Share 21 - week of Oct 21st
In the share this week:
1 head radicchio
1 head cabbage or 1 bag baby kale
1 bunch salad turnips
1 bag carrots
1 lb watermelon radishes
1 bag salad mix
1 bunch green onions
2 lbs green tomatoes
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
We have just a bit of patchy frost on the ground this morning and are preparing for a legit frost tomorrow morning. It seems like it's coming just about right on time this year. We took some time to put row covers over some of the greens that are slightly sensitive to frost. Many of the crops we grow in the fall can get a frost or even a hard freeze and survive just fine. In fact, most of them get a little sweeter after a few frosts!
We are keeping busy continuing to pull out the tomatoes and peppers from the hoophouses and turning the beds over to plant winter greens. I've been really happy with how well the peppers have done this season. There was still a nice amount of fruits on the plants and we'll definitely be able to give you some pretty green peppers in your last share next week.
This week you have some green tomatoes in your share. Some of them were very close to ripening, so you have the option of letting them sit on your counter and continue to ripen, or using them green. There are many fun ways to use green tomatoes, beyond the usual fried green tomatoes. I thought this post had a lot of good ideas:
https://www.acouplecooks.com/best-green-tomato-recipes/
We had been hoping to give everyone a head of green cabbage this week, but to our dismay a large percentage of them had split open after the rain Monday. I've never seen anything quite like it - some were even popping open as we gently placed them into the harvest crates! It's a bummer for me, because cabbage is one of my favorite veggies. We'll try to use some up before it goes bad and we've learned that this variety that does pretty well in spring may not be the best choice for a fall planting. I'll be sure to choose a variety that says it's split resistant for next year! Luckily, we have lots of lovely fall greens, so we are giving baby salad kale to the Thursday and Saturday shares. This is something you can throw in with your salads, or cook it along with your gorgeous turnip greens!
New this week is radicchio! The bitter Italian green can sometimes be polarizing, but has garnered a bit of a cult following in some corners over the last 5 or 10 years. We've planted three different varieties for the fall and the one you are getting this week is the standard chioggia-type round head. These greens are often added to a salad as in the recipe below, or can be cooked as well. I've found that my favorite way to eat them is to break the leaves off the head, coat them with a little oil and salt, then roast for 10-15 minutes (much like you would for kale chips). You can use these roasted leaves as a salad garnish or to top a soup or some other cozy warm fall dish. The high heat of roasting tones down the bitter components and turns up the sweetness.
The last new item this week is watermelon radishes. These storage radishes get their name from their beautiful pink interior and greenish exterior. They are super hearty and will storage in the crisper drawer of your fridge for months. I also like to roast these roots, but they are really fun to slice thin and pickle too. Then you can use the pickled radishes to liven up your winter meals (especially tacos!). I hope you have fun with this crop!
Have a great week all!