CSA Final Week: Happy Thanksgiving!
Today is the final day of the CSA: Thanks for being a member! Make sure to pick up your pumpkin. Please return all CSA bags by next Tuesday to the farm or Trillium.
In Your Share this week:
Carrots
Beets
Yellow Finn Potatoes
Yacon
Red Cabbage
Fennel
Brussels Sprouts
Onion
Kale and/or chard and/or komatsuna
Salad MixSaute Mix
Winter Luxury Pumpkin
Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for a great CSA season! We cleaned out the farm over the last 2 days, and you get some of everything. We always do a big share at the end of the year, but this one is over the top even by those standards. We had a much larger area planted in fall crops this year, and coupled with the warm weather we’ve had large harvests right up until now.
Which means you score! Before you panic, remember that most of what’s in this share will last for weeks. The potatoes, onions, and pumpkin can all be kept at room temperature for several weeks (keep the potatoes in a bag or cabinet so they’re out of the light). Carrots, beets, yacon, and cabbage will all keep well in a bag in the fridge. All of the leafy greens and brussels sprouts need to be eaten more quickly; if you can’t get through them all share them with a friend or try blanching and freezing. And this is a $50 share, which means you’ve gotten a great deal. Enjoy sharing any excess with friends or family.
I wasn’t expecting to have enough salad greens for you all, but for maybe the first time ever our fall greenhouse rotations worked out to give us lots of salad for Thanksgiving. This is a regular sized bag, enough for maybe 8 side salads or to put on turkey sandwiches this weekend. You also have a bag of saute mix, which is handpicked baby leaves of kale, chard, and more. I love our saute mix, especially the one we do at the end of the year. I typically prefer it cooked; yesterday I sauteed it with shallots, garlic, smoky paprika, and navy beans. You can use it whole or you can chop it coarsely. Mike prefers to eat it raw for a more robust salad, or you could make a massaged kale salad with it. You also have 2 bunches of greens, so lots to choose from.
I also wasn’t expecting to have Brussels sprouts. But we picked 60# yesterday, so we were able to do a nice bag for everyone and still have plenty for farm stand. If you’re picking up at the farm and are serving Brussels sprouts at Thanksgiving, you can pick up more at the farm stand today. Or make what you have go further by sauteing them with kale or cabbage.
The carrots today aren’t the nicest (our last rotation got pretty beat up), but you’ve gotten lots of beauties and these will be good trimmed up for snacks, roasted, or used in turkey soup. These last fennel are also a bit sad, but they will make a good addition to stuffing or soup. However, we did save the last of our delicious heirloom pumpkins for you. They make the most fantastic pumpkin pies, velvety and smooth and flavorful. They are also wonderful for pumpkin soups, pumpkin breads, and more.
Thanks again for your support of the farm. This was a huge year for us and your membership helped us make it happen. We can’t do this without you! We’ll be opening 2017 CSA registration by early February, I hope you’ll be back for another year of fresh, local veggies. Have a great holiday and a great winter!