!  

Shallots are a key ingredient in many French sauces such as Hollandaise, Bearnaise, and Bordelaise as well as vinaigrettes. Shallots really shine in these applications, not so much as the main event, but rather for the flavorful foundation they lay for these preparations. The flavor of the shallots infuses into the sauce and while you can’t specifically taste the shallot, you would know if it were missing.  Shallots may be eaten both raw and cooked. When cooking, keep the heat gentle so as not to burn them. They do have a natural sweetness to them that can turn bitter if you burn them. That natural sweetness also makes them a great candidate for roasting and caramelizing! They are tasty incorporated into egg dishes, braised meats, sliced thinly and added to fresh vegetables, and incorporated into marinades and vinaigrettes. Crispy fried shallots also make a delicious garnish for soups, sautéed greens, and mashed roots. 

Shallots store well throughout the fall and winter if kept in a cool, dry, well-ventilated location. If you notice a sprout starting to shoot up, just remove it and use the remainder of the shallot.

Whipped Rutabaga with Crispy Shallots

Photo from www.nerdswithknives.com

Yield:  3-4 servings

For the Crispy Shallots:

¾ cup olive or vegetable oil

1 ½ Tbsp unsalted butter

2-3 shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings

For The Rutabaga:

1 large or 2 small Rutabaga (about 2 pounds)

½ cup whole milk

1 ½ Tbsp unsalted butter

Salt & Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Prepare the Crispy Shallots. Heat the oil and unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Add the shallots and cook very slowly until they turn almost completely translucent (it should just barely bubble at this stage).  This should take about 30 minutes. Then turn the heat up a little to medium low and cook, stirring often, until they turn a rich golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Do not walk away once you turn the heat up because they will brown very quickly at this stage. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain well, and spread them out to cool on paper towels.  Once they have dried and crisped, they can be stored at room temperature, covered, for several days. 
2. Prepare the Rutabagas. Peel the rutabagas to remove the skin and cut them into 1-inch chunks. Place them in a saucepan with water to cover and 2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until tender (they should be easily pierced by a paring knife), about 35 minutes. Drain well. 
3. In a separate saucepan, heat the milk until it just begins to simmer.
4. Purée the rutabagas in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or mash with a potato masher by hand. While pureeing/mashing, add the butter to the hot mixture and then pour the milk in a steady stream. The rutabagas should be silky and smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
5. This dish may be served immediately, or made up to two days ahead and reheated (keep crispy shallots separate until serving).  Top with the crispy shallots just before serving so they stay crunchy.

Recipe borrowed from www.nerdswithknives.com.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Shallots

Photo from www.blue-kitchen.com

Yield:  4-6 servings

1 to 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes

3 to 4 shallots, peeled, ends trimmed and halved lengthwise

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary

¼ to ½ tsp cayenne pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-sized chunks. Place in a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish.  Add shallots and garlic to baking dish and drizzle with 2 to 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Toss gently with a wooden spoon to avoid breaking up shallots. Season generously with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with cayenne pepper and add the rosemary. Toss gently again to spread seasonings more or less evenly. 
2. Place baking dish on middle rack in oven and roast 40 to 55 minutes, stirring gently a couple of times during the roasting, until sweet potatoes are tender and slightly browned. 
3. The sweet potatoes may absorb a bit of the olive oil and appear to be drying out—just drizzle with some more oil before tossing them. The shallots may brown even more than the sweet potatoes, and the chopped garlic will almost certainly blacken.  That’s okay—all will be delicious.  Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Recipe borrowed from www.blue-kitchen.com.

Fall Farm Update…A Bountiful Year!

by Allison Kieley & Richard de Wilde

Onions drying in the greenhouse

The energy on the farm in the fall has a noticeably different feel than during other times of the year. While we remain busy harvesting vegetables, the shift in weather forces us to deviate from our typical go-go-go spirit and pause for moments of planning and problem-solving. This fall we continued to work around the lingering impacts of the season-long severe drought. Increased irrigation efforts paired with the silver lining of drought – little to no disease caused by wet foliage – allowed us to harvest bountiful yields of some of our favorite crops. We have seen about double the typical yield from our onions, and our sweet potatoes are some of the best we’ve seen in years!

