In Your Share (Nov 28th edition)

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! Eric & I spent the weekend down at Grand Island working on the weeds. We also had some of our neighbors over for pie & cookies which was fun.

We have started planning for next season which means evaluating how crops did this year and pouring over seed catalogs. Everyone on the crew gets involved to talk about what worked and what didn’t, decide on amy changes to the plan and choose new varieties. We really appreciate all of our summer members who filled out the survey as this also informs our plans for next season as we work to make the farm better every year!

This week have another fabulous Recipe Packet from my friend Katherine Deumling at Cook With What You Have. She’s going to continue to provide these through the rest of the winter share so let me know what you think? Download this week’s Recipe Packet HERE.

This week your share may include…

  • Cauliflower or Broccoli: Your choice of cauliflower or broccoli. The white cauliflower variety is Candid Charm and the green ones are called Panther. The broccoli variety is Arcadia.
  • Celeriac/Celery Root: An ugly gnarly root with a lovely delicate celery flavor. This is an entertaining article about celeriac (though he doesn’t have very nice things to say about celery) and it includes a great recipe for Celery Remoulade (aka Céleri Rémoulade)
  • Onions, Yellow & Red: I think some our our onions got a wee bit cold a few weeks ago and are showing some freeze damage at the tips & shoulder.  If the ones in your share  are starting to have a soft spot on top just cut it off and use the rest of the bulb. To make up for any damage you’ll get LOTS of onions in your share this week!
  • Kale: Toscano, Toscano Rainbow & Redbor. All of these are great sauteed but my favorite recipe is still the Raw Kale Salad with Lemon & Parmesan/Pecorino. You can find a new variation here that includes pine nuts but I still usually make the original version with breadcrumbs.
  • Kohlrabi: In the winter we grow two giant varieties – Kossac and Superschmeltz. Unlike other kohlrabi, these can get BIG and still stay sweet and crunchy. I cut a few bulbs today for a friend who had never tasted kohlrabi and they likened it to jicama – except better!
  • Parsley: When we are blessed with these big beautiful bunches of flat leaf Italian parsley I treat it less like an herb and more like greens ie. chard, spinach, kale. I often chop up some of the greens and saute them as soon as I get home. They’ll keep in the fridge for up to a week and they’re ready to add to pasta, soup or eggs at any time. This makes the fit in the fridge much better too! Check out the recipes that Katherine included in your Recipe Packet this week too.
  • Black Spanish Radish: This is a very distant cousin to the more familiar french breakfast radish. You certainly can’t see the similarities, but you can taste them in the peppery bite of both varieties. That said, usually the black radish doesn’t have as much heat as a regular radish. I most often eat this radish raw grated or julienned into a salad. It can stand alone or works well combined with other more traditional slaw ingredients like cabbage or carrots. This rant from Hedonia is entertaining and includes a recipe. There are more links to recipes at Mariquita Farm.
  • Purple Top Turnips: These are the old-fashioned turnips. They are bigger than the japanese salad turnips we grow in the summer and this time of year – after a few frosts – their sweetness really shines through.

Coming soon… Collard Greens bigger than your head!!