CSA Share Notes:

• Pumpkin—Luxury pie. If you’d like to make a pie with this beauty, plan on giving the task most of the day. It will be a rewarding endeavor! I recommend adding 2 extra tablespoons of flour to the pie filling to help it set, as fresh pumpkin has more moisture than canned pumpkin. If you’re not the ambitious, pumpkin-pie-from-scratch kind of person (and this year, I’m totally not), feel free to just use this beauty in your fall decor this week and roast it into a delicious soup over the weekend. I suggest cumin and sage as excellent flavor compliments to pumpkin.
• Broccoli Raab—This green is related to broccoli but has a lovely turnipy flavor (the “raab” in the name indicates a close tie to  the turnip family, which is also called raab, rabe, or rape.) You can gently boil this green until tender (2-4 minutes) and then toss with a bit of sauteed or roasted garlic and a generous drizzle of olive oil, then arrange it atop crusty french bread slices and let the olive-oily juices soften the bread, or simply fold it into your mashed potatoes.
• Butternut Squash—This will be your last time to receive the delicious butternut. They are still so wonderfully tasty but they don’t have long to last on the shelf. Use them up within a week. If you’d like to preserve the harvest, once baked, roasted, or grilled, the meat does freeze quite well.
• Kale—Large shares received Red Russian, and the small shares received Lacinato.  Try the Squash and Kale Salad or the Massaged Kale Salad or the Rainbow Kale Salad!
• Sweet Potatoes—A generous supply for your family’s favorite sweet potato casserole, whether that’s with marshmallows and brown sugar, or generously topped with butter and salt!
• Turnips—Purple Top. Turnips are wonderful when boiled and mashed in the style of mashed potatoes. I like to do a half and half potato/turnip blend. It’s a great way to enjoy their wonderful flavor. They do hold more moisture so adjust your recipe with less milk or cream to compensate for the additional moisture in the turnips. The greens didn’t hold up too well on these. Some of the greens will be salvageable to braise with your broccoli raab, but some may need to be juiced or tossed.

Veggie Storage tips:

The bag of broccoli raab greens and the kale should be stored in the refrigerator, sealed up to retain their moisture. The butternut squash should be used as soon as you can and the pumpkin and sweet potatoes can last for several weeks. Keep the dirt on them for now and store them at room temp. As a general rule, wait to wash any of these veggies until you’re ready to use them. Your turnips should be removed from their tops and stored in the fridge, sealed up so they don’t become rubbery.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this season. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share!

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

Large Fall CSA share

 Large share (Left to right): Purple top turnips, butternut squash, Red Russian kale, pumpkin, broccoli raab, and sweet potato.

Small Share

Small CSA share

Small share (left to right): sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pumpkin, broccoli raab, lacinato kale, and purple top turnips.