In this week’s share, members will find slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, red cabbage, green beans, green top carrots, sweet peppers, Hungarian hot wax peppers, zucchini and summer squash, red fingerling potatoes, scallions, sage and flowers. Members will also receive either broccoli or eggplant.

Scroll to the bottom for some recipes for this week’s produce and information about some of this week’s vegetables.

News from the farm

“Winter is nigh”

Heather-Marie said this recently while explaining the migration of nighthawks to our friends’ children.  She said it jokingly, but it felt like an omen.  There’s been a shift this past week possibly brought on by the rain.  After no rain in almost two months, over two inches of rain fell on the farm last Friday and Saturday.  There’s also something in the air, the lack of 90 degrees.  The sun seems to have shifted.  And we’re nesting: putting up food in the walk-in cooler, freezer and soon, the pantry. 

And if all of that wasn’t a sign of the shifting seasons, then the fact that John is back in the classroom certainly is. His summer break from teaching ended with classes starting this week. As much as he loves being in the classroom, it does mean that he has less time for the farm and that more of the duties of the CSA fall on Heather-Marie. We’re grateful that a few of our CSA members have offered to step up and help with harvest and delivery days. 

The start of the school year also meant we said goodbye to our summer intern, Alli. While we’ll still see her when she stops by to pick up her CSA share and at the end of season potluck, Monday was her last day helping us at the farm as she returns to school to finish her senior year of studies at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. We spent the morning harvesting vegetables and then our last few hours with her sitting under the shade of the barn as we clipped, cleaned and sorted our garlic harvest. It’s hard to overstate how important Alli has been to us this season, from the first day she showed up to help us setting up the fence and high tunnel. She’s been an eyewitness to all that’s happened at the farm this season and, as Heather-Marie said, she will always be part of the story of our first year at the farm. So, thank-you Alli!

Putting up food

Heather-Marie has put up food in the past but was limited by space in the tinyhouse house (it is tiny!).  She always had a small chest freezer and used that well.  But now that we have a house with ample storage, we can do more.  We also have the added bonus of the walk-in cooler.  So this past Friday, while we watched the radar for rain, we froze two gallons of broccoli, four quarts of shredded zucchini (for bread in winter) and a gallon of stewed tomatoes.  John also made another round of pickles, this was a half gallon of bread n’ butter pickles.  

We hope that you’ve been able to do some of this with your shares, even if it means freezing that one cauliflower head — at least it’s not going to waste and can be enjoyed in winter!  

Recipes for this week’s vegetables

Tips for carrots, and other roots

In the earlier part of the growing season, you will find your root vegetables still attached to their greens.  That is because the greens are still tender enough to eat.  Later in the season the greens become tougher and roots like storage carrots, will have their tops removed.  

So a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Remove the greens promptly.  If left on for too long, roots will become soft.  
• Store the roots and greens separately. They will both keep longer. 
• Cook up the greens like you would any other greens. 

Grilled Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto

“Farmstand Fresh” publication from Fine Cooking

For the pesto

Carrot tops from a 1-pound bunch carrots

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil

1 clove garlic

½ tsp kosher salt; more as needed

¼ cup pine nuts

½ cup olive oil

For the grilled carrots

1 large bunch thin carrots (about 1 pound), peeled or just scrubbed if the skins are delicate (if the carrots are thick, split them lengthwise)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pesto: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Trim the thick stems and any wilted greens from the carrot tops, and plunge the trimmed greens into the water.  Blanch for about 1 minute, then scoop them out and spin dry in a salad spinner (keep your water hot, as you’ll use it again).  Chop coarsely and measure out about 2 cups.  Put the blanched greens in a food processor along with the basil, garlic, salt, and pine nuts.  Pulse until you have a coarse purée, then with the motor running, pour in the olive oil and process until smooth.  Taste (be careful of the processor blade!) and add more salt if you like.  Set aside.

Grill the carrots: Bring the carrot top water to a boil again and blanch the carrots just until tender, 5 to 6 minutes.  Drain well, and when cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise.  Toss with the olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper.  Heat a grill to medium-high heat (you may also use a cast-iron grill pan) and place the carrots cut side down on the grill.  Let cook until charred marks form on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Arrange the carrots on a serving platter and serve with a bowl of the pesto on the side.  

Deep fried cauliflower with spicy fish sauce

This is yet another great recipe from the “Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables,” by Joshua McFadden that we’ve been exploring since it was given to us by John’s daughter Brenna. It’s an incredibly simple recipe that involves deep frying cauliflower chunks in oil until it’s brown and crispy and then dipping it into a sauce that we’ve shared before for another recipe.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, minced

Extra virgin olive oil

1 medium cauliflower cut into “chubby” florets

Vegetable oil for frying

½ cup parsley

Spicy fish sauce

¼ cup seeded, minced hot chiles

4 large garlic cloves, minced

½ cup fish sauce

¼ cup water

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

Sauce preparation

Stir ingredients together until sugar dissolves. This sauce is better if made the day before and will keep for a month.

Preparation

Put garlic in bowl large enough to hold the cauliflower and cover with oil. Pour at least 3 inches of oil in a medium saucepan and heat it until 365 degrees. Fry the cauliflower in small batches, allowing it to turn dark brown. This can take 5 minutes or more. Move to a paper towel and repeat until all the cauliflower is fried. Then add to bowl with garlic and toss with parsley. Then, either serve with fish sauce for dipping or toss with the fish sauce.

Pasta with Butter, Sage and Parmesan                 

by Mark Bittman for NYT

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound cut pasta, like ziti

2 T butter

30 fresh sage leaves

1 cup or more freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt it.  Cook pasta until it is tender but not quite done.

Meanwhile, place the butter in a skillet or saucepan large enough to hold the cooked pasta; turn heat to medium, and add sage.  Cook until butter turns nut-brown and sage shrivels, then turn the heat to a minimum.

When the pasta is just about done, scoop out a cup of the cooking water.  Drain the pasta.  Immediately add it to the butter-sage mixture, and raise heat to medium.  Add ¾ cup of the water, and stir; the mixture will be loose and a little soupy.  Cook for about 30 seconds, or until some of the water is absorbed and the pasta is perfectly done.

Stir in the cheese; the sauce will become creamy.  Thin it with a little more water if necessary.  Season liberally with pepper and salt to taste, and serve immediately, passing more cheese at the table if you like.