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In the share this week: 1 bag salad mix 1 bag spicy salad mix 1 bunch french breakfast radishes 1 bunch round pink radishes 1 bunch salad turnips 1 bag pea shoots 1 bunch green garlic Thoughts from Farmer Anna: There is so much lead up to the first share of the season that it feels fairly consequential when we finally get here! I've been planning the season since December and January, we planted the green garlic in your share in early November, the salad mix has been in the ground since early March, and the other crops were seeded in late March. All through April we've been busy preparing beds and getting all of the cool weather crops planted - lots of onions, kale, spinach, sugar snap peas, fava beans, broccoli, celery, parsley, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, radishes, fennel, pac choi, lots and lots of lettuce, carrots, beets, and swiss chard. A good bit of the farm is already planted up! It has been a cooler spring than usual, but since we plant so many things, it hasn't affected our ability to get shares started on time. Honestly, these 60 degree party sunny days are my jam. I'm feeling fully appreciative of this lovely weather while it lasts and before the deep heat and humidity of summer set in. Many of our cool weather crops appreciate this weather too! We've been planted fava beans the last few years as something fun and different to give in June shares, but they usually don't produce very well when we have hot spring temperatures. Right now these plants are loaded with flowers and since temperature can great affect pollination and fruit set in many plants, I'm hoping these nice cool temps will mean that we'll have a bumper crop of favas. Similarly, the kale, broccoli, cabbage and kohlrabi are looking very lush (see pic above). We were hoping to start planting some of our warm weather crops in the field early this week - zucchini, cucumbers and eggplant - but it looks like we'll have to wait until at least Friday to get those crops planted since we have some lows in the 30s still this week. We have planted most of our tomatoes and a good portion of peppers into our high tunnels already and those plants will be nice and cozy over these chilly nights. I think this is probably the best first share that we've ever given. It can be a little tough to provide a balanced share early in the season, because there are only so many crops that can be grown to maturity for early May. Luckily, we get a huge boost from being able to plant crops into our hoophouses and harvest them a little earlier than field crops. You are getting a nice mix of salad greens and roots, along with an early allium (onion family) in the green garlic. If you've never cooked with green garlic before, just chop the entire stalk and saute before adding other ingredients. Something that is sounding really yummy to me this week, is a fritatta with pea shoots, green garlic, and diced turnips. The pea shoots are another veggie that you may not have prepared before. I like to cook them lightly, but you can also chop them and add to your salad for some fresh flavor. The turnips and radishes are all delicious raw with a bit of salt (or add a smear of butter like the French do!), but are equally excellent cooked. My preference is to roast turnips and radishes. This week I think I'll make a side dish of roasted roots - turnips, radishes and potatoes thrown in for the less adventurous. The spicy salad mix is versatile because you can eat it raw or lightly cook these greens. In fact, you should probably add some of this to the fritatta if you make it. This year I've decided not to do our traditional recipe section of the newsletter, and instead focus mostly on ideas, techniques and general cooking tips for all of the different veggies in your shares. I plan to have some guest writers for these sections as well! Happy eating this week!

In the share: 4 lbs scarlet turnips 3 lbs rutabaga 3 lbs carrots 1 lb salad turnips or kohlrabi 1 lb watermelon radishes 1 bag salad mix 1 bag baby kale Thoughts from Farmer Anna: We are excited to have this bonus last share of the season for you this year! Our fall crops did really well, so we have so many beautiful root veggies to share with you. These are also the sweetest root veggies of the year, because they concentrate sugars in their roots when the temperatures dip below zero. Root veggies are great because they can keep for several months if stored properly. This link below gives some great info on how best to store your root crops. Ideally, you should store them in the refrigerator in a humid environment, but if you're basement is cool enough, you could get away with storing them in a box that allows for airflow, but still can keep some humidity. Read on for more ideas in the link: https://modernfarmer.com/2015/08/how-to-store-root-crops-for-winter/ I've included pictures of the scarlet turnips and rutabaga in case you are having trouble identifying the roots in your share. The watermelon radishes have a greenish pink hue on the outside (they are bright pink inside) and the salad turnips are white. Both of those roots will be bagged. As for what to do with all of these lovely roots, the simplest way to cook them is roasting. I love a good roasted roots mix with a winter meal. Just chop all of your roots into 1-inch pieces, coat with oil and sprinkle with salt, then roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. I did this with rutabaga and carrots last week and my son thought the rutabaga smelled like roasted broccoli. Honestly, it tasted really similar to roasted broccoli stem (they are related vegetables). I'm quite impressed with the rutabaga this year! Other ideas, include making a root veggie puree soup, or adding chunks of root vegetables to a hearty beef stew. I've included several links to recipes below to give you some ideas of delicious things to make with your bounty. Thanks for your end of season support this season! Even though this holiday season will different and a bit more lonely than usual, we hope that you find some joy in the slow and simple. Recipe Ideas: https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/rutabaga-gratin/ https://www.bijouxandbits.com/2015/05/carrot-and-turnip-mash-recipe/ https://www.shelikesfood.com/roasted-root-vegetable-soup/ https://www.peelwithzeal.com/pickled-watermelon-radishes/

