In the share this week:
2 lbs rutabaga
1 bunch lacinato kale
1 fennel bulb
1 bunch french breakfast radishes
1 head radicchio
2 banana peppers
1 bag carrots
1 bag salad mix
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
From first frost to first hard freeze now on the farm this week. The pic above left shows a part of our mesclun mix that was not covered by row cover and was nicely frosted, while the pic on the right taken just afterward, shows the same planting that had been protected by row cover. It's really amazing what these thin layers of fabric can do to protect crops! Most of our cool weather crops can tolerate light frost and even freezing, but they still may take a little damage. A quick assessment of the fields after things thawed out yesterday morning showed that all of the crops we wanted to protect look just fine. That means we'll be in good shape harvesting out the rest of the crops over the next few weeks until temps dip into the low 20s.
Ok, I'm probably a bit of a broken record talking about frosts, etc, so let's get on to the crops this week! It feels like a really proper fall share, with fennel, rutabaga, radicchio, kale, and carrots (!). While pretty much all of our fall crops have done better than typical this year, the carrots unfortunately did not do so well. We harvested out two beds of them on Sunday while it was still fairly mild and came up with just about 100 lbs. A good harvest from one bed would be closer to 200 lbs, so that was pretty disappointing. We do have two more beds to harvest, so hopefully those will be a little better and we'll be able to give carrots in the shares again next week.
There are several fun and new items in the share this week, and I'm guessing that some of them may be brand new for some of you. Rutabaga is a hearty winter root that is really just a big turnip. They are deliciously sweet after a frost and are wonderful roasted, pureed into a soup, or sliced thin and made into a gratin with cream and bubbly cheese (my go-to thanksgiving side dish). I found this recipe below that incorporate rutabage and radicchio into a grain bowl with quinoa and it looks awesome! Radicchio is an italian green that is related to lettuce, but much heartier. This veg has gained somewhat of a cult following in the last few years, for it's complex bitter and sweet flavors, as well as it's beautiful coloring. Cooking radicchio tones down it's bitterness and pairing it with sweet and sour flavors, really allows it to shine! This recipe looks like an easy, comforting one, but feel free to experiment with this one!
http://hungryinhalifax.blogspot.com/2010/01/quinoa-salad-with-radicchio-rutabaga.html
Fennel is another veggie that can be difficult to figure out how to use for those that aren't familiar with it. One of my favorite ways to eat it, is in a casserole-type format with other rich flavors. I love the idea of putting it together with your kale in this creamy rice gratin recipe:
https://www.afamilyfeast.com/kale-fennel-rice-gratin/
Have a great week everyone!