This week you’ll find in your share:
Acorn Squash (Woodson and BR)
Pumpkin (Farm pick-up only)
Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Head Lettuce
Spinach or Asian Greens
Mustards
Garlic
Dill
Cherry Tomatoes
Next week’s most likely:
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Lettuce
• Turnips
• Radish
• Spicy Mix
• Garlic
• Winter Squash
From Your Farmers…
As winter nears, we may tend to go inward. Addressing ourselves, moving slower, contemplating, then choosing direction around the New Year.
In these colder times we may take more notice of how we feel; often seeking warmth, not only in the physical sense but in the sense of self. When the colors of fall are gone and the sometimes bleak skeletons of trees and bareness of ground remain, a sense of aloneness settles in. So we seek warmth and rejuvenation created out of ourselves. We seek this, from behind our chapped lips and pasty skin. But we aren’t quite there.
We are here. Now.
Last year’s readers, please forgive me if I repeat. But this is a lesson that proves finer when more deeply learned.
I can’t help but think that Fall is a celebration of the year’s work. We have ours, often called Thanksgiving. Nature has hers as well, apparent in all forms. Most recognizably, color.
The colors of fall are undeniably matured; having gone through changes the pastels of spring could not endure. Brightness remains, but in a muted, steady way that comes only over time. Colors of a lower, slower vibration emanates satisfaction and ease akin to the golden years of a life well lived.
The finest days of a plant’s work is shown in the fall. Leaves, branches, and stems are at their fullest. A runner’s high. Content mood following exertion. Note the first crux on a 100 foot oak. It knows the feeling of hard work, and smiles through its foliage an earned smile. The subtle, silent kind that reveals it knew what was being said long before it was said.
Gold, yellow, brown, orange, red, and green wave in the breeze. Some seem to say farewell, others already on their way to someplace else. To me a Fall line of trees lifted by wind appears to be a crowd in applause, not quite a harmony but a oneness in celebration of a moment that is. An awe and a thank you; as one.
-Gabriel
Food For Thought : Frost
Last night’s frost will finish off some things and sweeten others. This morning the garden looked like a standing icicle. With a dusty, gleaming tip. Things you will see no more of:
Ripe tomatoes, okra, summer squash, cucumbers.
Sweeten: collards (and other hearty greens) peas, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, beets, persimmons (take a look around your neighborhood)
Keep in mind, you will be receiving more winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, herbs, spinach, and other hearty goods.
Recipe : This week’s featured herb: Dill
Dill has a great number of uses. It is also one of those herbs that has more than one edible part. Mid to late summer, dill produces a beautiful seed umbel similar to that of Queen Anne’s Lace, or Hemlock.
We sowed a late summer planting of dill to provide you with fresh season end flavor. The fronds of dill are quite tender, and mild compared to other herbs. Here are some uses:
When baking fish, coat fish in oil, lay a frond right on top of the fish before placing in the oven, and let the flavors soak in. (follow the package instructions for your selection of fish)
Dill is great in dips. Plain yogurt is a good vehicle, so is sour cream. Hold dill near the tip of a frond and run two fingers down the stem toward the base, stripping the ‘leaves’ as you go. Roll these in your fingers, letting them fall into desired amount of yogurt or sour cream. Celery, peppers, cucumbers, and crackers are all fine dippers.
Your last summer salad: using a vinaigrette you made from previous weeks, (recipe in previous newsletters) sprinkle in some dill. Or, using the stripping and rolling method above, let the leaves fall onto a plate of fresh lettuce, spinach or boc choi, and the last of red tomatoes. Then drizzle the vinaigrette over top.
Recipe : Stretch out the Summer with Sungold Jam!
Quick cooking wit from farmer Whitney
I’m sorry I didn’t get you all this recipe sooner in the season, but I only recently discovered it. After picking sungolds repeatedly, it was easy to keep them out of my mouth despite the delicious burst of flavor. However, as the days got shorter and the sungolds were seemingly waving goodbye in the haphazard October breeze, my heart decided to give them one last shot…shot of sugar, spice, and all things nice, that is. Take that, sungolds! Add some summer spread to your grilled cheese sandwich, or any sandwich for that matter, glaze a roast, or just add it to the Thanksgiving condiments.
Ingredients
1/2 pint sungold tomatoes
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
*to make it spicy, try adding red pepper flakes and cumin instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg
Instructions
In a food processor or blender, blend the tomatoes until mostly smooth (you can also mash with a spoon!). Mix the tomato puree with the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the preserves will mound on the back of a spoon without sliding off. Blend again for a smoother jam.
If you’re making larger batches, you may want to can this jam for months of storage. However, with a small batch such as this, I just tuck my jam into the fridge for immediate use.
Please return your CSA bags!!!
CAASTLC's Seeds of Hope Farm 