In the share this week: 2 lbs rutabaga 1 bunch salad turnips 1 bag carrots 1 head treviso radicchio 2 lbs sweet potatoes 1 bag arugula (pictured below) 1 bunch lacinato or red curly kale Thoughts from Farmer Anna: The end of the CSA season has really crept up on me all of a sudden. A couple of months ago, it seemed like the season would go on forever. Of course, I was a lot more tired at that point and I was still adjusting to having the kids at home for school. Now, with this weirdly warm weather, it doesn't feel like the season should be ending. The birds are singing like it's springtime and I almost feel too hot in the afternoons. The plants know it's fall though. The hours of sunlight each day are getting shorter and shorter. In fact, it's just about this week that the day length falls to 10 hours per day at our latitude. This period of less than 10 hours of sunlight lasts until late January here, and has been coined the 'Persephone Period'. Typically you'll have very little plant growth during this period. I've read in the past that plants don't grow at all during this period, but I've found that to be untrue. If we have warm or sunny enough days, our hoophouse greens definitely put on some growth during this time. It's also true that they start to speed up growth as the day length really starts to increase at the end of January. We do have some crops left in the field that we'll continue to have available for pick up at the farm, the Ft. Thomas farmers market, and possibly some limited delivery if there is enough interest. Crops available over the next few weeks include carrots, turnips, rutabagas, radishes, kohlrabi, cabbages, sweet potatoes, salad mix, kale, herbs and spinach. Thinking back over the growing season, I have to say that it was certainly our best year yet. We had an awesome team - many of which had returned for a second year. We streamlined our work so that it was more efficient and enjoyable and we really focused on crops that members and customers really like and tend to do well for us. I think we gave you all some pretty awesome, balanced shares this year. My thoughts are only part of the equation though. We would love to hear your thoughts about the season. What you liked, what could have made the experience better for you, and any other thoughts or suggestions you have. I will send another email with a link to a survey sometime next week. We very much appreciate your feedback, as it helps us to improve our shares each year! This last share of the season includes plenty of long storing root vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips and rutabaga. If you've never had rutabaga before, it's pretty similar to a hearty turnip. One of my favorite rutabaga recipes makes an excellent side dish at Thanksgiving: Rutabaga Gratin . It's cheesy and creamy, and the flavor of the rutabaga really shines against those rich ingredients. If you want to use your rutabaga in something more everyday (and much less heavy), Maria's root vegetable puree soup would be wonderful on a chilly fall day with some crusty bread. The other half of this weeks share is hearty greens: kale, radicchio and arugula. If you haven't used your radicchio from last week, you could combine these two to grill or roast together. Or you could mix radicchio in with some of your other greens, all sliced thinly, for a hearty cool weather salad, like the recipe Maria has below. Well, to finish up I wanted to thank each and every one of you for supporting our farm this season. You are the backbone of our operation. Knowing that the veggies we grow are getting out to so many tables in our community makes all of our hard work feel really worthwhile. Thank you so very much!! I know this winter will be tough for many, so if you ever need a place to get outside, walk around and get some fresh air, please feel free to stop by the farm. Just send me an email letting me know you'll be coming. We want our farm to serve the community, even during the cold months! Recipes from Maria: Root Vegetable Puree Ingredients 2 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup chopped onion 2 large rutabagas peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks 1 parsnip or carrot peeled and sliced 3 cups vegetable broth 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves 1 tablespoon honey Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Chopped red onions or sliced scallions to serve Instructions In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 4 minutes, until tender. Add the rutabagas and parsnips and stir, then pour in the broth, raise the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the vegetables to a food processor or blender. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the remaining cooking broth and puree with the sage leaves and honey until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add more liquid until you’ve reached your desired consistency, as thick or thin as you like (you may not use all of the broth). Serve hot with the onions or scallions sprinkled on top. Radicchio & Arugula Salad with Dried Figs, Walnuts & Pecorino Ingredients Dressing 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon honey ½ teaspoon dried coriander ¼ teaspoon salt ⅓ cup olive oil Salad 1 medium head radicchio sliced in ¼ inch thick ribbons (about 6 cups) arugula, approximately 4 -5 cups 1 cup walnuts, toasted ¾ cup dried figs, stemmed and sliced ½ cup grated pecorino Instructions Dressing Whisk together lemon juice, honey, coriander, and salt in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil, season with salt and pepper as desired. Assemble immediately before serving Toss radicchio, arugula, and walnuts with two-thirds of dressing. Add figs (reserving a few for garnish) and cheese. Add more dressing if desired. Toss. Top with remaining figs.