In the share this week: 1 bunch scarlet turnips (pictured below) 1 bunch round red radishes 5 ounces fresh ginger 2 kohlrabi bulbs 3 green peppers 1 bag salad mix Thoughts from Farmer Anna: We are pulling some really nice veggies out of the fields this week. The scarlet turnips are especially impressive - with huge roots and leaves (I had to add my hand in the picture for scale). These are a variety of cooking turnip that will keep well for months in the fridge if you don't want to use them right away. Their beautiful skin make them amenable to roasting along with other root veggies like sweet potatoes, carrots, kohlrabi, or the white salad turnips. They can be eaten raw, but are better when cooked and do take a bit longer to cook than the tender salad turnips that we typically give in shares. Like other turnips, the greens of these are edible and quite nice when combined with other cooking greens, like kale or swiss chard. I'm happy to be harvesting kohlrabi again. It's such a tasty cool weather vegetable and we find it to be more reliable than broccoli in our climate. Maria's simple butter poached kohlrabi recipe would be a great way to really let the flavor of this veggie shine. The other new and exciting item in this week's share is fresh ginger. This is our second year growing ginger and it is such a beautiful crop. The flavor is really outstanding when so fresh, so a little goes a long way. It should keep for a couple of weeks in your fridge, but if you don't think you'll use it all and would like to save some for later, I recommend freezing it. You can simply freeze a large chunk of the root without chopping or peeling because that is easy enough to do after it's frozen. Here is a blog post that addresses how to freeze ginger properly: (https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-freeze-ginger-1388425). In other farm news, I was recently asked to give a presentation at the Organic Association of KY (OAK) 2021 virtual conference in January. This feels like quite an honor and a special responsibility too. We have been members of OAK for the last 4 years or so and just this year decided to go ahead and become certified organic. OAK has been working tirelessly to promote organic and sustainable agriculture within the state and we think they are doing such a great job. They have resources and events for farmers and consumers (for more info check out their website: https://www.oak-ky.org/ ). I will be giving a presentation on how to do crop planning for a small to medium size CSA. After 7 years of growing for CSA, I do think I've figured out some streamlined ways of doing things, but this will be a good opportunity for me to really analyze my methods now that I'm going to be sharing that information with other small farmers :) The conference is necessarily virtual this year, so that means that I won't have to be physically standing up in front of a bunch of people. However, it also means that more people can potentially attend my session. In any case, the prospect of sharing some of my hard won farm knowledge is both exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. We finally pulled the last of our bell and sweet peppers plants to make way for winter spinach. We have lots of beautiful green peppers and so those are in the shares for the last time this week. Remember, you can always chop and freeze these peppers if you don't want to use them soon. Your winter self will thank you :) Recipes from Maria: Butter Poached Kohlrabi Ingredients 3 medium kohlrabi 4 Tbsp unsalted butter or ghee Scant ¼ tsp salt , to taste 1 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chop sage. Instructions Peel kohlrabi and chop into ½” cubes. Heat butter or ghee in a skillet over medium heat. Add kohlrabi and cook, stirring occasionally, until kohlrabi is cooked al dente (about 15 minutes). Add salt and sage. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Enjoy! Stuffed Green Peppers Ingredients Poblano chiles or green bell peppers Ground beef Olive oil Diced onion Minced garlic cloves Ground cumin Kosher salt Salsa Corn kernels Low-sodium canned black beans Shredded pepper jack cheese Cilantro To grill the peppers: Use the following instructions to grill your poblanos for this recipe (this is not for green bell peppers). Using a grill, broiler or an open flame, char the outside of the peppers completely. Place the peppers in a paper bag and seal for 10 minutes Remove the peppers from the bag and allow them to cool. Scrape off as much of the outer skin as you can. To prepare the peppers for stuffing For roasted peppers: Make a small incision down one side of the pepper and partially open the pepper, keeping the stem attached. Carefully remove any membrane threads and seeds. Set peppers aside on a lined baking sheet. For bell peppers: Slice pepper in half, keeping stem attached Remove the seeds. Set peppers aside on a lined baking sheet. Instructions Whether you’re using poblano peppers or sweet bell peppers, the following instructions are the same. In a sauté pan, brown the ground beef. Once the beef has browned, add in the diced onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic, cumin and cook for a few more minutes. Add salsa, corn, beans and simmer. When cooled slightly add half of the cheese and mix thoroughly. Stuff each pepper with the beef mixture and set aside. Gently wrap the sides together so the pepper encases the filling. Divide cheese over the tops of each pepper and bake in the oven. (Optional) Top with more cheese, salsa and chopped cilantro.
