Share Notes:

We did it!  We made it to the end of a beautiful fall season, our garden produced abundantly for your family, you received week after week of organic beauty and health for your kitchen, and you hopefully tried some new and interesting vegetables (I hope you’ve found at least one recipe that helped you enjoy that vegetable you always thought you didn’t like)!  We are so happy to say our broccoli and napa cabbages are finally starting to mature and ripen for your table. That one-week break paid off!

The spring season will open for registration right around the start of the new year, and if you remember seasons past, we always fill up rather quickly, so be sure to jump in! More healthy local farm goodness is a-comin’ your way.

Now on to this week’s vegetable line-up:

• Luxury pie pumpkin—Cooking pumpkin can be a new journey for many home chefs, but pumpkin is actually a superfood and a great ally in your winter cooking. Here’s a tip you can use with pumpkin or any other winter squash (like the interesting ones we gave out in your previous share!)- wash the outside well, scoop out the inside, and cut it into really big chunks. Roast that beast at 425 until beginning to brown at the edges.  You can salt and butter it and eat it as is, or scrape it away from the skin and use it in a roasted winter veggie soup, or try a sage and pumpkin pasta sauce (one of my favorites!) or this awesome Winter Squash and Chard Lasagne. Also, the Roasted Squash and Kale Salad would be wonderful with pumpkin and your mixed mustard greens or broccoli raab. How nourishing!
• Broccoli—We are using Blue wind, Gypsy, and several other great varieties of broccoli this fall. This round of the harvest is super flavorful from all the sunny and cool days we’ve had this week.
• Leafy greens—You either received Broccoli Raab or our Asian Greens Mix. This beautiful bag of goodness is our own custom mix of frost tolerant and tender greens. Chefs go crazy for the short-season broccoli raab and our rare varieties of Asian greens.  Try them in this excellent Roasted Broccoli Salad.
• Napa Cabbage—This Asian variety of cabbage is a bit more tender that the European varieties so it makes a wonderful raw cabbage salad or slaw, but let’s go beyond that old stand-by:  I love cabbage in homemade ramen soup with loads of winter veggies and- go for it- a soft-boiled egg on top (I’ve been gaining kitchen inspiration from chef David Chang of Momofuku)!
• Turnip—Hakurei. These turnips are so tender and delicious. They’d be excellent in a cold or hot salad, like the fresh and bright Winter Root Salad or the Roasted Turnip and Grain Salad.
• Radish—Easter egg. This blend or color and flavor adds a great element to your salads and sandwiches, but I prefer them sliced with lemon and salt.
• Kale—You may have received Red Russian or Lacinato kale. Our great standards.
• Sweet potatoes—If you haven’t roasted or grilled them yet, that is our favorite way to enjoy them. We recently used them in a great Jamaican soup that will soon be on the blog!

Storage tips:

This week, many of you will be leaving for holiday travel half-way through consuming your harvest.  If you can, bring your organic share with you for family to experience! If you can’t get through everything before the holiday, here’s how you can make the most of your share: Eat the tender, short-shelf-life items first before leaving. That would be the broccoli raab or mustard mix , kale, napa cabbage, and your turnip tops.  Your radish and turnip roots should wait for you with no problem if you remove them from their tops and seal in a ziploc in the crisper.  Same goes for your broccoli. Your sweet potatoes and pumpkin won’t mind a week without you either.

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! Want us to feature your own wonderful fall and winter recipes? Send them to us by email and we’ll all get to share in your kitchen creativity.

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

Large share (top left to right): Napa cabbage, broccoli raab, pie pumpkin, broccoli, Easter egg radishes, Hakurei turnips, kale, and sweet potatoes across the bottom.

Small Share

Small share (top left to right): Hakurei turnips, Easter egg radishes, kale, sweet potatoes, broccoli, mixed mustard greens (some received broccoli raab), pie pumpkin, and Napa cabbage.