CSA Week 15

Welcome to Week 15

Just one week ago beds were still being cultivated by tractor and hand as you see here with Armando and Michael helping out the turnip crops freeing them of weeds. Now as the cool weather comes over the farm we'll do less cultivating and more Winter preparations. This is not to say that we are already slowing down because there is still a lot more growing to do on the farm. At this time of year we welcome our cool weather crops such as lettuces, spinach, turnips, cabbage, broccoli and tons of root vegetables.

 We begin to till in our warmer weather crops and prepare those beds for next season. Plenty of Rye and Hairy Vetch cover crops as well as Oats and Forage Radish will be seeded in these beds which will give back nutrients to the soil and allow it to rest all Winter long. Even our hoop houses are cleaned out of expired tomato plants and pepper plants. These hoop houses will grow for a few more months to carry us through Winter and then will have a chance to also rest and be prepared for next Spring.



This week if for all CSA members!

Your Vegetable bounty this week......

Leeks

Tempel Farms Organics Salad Mix

Savoy Cabbage

*Carola Potatoes

Orange Carrots

Hakurei Turnips

Spinach

Sweet Crisp Peppers

Butternut Squash

*these may not be able to get dug from the ground this week because of all the rain! Let's see what happens!

Your fruit bounty this week......

We have 1 more week of fruit after this week!

Bosc Pears

Honey Crisp Apples

Concord Grapes

Golden Supreme Apples

Warm up your evenings with a wonderful Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons.

So many ways to enjoy these carrots........

Carrot Cake, Carrot Soup, Butternut Squash, Carrot and Parsnip Ragout.

Leeks, with it's delicate and slightly sweet flavor, this Allium is wonderful to cook with for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Poached Eggs over Sauteed Greens, Leek and Potato Soup, Pan Roasted Chicken and Leeks.

Our mix of Red Oak, Curly Green, Surry Arugula and Green Oak leaves is sure to please everyone.

Toss this with a light Olive Oil blend and enjoy your healthy greens.

Sweet Hakureis are back again this week! If you'd like to warm these up try a

 Sauteed Hakurei Turnips with Greens or Hakurei Turnip Gratin.

I know I mentioned last week the marriage of peppers and sausage but what about....

Chicken and Peppers!!

Pictures of the farm this week........

Tomato plants pulled out of the hoop house.....until next Spring!

Charlie and Sherman bundled up for morning harvest.

First year apple trees!

Michael collecting Swiss Chard bunches.

Charlie, cool in cool weather!

Joe catching a chicken during the CSA pick up!

Our on farm farm stand!

One last haul for Chris and I to Arthur Illinois this week! Our last batch of chickens for the season will be available for sale beginning this Thursday. It would be a great time to stock up for Winter so make some room in your freezer and you won't be disappointed when the snow falls to 3 feet and you're wondering what you've saved from the farm this season! Thanks again for you support!

Enjoy your bounty this week,

Your farmers,

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

CSA Week 14

Welcome to Week 14!

We thank you for joining our CSA and visiting our farm stand this season. From the early seeding in the greenhouse in March, preparing fields in April, transplanting in May, weeding and harvesting from June until the late heavy frost tells us its time to rest, we have grown together as your crew this season. Because of your support for local and organically grown food we stand here before a row of Zinnias and take our picture.

From left: Tania, Joe, Charlie, Sherman, Francisco, Michael, Chris and Armando!

We thank you for stepping away from your grocery store and allowing us to farm for you!

 

Your vegetable bounty this week:

Red Slicing Tomatoes

Poblano Peppers

Sweet Crisp Peppers

Spinach

Arugula

Early Fall Radishes

Red Cippolini

Red Adirondack Potatoes

Hakurei Turnips

Parsley

Your fruit bounty this week:

Jacklyn Red Raspberries

Canadice Grapes

Nectarines

Bartlett Pears

*Juniper Grapes

(* for our On Farm Guests who missed out on these grapes last week!)

Recipes!

Hakurei Turnips! These turnips have a sweet summery flavor to them

 and are best sliced and enjoyed on their own. They are also great roasted or made au gratin style!

The radishes have a mild peppery bite to them and would make a great side to your roasted chicken.

Roasted Radishes with Radish Greens

Some days we feel sweet and some days we feel sour............

how about Balsamic Glazed Sweet and Sour Cippolini!

Breakfast maybe hectic during the week...........maybe this will slow you down.....

Baked Eggs with Bacon and Spinach

Scrambled Eggs with Poblano Chiles and Cheese

Our Fall Parsley has a wonderful full flavor that would be great as a salad or made in an oil.....Parsley Oil.

Smokin' Poblano Peppers are coming your way.................Poblano & Skirt Steak Fajitas!

A great marriage of Sweet Peppers and Sausage..............

Sweet Pepper rice and Sausage.

As our evenings begin to cool down its time for us to warm up to Vanilla Roasted Pears!

Happenings on the farm this week.....

Admiring the last of the season. 

Popcorn is almost ready!

The evening before September's Harvest Moon!

Charlie always having fun in the field and harvested over 200 bunches of Parsnips!

Beautiful.

Golden Drumstick.

Irrigating leeks and brussels spouts.



Having fun among the Fall Broccoli!

We hope you enjoy your bounty this week,

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

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.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Canning Tomato Sauce

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!

Maple glazed Carrots

Pickled Beets

Roasted Beet Crositini

Celeriac and Parsnip Mash

Honey Glazed Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

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!