Week 19: The Big Vegetable Crescendo
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Greetings Folks!
The weeks are flying by here on the farm and the food is piling up in our coolers as we do the annual summer to autumn shuffle. It is a delicate dance, one we do with not just our coolers but really any covered space on the farm. Onions must get stored to make room for winter squash, tomatoes must be left to their own devices for the good of the winter greens, office furniture lends way to the garlic and freezers are rearranged for the fall batch of roasted chilies that will be coming out the field soon. Turns out one of the keys to being a successful farmer is creative and efficient materials handling and although it seems to get a little easier the longer we farm, it seems as if we always find ourselves doing something crazy make the storage work. At least we can always look back and laugh.
Talk about a lovely time to eat! This is it folks, the big vegetable crescendo that we seem to build up to all year long. If you are like me and get too overwhelmed with choices in the toothpaste aisle, these next two weeks will prove challenging at the stand. At your service this week is the ultimate cabbage trifecta. Red, Green, or Savoy cabbage have been brought out of the proverbial "patch" and make great fodder for fall cooking. Whether it is a thai-style savoy cabbage salad, red cabbage braised with red wine and apples, or Portuguese cabbage soup, you surly won't be board. Other fun things at the stand this week: broccoli raab and hakurei turnips are back! The raab is wonderful right now, the perfect blend of spicy and sweet and should be put in any dish with tomatoes. Just toss it in right at the end and let it lightly steam, but be careful not to over cook it or you loose all that awesome raab flavor. Turnips are great fresh, roasted, candied on the stove top, or sliced thin for a gratin. Try them all ways and try to pick a favorite, I double dare you. Fennel is back from its summer vacation and eager to be braised, grilled, saladed or souped. It seems to pair really well with cherry tomatoes and many of my favorite fennel recipes include those sweet little morsels. See farmers recipe for my most recent find. Happy fall and happy cooking!
Become a member-owner in the Poudre Valley Community Farms land co-op!
FYI: We had an awesome weekend at the Sustainable Living Fair and want to thank those of you who came out in support of Poudre Valley Community Farms land co-op! It was amazing to see the energy and enthusiasm that y'all had for the project. After just one weekend, we have 44% of our funding goal already pledged! This is just the beginning folks and we are looking forward to our kick-off event in October. Hope to see you all there! To learn more and to make a pledge visit www.poudrevalleycommunityfarms.com.
Warmly,
Katie
This Week's CSA:
VEGGIES:
Kale
Collards
Chard
Head Lettuce
Spinach
Arugula
Fennel
Green, Red, and Savoy Cabbage
Carrots
Beets
Beans
Hakurei Turnips
Radishes
Broccoli Raab
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
Potatoes
Yellow Onions
Garlic
Farmer's Tips
Check out this recipe from A16: Food + Wine for Summer Vegetable Cianfotta. Although we didn't use squash blossoms because it is not quite that time of year here, it was still quite delicious!
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/summer-vegetable-cianfotta-recipe.html
