CSA Fall Share Week 3: Final delivery of the year

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables: 

Onions, herbs (oregano, sage), cabbage, tomatoes, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, spinach, potatoes, rutabaga, beets, carrots, winter squash (Delicata, Kuri and Autumn Frost), pie pumpkins and carving pumpkins.

This newsletter includes a roundup of news from the farm as well as information and recipes. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the newsletter to find the section titled, “This week’s veggies and recipes.”

News from the farm

And that’s a wrap.

On March 23, we turned on the heat in our greenhouse and with that, the start of the 2024 growing season began. Each year, we have no idea what the season will bring us. Each year, it’s a combination of good surprises and bad ones.

Tomorrow, we’ll harvest for our last CSA delivery of the season with the help of our friends Kristina, Clinton and Jessica, and then we’ll turn our attention to getting the farm and the fields ready for the next growing season.

We’ll clear our irrigation lines, tarp the fields, plant cover crop, put up as many of our own vegetables as we can and try to take a deep breath and slow down.

It’s been a challenging year. It’s been a rewarding year. It’s been a season where we’ve connected with our community who have supported us and encouraged us.

As always, we’re honored to be your farmers.

Images from a flower farm

We’ve always been a vegetable farm, but lately, Heather-Marie is doing more and more with flowers. This week, a lot of that work was done late at night with not much sleep. There were decorative wreaths to sell at our Friday Farm Stand as well as the flowers to prepare for a dear friend’s wedding.

Her eye and sense of design has come from year s of study, hard work and lots of lots of practice.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Winter squash

This is a round-up of all the winter squash that you received this fall:

• Delicata: can be eaten at harvest, stored/eaten within two weeks; does not store long.  Delicata skins can be eaten. Very sweet; great for stuffing and baking.
• Acorn squash: Mature with an orange spot.  Peak eating is 6-8 weeks from harvest; they do not store well (up to 2.5 months).  Traditionally eaten by cutting in half and roasting with butter and brown sugar/maple syrup.  
• Kabocha (Sunshine): Asian squash.  Can be eaten at harvest but can be stored 2-3 months, 4 the most.  Sweet flavor, edible skins.  Flesh has the texture of red roasted potato. 
• Kuri: Is a type of hubbard squash.  Will store for 4-5 months.  Mild flavor and utilitarian for all types of uses.
• Butternut: best after storing for 1-2 months; will store for 4-6 months.  Squash that’s great for all types of recipes from roasted on their own to soups, pies, curries. 
• Autumn Frost: is a type of butternut.  Good roasted, in pies or breads.  Stores well.  

Store fruits at 50-60 degrees

Collards, winter squash

Curried Collard Salad with Winter Squash, Chickpeas and Tahini Dressing foodcrush.com from Pinterest

This might is a favorite!  The dressing is great for other veggies as well.  This recipe calls for butternut squash but we’ve used whatever winter squash we’ve had on hand.

For the salad:

• 1 bunch collard greens
• ½ cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 2 cups large diced winter squash
• 1- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T curry powder
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• ½ cup candied pecans*

For the dressing:

• 2 T tahini
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Prepare kale by cutting out the tough ribs and discard.  Thinly slice the kale into ribbons and add to a large bowl.  Add the chopped cilantro and toss to combine.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Add the diced squash and rinsed chickpeas to a baking sheet lined with foil.  Drizzle with the oil, curry powder and cayenne.  Mix with your hands until the squash and chickpeas are well coated.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the squash is tender and the chickpeas are lightly browned.

Meanwhile, add the dressing ingredients to a small mason jar.  Shake to mix and taste for more seasoning if desired.  

Transfer the squash and chickpeas to the bowl of kale.  Add the candied pecans and drizzle with the tahini dressing.  Toss to coat.  Allow to rest for 10-30 minutes before serving so the kale softens and flavors meld.

*You can buy candied pecans or make them yourself.  I use plain pecans.  Add the pecans as a garnish or they get soggy if left in the salad.

Carrot, onion, thyme

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Taste of Home website

• ½ cup finely chopped carrot
• ¼ cup finely chopped celery
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp butter
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 ½ cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp dried marjoram
• ½ tsp dried thyme, more if fresh
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• 1 ¼ cups uncooked medium egg noodles
• 1 Tb minced fresh parsley

Saute the carrot, celery and onion in butter in a Dutch oven until tender.  Stir in the broth, chicken and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Add noodles; cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.  Sprinkle with parsley.  

Pumpkin

GF Pumpkin Dumplings with Radicchio   

Tara Parker-Pope for NYT Cooking

Heather-Marie recently made these and they were delicious.  We intended to freeze the leftovers but accidentally ate them all.  You can also make these with “regular” flour.

• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree, or fresh cooked pumpkin
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup store-bought gluten-free flour blend (Heather-Marie used Bob’s 1-to-1)
• Salt
• 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 small head radicchio, sliced into ¼-inch strips (about 2 cups)
• 2 Tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, flour and 1 teaspoon salt to make the dough.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook until softened, about five minutes; remove from the heat and set aside.

When the water comes to a boil, use a teaspoon to scoop up the dough and form a dumpling, then carefully slide the dumpling off the spoon and into the boiling water. Continue forming dumplings until half the dough is used. Cook until the dumplings float, then simmer for about two minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and add to the saucepan with the onion. Repeat with the remaining dumpling dough.

Return the saucepan with the onion to medium-high heat. Toss in three-quarters of the radicchio and stir gently until just wilted, about two minutes; season with ½ teaspoon salt or to taste. To serve, divide the dumplings and sauce among four bowls and top with the remaining radicchio and parsley.

From Scratch Pumpkin Pie Recipe

courtesy of Nancy Fuller Food Network

Pumpkin:

• 1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 3 pounds)
• Canola oil, for oiling pumpkin

Easy Pie Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup (11 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Filling

• One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs

Instructions
For the pumpkin: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the stem from the pumpkin and scrape out the insides, discarding the seeds. Cut the pumpkin in half and lay the pieces cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Rub canola oil all over the skin and bake until fork-tender, about 1 hour. Let cool.

For the easy pie crust: While the pumpkin is cooking, make the crust. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add in the butter and work into the dough with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in just enough cold water (4 to 5 tablespoons) with a fork just until the flour is moistened. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball and flatten slightly. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for another use.

Roll out the remaining dough ball on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold the overhangs under and crimp decoratively. Pierce the dough all over with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Line the crust with foil, fill with dried beans or pie weights and bake until the sides are set, about 12 minutes. Remove the foil and beans. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

For the filling: Scoop out the pulp from the roasted pumpkin and puree in a food processor until smooth (you should have about 4 cups). Add the condensed milk, cream, cornstarch, molasses, canola oil, cinnamon, ginger, salt and eggs and combine thoroughly.

Pour the filling into the crust and bake until the filling is set in the center, about 1 hour. Transfer the pie to a rack and cool for 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Our friend Bruno