In Your Share (Nov. 17th edition)

Happy Thanksgiving!!
This week your share may include…

• Broccoli: This time of year the broccoli heads don’t last long when exposed to cold fall rains so we’ve picked them on the small side. What they lack in size them make up for in flavor – the last few frosts have made them sweeter than ever. 
• Carrots: Sugar Snax again this week and they are so tasty. This variety is a challenge because they are so tender that the roots were actually breaking as we very carefully hand washed them. Might not be worth the extra effort if it wasn’t one of the sweetest carrot varieties we’ve ever grown! But they’re not for everyone – read an interesting story about farmers in NY who tried unsuccessfully to grown them for school lunches here. 
• Celery: Not as tender as what you’d buy in the store, but so much more flavor! Perfect for a traditional thanksgiving stuffing. Also wonderful in  soup.
• Garlic: Extra heads in your share this week because wanted you to be able to make the kale salad (below) and have plenty left over for Thanksgiving
• Kale: I have been obsessed with this recipe for garlicky, lemon kale salad since shareholder David Culpepper passed along to me last spring. Finally the Winterbor kale is back so I can satisfy my cravings!
• Parsley:  Same variety we’ve had all year, Giant of Italy, has great flavor and just keeps on going. Planted in May and harvested all summer it sweetest this time of year following fall frosts. 
• Potatoes: Yellow Finn is one of my favorite potatoes. First for the buttery sweet flavor. Then because it is productive, stores well and is so versatile -try boiling, frying, mashing, or roasting.  
• Pie Pumpkins: In fact “pumpkin pie” can be made with most squash varieties, but there is something appealing about using the real thing. Try my grandmothers recipe.
• Winter Squash: The variety we’re giving out this week is called Jet Bush and it has some of the largest fruit I’ve ever seen on an acorn. The plants were semi-bush, which means the vines were much more compact than other squash variety. This is a nice one to use on the edges of the fields – otherwise the more vigorous vines just grow over and smother neighboring crops.
• Tomatoes: For several years we have been trialing this special variety of storage tomato called, appropriately, Long Keeper. If picked just as they start to ripen in October, then stored where it is cool & dry, they can last for several months. The flavor is nowhere near as good as summer heirloom tomatoes, but lots better than what you can buy in the store this time of year. Just another novel (but natural) way to extend the season.