We are now taking orders for the 2023 season! For existing members you can simply pay the $100 deposit either by sending/bringing in a check or sending a payment through PayPal. If you want to use a credit card you’ll have to order through our online store and pay the full amount. For new members please order through our online store. You can select “Deposit Plan” at check out to pay just the deposit. Be sure to follow-up with your payment though. We also have FlowerShare and WinterShare for 2023 in the online store.
Just two weeks left in the season (including this week). Please plan accordingly.
For those who have ordered WinterShare you should have received your onions, shallots, garlic and winter squash by now. We still haven’t dug the potatoes but hope to once the temperatures rise later this week.
I should have mentioned last week that you should let the popcorn dry out a few more weeks or maybe even months, then pop as you would normally pop popcorn. If the kernels come off the cob somewhat easily it is most likely ready to pop. If not, wait another couple of weeks. We normally leave the popcorn out on the stalk until the last week or two of the season to dry as much as possible but an infestation of ground squirrels (speculation on my part) consumed 80-90% of the popcorn (no speculation, we lost 80-90% of the crop) in the last week prior to our noticing. So it forced us to harvest what was left earlier than normal. Some people asked if we can pop it right on the cob in a paper bag in the microwave the way Martha Stewart once suggested. I suspect the answer lies is why Martha no longer has the page online. Some people are saying when they tried the paper bag method the bag started on fire. So I suggest you not do it this way.
This week’s top story
In my opinion, one of the most important scientific events in the last 20 years is the renaming of Global Warming to Climate Change. This ranks up there with the removal of Pluto as a planet! I don’t know about the rest of you but frankly I’m not seeing much global warming today, or yesterday. Maybe by the end of the week hopefully. This cold weather is as cold as we’ve ever been during the farming season. I can’t recall any days colder. When it gets this cold — 22 degrees this morning — we have problems that we haven’t encountered before, which make today that much more challenging.
The biggest problem we are facing as I write this newsletter is the water supply to the wash area is frozen. It runs through an unheated attic space — which isn’t ideal as we can confirm — but for the time of year we need it the attic has stayed above freezing — until last night. I spent the better part of the morning trying to thaw it without success. Spending a morning in a cold attic is not my idea of a good time. The cold wasn’t so bad but the dust and fiberglass fibers are most uncomfortable.
As far as crops are concerned there are few that can survive 22 degrees. Of the above ground plants the only one that survives unscathed is kale. Some of our other above ground plants survived but are scathed. As you may have noticed some of the radish tops are a bit limp. The broccoli heads look fine but the leaves are toasted. The cabbage actually seems fine as well so maybe that would fall into the unscathed category. The all knowing internet says Brussels sprouts can survive down to 28 degrees. We’ve been colder than that prior to yesterday and ours survived. With the last night’s forecast of 22 degrees though we decided to harvested all of them in a marathon 5.5 hour sprout-a-thon. In the past we would harvest and give out the BS on the stalk. It was unique and kind of CSA-y. But it also took up a LOT of room in the cooler and the delivery boxes so we switched to removing the sprouts from the stalk — just one more of the many services we provide to our farm members.
The below ground plants are surviving for now. We still have potatoes and carrots to dig, hopefully by the end of the week. Which brings us to the other aspect of cold weather — the workers. We can typically dress warmly enough to survive the cold temps. The area where it gets painful is washing the produce. We can heat the wash area but we can’t heat the water. And even though the water is a comfortable 45 degrees when the air temp is 95 degrees, it is far less comfortable when the air temperature is 30 degrees. We’ve survived so far but hope the weather warms to make us a bit more comfortable.
What will we have this week?
BS! That would be Brussels sprouts. We also have celery which did not tun out as large as we’d like. But is has — in my opinion — great flavor and would make a wonderful addition to a soup or other cooked dish. We’ll also have potatoes, some carrots, some cabbage, a few tomatoes leftover, still more peppers — mostly green, leeks, garlic, some broccoli and winter squash.
It is a ‘Shroom week. No more FlowerShare. WinterShare for those who haven’t picked up their garlic, shallots, onions and squash. We still have to dig the potatoes.
A brief note on Brussels sprouts.
In past years we’ve had difficulty getting the sprouts to a reasonable size. This year we succeeded but not for all of them. This season we have a large assortment of spouts sizes. The reason I mention it is many recipes suggest cutting, trimming, making an “X”, etc. the sprouts before cooking. Don’t feel like you have to do this for the smaller ones. I suggest cutting only so that the larger ones cook about as fast as the smaller ones.
Also, some of the spouts may have a bad leaf or two on the outside of the sprout. I’ve found putting them in a colander under running water and vigorously stirring them around with your hand dislodged many of the less than ideal sprout leaves.
Recipe of the week
I haven’t yet got the recipe section of the website — or all the recipes — updated to the new style so finding recipes and adding them to the newsletter is a bit of a challenge yet. So for this week I am using the tried and true method of sharing info — cut and paste. Here are a couple of recipes that are on our website but you may have a hard time finding:
Roasted Brussels Spouts
1 pound Brussels sprouts, rinsed
3 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place Brussels sprouts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a roasting pan.
Toss Brussels sprouts to coat.
Bake for 20 minutes and stir.
Bake for another 10 minutes.
Add toasted pine nuts.
Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Bake for another 5 minutes until cheese is lightly browned.
Serves 4 to 6.
Perfect Brussels Sprouts
This simple, 4 ingredient recipe, inspired by a Joy of Cooking recipe, creates delicious, caramelized Brussels sprouts.
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half
3 tablespoons butter or 1 1/2 tablespoons butter plus 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 5 garlic cloves, crushed (depending on how much you love garlic use more or less)
Block of Parmigiano Reggiano for grating
Heat the butter or butter and olive oil over medium-low heat in a medium skillet.
Add the garlic to the skillet and stir, until the garlic begins to brown. DO NOT burn the garlic, it will ruin the oil and cause the whole dish to taste bitter.
Remove the garlic. You may discard, but adding it to the final platter of sprouts or popping them like candy is an option.
Place the sprouts cut side down in the garlicky butter, cover, and cook over low heat until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
The sprouts should be slightly caramelized on the cut side.
Arrange the sprouts on a platter and drizzle any remaining butter on top.
Grate fresh Parmigiano Reggiano over the top of the warm sprouts.
Season with salt and pepper if desired, but taste them for seasoning first.
2-4 servings.
I’ve also roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar and/or honey. Don’t let your past dislike for them dissuade you from trying them anew!
That is all for now. As always, do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, brain teasers and orders for the 2023 season!