fourth week of september

sweet peppers

Hey all welcome to fall! This week we have turned the corner into the autumn. Worry not, the CSA goes well into the fall with the last week of pickup being the last week of october. I find as the days start to become noticeable shorter a lot of people start to ask when the CSA ends, getting tired of us already?

the one thing that is ending quite soon is our working share program. We have had five awesome working shares this season and they have been an immense help to us. On monday Danielle has heroically harvested what next year will be a two person job. On thursdays Ryan and Jane have helped us set up for the day and kept our boxes filled and produce piled for the first several hours. On Fridays Terri, Lydia, Reeder, Mark, Pat, Harold, and even a few times Linda. Have helped us pick our way through the field. Without their help the summer season would not have been half as fun and would have been at least twice as hard. Thanks guys.

speaking of working shares, we will be looking for at least three more next year so if you are interested please be in touch with us. Generally the trade is for 11 weeks of work (july-sept) four hours each week. We are looking for people who enjoy being outside, can handle the ups and downs of vegetable harvesting (that's literally getting up and back down), is reliable about showing up when they say, and enjoys spending time both harvesting with other people and yet will not wither way when left briefly (yet trained first) to harvest alone.

Last call on basil at market this week. We preserved a big batch of pesto this week and thought, too bad this will be the last of the year as the leaves are starting to get to be small. We wanted to give everyone the heads up, last chance to get basil as we will be mowing the bed in soon.

or a frost could take it. the last few years we have not had a frost until the middle or end of october, but we are nearing the time of year, where statistically 5 years in 10 there will be a freeze. (at least according to our soil survey book from 1974, 5 out of 10 years would have a freeze by sept 28). the other night a farmer friend was very close as some of her flowers were nipped by frost. Our location on the slope to the lake offers good air drainage and we are unlikely to actually freeze for several weeks, but again, its not impossible.

the perogie day was fun! thanks to julie, garet, evelyn, dorothy, sarah, margot, chris, david, mary, (and later joan, alan, and betty- hope you read the blog now~!) for coming out to make perogies with us.

kids reading books, instead of making perogies, i guess its the child labor laws...



farmer siblings making perogies with a blurry niece face

hey what is that hairy thing on the table this week? Well its celeriac, a super vegetable. It holds for months in the root cellar, when cooked, it has the texture of a potato, but a lovely celery taste. Can be used raw in salads or used lots of times in soups. there is a great article on the NPR website about it, included below is one of the 3 recipes from that article. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6551175


Boiled Celeriac with Butter and Herbs from NPR.org

3 large celery roots, peeled
Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus extra for acidulating water
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup chopped parsley, chives, tarragon, mint, lemon balm or basil (you can pick one or use two in a savory combination)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Fill large bowl with water and add lemon juice. Add celery roots as they are peeled.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cut peeled celery roots into three or four thick slices, then cut each slice into three or four fat sticks, returning them to their bowl of acidulated water after each step.

Shape the sticks into "batons" by shaving off the square "corners" and pointing the ends (like sharpening a fat pencil) with a paring knife.

Place the batons in the boiling water. Add juice of half a lemon. Bring water back to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until batons are soft but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly and return to the pot.

Add butter, herbs of choice, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through before serving.


have a great week!
liz (and matthew)