In the share this week:
2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 lbs rutabaga
1 lb scarlet turnips or radishes
1 head radicchio
1 bunch green onions
3 ounces ginger
1 bag carrots
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
Last share of the season! The longer we farm here, the quicker the seasons seem to pass. Sure, there are slow days in the middle of summer, but when I look back over the season, it seems like hardly any time has passed. Perhaps part of that has to do with the seasonal, repetitive nature of the tasks we do and the crops we harvest. Perhaps it means that I'm getting older :) All in all, I think we had a pretty successful season again this year. We had lots of tomatoes, peppers, green onions, beets, kale, awesome fall spinach and other greens, and the best broccoli and cabbage we've ever had in the spring. However, right now I'm ruminating on our disappointing end of season root crops. We were really plagued with a number of different challenges: voles eating up sweet potatoes and salad turnips, aphids attacking watermelon radishes and scarlet turnips, rabbits getting in the fence and eating carrot tops. It was a bit of an onslaught this fall. We had such great roots crops last fall, so of course I'm comparing harvests and getting a bit depressed. Practically, this means that we won't have too much left for sale in the coming weeks following the end of CSA season. In some ways that is a good thing, because it will give me the time and energy to put into planning for next season. We've also been filling up the hoophouses with greens that we'll start harvesting in late January, so that is something to look forward to!
You do have a lot of sweet fall root crops in your share this week. I'm definitely a broken record on telling you to roast them to enhance their flavor and sweetness, but it's just so easy and tasty. This week, I'm thinking of making a grain bowl with some rutabaga and turnips, toasted nuts, cheese and green onion. Here's a link to a recipe for grain bowls (or buddha bowls) that is really flexible:
I forgot to tell you last week that we didn't have quite enough watermelon radishes for all of the shares, so we mixed in some black radishes as well. This is our first year growing these storage radishes, and they are definitely a bit strange looking! They are charcoal colored on the outside, but bright white inside and definitely pack a spicy punch. Both these and the watermelon radishes would be amenable to roasting with other root veggies, or you could try your hand at pickling them if you prefer to keep more of their heat and crunch.
If you haven't figured out what to do with your radicchio yet, here's another recipe idea below. High heat is really my preferred way to prepare this veggie to bring out it's nutty sweetness. Those cold nights we had last week should also have concentrated the sugars in these beauties.
As always, we can't thank you enough for your support of our farm this year. Each season brings new joys and new challenges, and you get to share in a piece of those as a member of our farm. We hope that it was a valuable and nourishing experience for you, and of course we'd love to hear some of your feedback about the season. I'll put together a short survey to send out next week to get your thoughts on what worked for you and what we may be able to improve. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we wish you all the best for your holiday season and throughout the rest of the winter!