Tuesday, September 6, 2011

CSA Week 13


After 2 seasons of battling this root vegetable we finally won! We are so pleased to welcome you to our parsnips! This root vegetable is extremely fickle and the long 3 week germination stage is at times unbearable as the seeds are often swallowed up by weeds before they even emerge from the soil. Somehow this season our parsnips grew nearly flawless.
Pictured above is Chris harvesting parsnips that he direct seeded in the ground in early May.

A special note to Will, our August volunteer on the farm. Thanks for your time harvesting and weeding and tackling the beautiful flowering okra!

                                                   

Let's talk Celeriac!
This root vegetable (rarely found in your grocery store) is a kind of celery that is grown and used for it's root bulb rather than it's stalks which are too fibrous. It is very flavorful in a soup or stew and is amazing mashed or roasted with other vegetables.


Peel the tough surface layer with a sharp paring knife.


Once the other layer is peeled and the tops of the stalks are cut off you are ready to go!
If you decide not to use it right away it will store well in your fridge wrapped in a plastic bag, do not peel it but go ahead and discard the tops of the stalks.




Your (autumn?!) vegetable bounty this week.......

Orange Carrots
Parsnips
Tempel Farms Organics Salad Mix
Celeriac
San Marzano Tomatoes
Garlic
Red Beets with Greens
Red and Blue Adirondack Potatoes

Your fruit bounty this week........

Jupiter Blue Seedless Grapes
Red Haven Peaches
Alderman Plums
Zestar Apples



These Jupiter grapes will linger in your mind mid Winter as you reminisce about this Summer's fruit bounty. At the farm stand it's always a favorite time for me to watch as kids eat up their fruit before it even gets into the car. If these grapes make it home it will be a real treat for everyone to enjoy!

What's for dinner?

In the Winter months it's a good thing to find San Marzanos in a can, imported from Italy, but it's a true gem when you can have them fresh from a farm during the summer!  These are wonderful cut into a salad but if you're tempted to make tomato sauce as the cool temperatures remind us of canning and freezing, there is no better way than to sauce with San Marzanos.


These carrots may not be the prettiest on the block but make a great tasting side dish for dinner! If anyone is looking for maple syrup I have some left over that is available on the retail part of the farm stand on Thursdays, come see me!





Summer Honey is available for purchase!

Potato Harvest!

Armando uses the tractor powered potato digger to do most of the heavy work. The digger cuts just below the level where the potatoes grow and by way of a linked chain, lifts the spuds up and out of the soil and drops them for easy retrieval.


These Red and Blue Adirondack Potatoes are full of flavor and make a colorful meal. Add Celeriac to the plate and enjoy a simple Fall flavor to your roasted chicken dinner tonight!


A busy farm week................



Charlie, Sherman and Joe harvesting beets Tuesday morning.

Myself, amazed at how tall the broom corn is growing this season! Stay tuned for my boom corn wreaths in a few weeks!


Saturday morning we spent some time transplanting lettuce and scallions in the ground...........some
of the last transplanting of this season. You can see that we put a few 'scare' balloons around to try
and keep the deer at bay. A few have been getting in despite the deer fence.



All the new plants were put in the ground just before the afternoon rain came in, perfect timing!




Charlie, Joe, Michael, Chris and Armando harvesting potatoes.


 
Our compost piles are now being screened. Screening takes out the large pieces of wood, branches and debris and what's left is beautiful, fertile compost for us to spread on our fields this autumn to help our crops grow
next year.


We hope you enjoy your bounty this week!

Your farmers,

Tania and Chris Cubberly and our crew, Charlie, Joe, Michael, Francisco, Sherman and Armando!