In the share this week:
1 celeriac/celery head (pictured below)
1 bag spicy salad mix
1 bunch swiss chard
1 lb red onions
1 pie pumpkin
2 sweet italian peppers
1 bunch dill
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
Fall is really creeping up on us this week! These last two mornings have been cool enough that it feels good to wear a jacket for a bit before the sun warms us up. It's been harder to get out of bed in the morning since it's so dark. For the record, I'm on team standard time if we have to give up the time change, but honestly I appreciate it and think that a few days of pain in the spring is better than some really dark and brutal mornings for several months in late fall and winter. Seems like I might be in the minority though :)
I'm excited about all of the fall crops showing up in the share this week too! Pie pumpkins are always fun and typically keep on the counter for several months, so you can use yours as decoration for awhile before you cook it up. I'll post some recipe ideas for them next week. The swiss chard is finally looking pretty good this fall! We've been dealing with some fungal disease that has affected our chard crops the last few years and trying to fight off the goldfinches (which have learned to nibble on these greens - who knew?!). I'm planning to make a bean soup featuring some swiss chard for our farm lunch tomorrow. I'll share a recipe idea for that next week too. Our spicy salad mix is looking fabulous, so you'll get that this week and next. Don't be intimidated by the 'spicy' moniker, these greens aren't so hot but they are baby mustard greens so they have slighty nutty and mildly spicy similar to a radish. We love these greens fresh in a salad, or cooked in something like a frittata (maybe combined with your chard?).
The craziest veggie in your share this week is the celeriac, although it may actually be regular celery that has grown a bigger root. Celeriac is celery root that has been selected for larger root size. Honestly, we thought we were planting a regular celery variety this year, but it has grown some fairly big roots so we're not totally sure which one it was supposed to be. The bonus for you is that each of your roots has a pretty nice amount of celery attached to it. Garden celery is always a bit more fibrous that what you are used to in the store, but it is also much more flavorful so we like to chop it small before cooking it into soups, etc. The root portion of the vegetable is also great for soups and I love the idea of combining your dill with it:
You could also use some or all of your celeriac along with other veggie (or scraps) to make a really delicious vegetable stock:
Finally, if you don't want to use your dill in the soup above, it is pretty great paired with fish. This is a quick weeknight dinner using your dill and sweet peppers:
Hope you all have a great week!