Our successful yields presented us with a new challenge: storage! With so many healthy, sizeable crops to harvest, we quickly realized that storage was going to become an issue. Not only were we short on cooler space, but for the first time in well over 10 years we ran out of storage bins. We’re thankful for our friends at Spring Grove Pallets who were able to make and deliver 80 new wooden bins in a matter of days to help us get our crops into storage. If you were to drive past the farm today, you’d see the parking lots scattered with full-size semi-trailers. These refrigerated units have been our creative solution to a shortage of cooler space for various winter root crops. At present, we are running our three main coolers in the packing shed, three 53’ refrigerated semi-trailers, and we are using the refrigeration unit on our little market truck. It is a full house!

Fall cabbages in October,
ready to harvest!

The funny thing about the transition into fall is that despite knowing it will arrive every year, we somehow find ourselves feeling surprised at its arrival. Whether it is waking up to an early first frost or working around an unexpected downpour of 4” of rain in the middle of a drought, there is nothing we can do to control the weather. What we can, and do, control is how we react. It is awkward to have the crew call from our field on Upper Newton Road to report that it is freezing there, and they cannot harvest. What to do? Take a long coffee break until it warms up? We must remain diligent in our forecasting and plan our work accordingly.

Over time, and through trial and error, we have learned to take steps to be proactive rather than reactive. For example, instead of looking at an upcoming weather forecast with high temperatures in the low 20s as a sign to throw in the towel on our vulnerable green vegetables, we took it as an opportunity to pause, shift gears, and set ourselves up for success. We assessed the situation and decided to use an entire day of work to put covers over several acres of greens. This process can feel painstakingly slow, but because we took the time to protect these crops, we were able to extend our greens harvest for several weeks. As I am writing this, our crew is harvesting the very last of our cilantro crop…on November 14th. That is certainly a new record!

We're still harvesting kale in November!

We have learned a lot through trial and error and think that is the only way you can truly understand what works and what doesn’t. After 50 years of lessons learned, and taking advice from second and third-generation farmers who came before us, understanding the importance of time is a recurring theme in farming. This is especially true when it comes to planting fall crops. Fall crops, like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, like cool weather but if you wait too long to plant them, they might not make it. To avoid putting all our eggs in one basket, we typically have two different plantings for these crops, which are done about two weeks apart. The first one battles against the heat, and the second one battles against the cold. Choose your battle! We work hard to maintain accurate records and continue to adjust planting dates based on, you guessed it, the weather. This week’s CSA boxes contain the last of our fall cauliflower and broccoli Romanesco. The heads are small, but we couldn’t bear to leave them behind. 

Mulched Garlic Field

After seeing our 2022 garlic plants above ground last fall, we realized our mid-October planting date was too early. We aren’t supposed to see them until the spring! We pushed our planting date back 10 days this year and ended up being able to shape and fertilize the field. We were also able to bury irrigation drip lines in preparation for planting. We’re lucky we had the foresight to get this taken care of before planting because we unexpectedly got 2.5” of rain on October 13th and needed to wait for the ground to dry to plant the garlic. In hindsight, we must see the humor in needing to wait for the ground to dry after this year’s historic drought. There’s never a dull moment around here! 

While we are finishing a few late harvests, our work in the fields is starting to wind down. Our crew has completed the sunchoke and horseradish plantings for the 2024 crop year and we were able to plant about 50-60 acres of cover crops. We still need to cut our supply of firewood for next year but are fortunate to have a strong storage supply so that isn’t terribly pressing. Some of the harvest crew has already returned home to their friends and family in Mexico, and we have another group of 12 leaving at the end of this week. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye to our team, they really do feel like family. As we celebrate Thanksgiving next week, we realize we truly do have a lot to be grateful for this year.

Enjoy the upcoming holiday, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!