In Your Share (Dec 16th edition)

IMG_0522It was REALLY COLD on the farm last week!! Pipes, water tanks and veggies froze and horses had icicles hanging off their whiskers. Luckily the ONE DEGREE low that was predicted never came to pass. The lowest temperatures I saw recorded between Grand Island and Luscher  was 8 degrees and I think both the farms were a actually a few degrees above that. We had very few losses all things considered. The small amount of celery root & kohlrabi we still had in the field was toast. Parsley and chard were knocked back pretty severely but the growing tips seem to be intact so we may be able to pick regrowth in a few months. Anytime the temps dip below 15 degrees I start to worry about our brassicas (broccoli,cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, collards, rutabaga & turnips) but for now everything seems fine. And when temps dive to single digits I also worry about carrots, parsnips and beets but those also seem to have escaped unscathed. Phew! Hope things stay a little warmer for the rest of the winter!!

Lots of great ideas in the Recipe Packet this week!

This week your share may include…

  • Beets: The winter beets, aka Lutz or Winterkeeper, are not so refined as their summer cousins but they make up for that by being hardy, productive and so sweet! Here are some of my favorite beet recipes.
  • Brussel Sprouts: At one point last week all the sprouts were literally frozen solid! I was not sure they’d recover, but they seem to be fine and they may even be sweeter for all the suffering. I posted some tips and my favorite brussel sprout recipes here.
  • Carrots: What could be better than sweet winter carrots?
  • Garlic: There are many many varieties of garlic available, but it’s hard to beat Music. It has a nice sized, easy to peel clove with just a blush of pink. The flavor is classic – sharp and hot, but not overpowering.
  • Kale: Not sure why, but the curly kales also seem to be the most winter hardy. Whatever the reason, we’re glad to have green Winterbor and red Redbor to keep us in “greens” through the next few months.
  • Onions: Yellow onions this time – we’ll try and alternate the red & yellow for the next few weeks so you always have some of each. The variety is Patterson.
  • Parsnips: So nice to have the first winter parsnips in the share this week! They make a great addition to root roasts, soups and hash browns.
  • Potato: Red potatoes this week – the variety is Sangre.
  • Winter Squash: Several kinds of squash to choose from including Kabocha, Buttercup and Hubbards plus everyone gets some Delicata too!

Coming soon… Shallots!!