This week your share may include…

• Garlic: This looks more like what you’re used to buying in the store, but these have not been cured at all. We pulled them out of the ground this morning so they’re still green on the inside and won’t store well so eat them sooner rather than later! The variety is Music.
• Kohlrabi: Don’t be afraid! Never before have you met such a versatile vegetable. Peel off the outer skin and inside you find a sweet treat – imagine a cross between Jicama & Broccoli. Good raw with dip or grated on salads. Want to cook it – they’re good roasted or sauteed. And I bet they’d make a fabulous fritter!
• Lettuce Heads: Finally with this heat they have started to grow! Huge tasty crispy sweet heads of romaine lettuce this week. The green is Costal Star and the red, Outredgeous, was bred and selected right here in the PNW for organic production by Frank Morton at Wild Garden Seeds.
• Spring Onions: The bulbs are getting bigger and they have nice big greens on them too.
• Onion Scapes: These are the tasty flower stalks from onions and are similar to garlic scapes, but have a thick walled stem that are hollow inside.
• PEAS!! Sugar snap peas are at the peak of their flavor and production right now. Like sweet corn, the  sugars begin to turn to starch as soon as you pick them so eat them asap. But I didn’t really have to tell you that – bet some people’s peas barely made it through the ride home…
• Radish: This is the first year we’ve grown this variety called Cherriette and I’m impressed! They have a nice sweetness that balances out the spice. You can cook the greens too.
• Hakuri Turnips: These tender salad turnips are sweet but not too hot. Both the bulbs and greens can be eaten raw or sauteed.

Coming soon… Fava Beans!

This week your share may include…

• Brussel Sprouts, Diablo: These are still a bit small, but worth the work. Take the sprouts off the stalk, peel a few layers off the sprout, then boil or steam until tender. The trick with sprouts is not to over cook them! An al dente sprout is a whole new experience. Try this easy recipe with gnocchi & pesto
• Collards, Bulldog: The spring weather has inspired nice new leaves on the collards.
• Carrots, Sugarsnax: Oh sweet winter carrots!
• Onions, Copra: A long-standing favorite – stores well & good eatin’.
• Peppers, Dried Long Thin Cayenne: We picked the last of the cayenne peppers at the end of the summer and dried them in the squash room so you could enjoy them all winter long.
• Potatoes, Red: These potatoes came from our friends at Mustard Seed Farms.
• Popcorn, Heirloom Early Pink: You can pop the whole cob in the microwave if you want to – just put it in a brown bag, run on high for 1 min, dump out popped kernals, then run for 20 sec intervals until everything has popped, about 3 min. Watch it carefully because the cob can catch on fire. There are almost always a few unpopped kernals at the end, but it makes a nice little bowl of popcorn. Or take kernals off the cob and pop using your preferred method. 
• Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Rudolf: This time of year it is almost impossible to grow regular broccoli, but the purple sprouting types thrive in the late winter/early spring. You can use all of it – florettes, stems & leaves. 
• Winter Squash, Long Island Cheese: This little spaghetti squash has impressed me with it’s sweet nutty flavor. Cut in half & roast in the oven, then peel out long strings and dress it up sweet or savory.
• Winter Squash, Spaghetti Small Wonder: This little spaghetti squash has impressed me with it’s sweet nutty flavor. Cut in half & roast in the oven, then peel out long strings and dress it up sweet or savory.

Happy Holidays!!
This week your share may include…

• Beets, Lutz aka Winterkeeper: I was nervous when the temperature went down to 14 degrees that these would survive?! For almost the whole week they were like large red ice cubes out in the field, but they seem fine now that they have thawed. 
• Carrots, Sugar Snax: This variety is a challenge because they are so tender that the roots were actually breaking as we very carefully hand washed them. Might not be worth the extra effort if it wasn’t one of the sweetest carrot varieties we’ve ever grown! But they’re not for everyone – read an interesting story about farmers in NY who tried unsuccessfully to grown them for school lunches here.
• Garlic, Asian Tempest: More extra heads in your share this week because wanted you to stay healthy over the holidays.
• Kale: I am still obsessed with this recipe for garlicky, lemon kale salad that shareholder David Culpepper passed along to me last spring. Finally the Winterbor kale is back so I can satisfy my cravings!
• Onions, Red Zepplin: This is the first season we’ve tried this red storage onion. Has stored well so far – let us know if you like eating it.
• Parsley Root: I’m quoting Rebekah here “tastes kinda carroty, parsnipy, and like parsley all mixed together.” And she definitely meant it as a compliment. This is a first this year too and I’m hooked. 
• Potatoes, Yukon Gold: Similar to Yellow Finn but usually larger, with golden tasty flesh. Our friends at Nostrana use it for making gnocchi this time of year. 
• Rosemary: roasted with potatoes, yum!
• Winter Squash, Kabocha: The variety is actually called Cha Cha, but it is a kabocha type, which is very similar to Buttercup, not to be confused with ButterNUT. We will have some of the latter, but later in the season. Cha Cha has dry sweet flakey flesh which I love just roasted. 
• Winter Squash, Delicata: This is many people’s favorite squash and once you try it you’ll see why. Roast it in the usual way or make Squash Rings. 
• Tomatoes, Longkeeper: For several years we have been trialing this special variety of storage tomato called, appropriately, Long Keeper. If picked just as they start to ripen in October, then stored where it is cool & dry, they can last for several months. The flavor is nowhere near as good as summer heirloom tomatoes, but lots better than what you can buy in the store this time of year. Just another novel (but natural) way to extend the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!
This week your share may include…

• Broccoli: This time of year the broccoli heads don’t last long when exposed to cold fall rains so we’ve picked them on the small side. What they lack in size them make up for in flavor – the last few frosts have made them sweeter than ever. 
• Carrots: Sugar Snax again this week and they are so tasty. This variety is a challenge because they are so tender that the roots were actually breaking as we very carefully hand washed them. Might not be worth the extra effort if it wasn’t one of the sweetest carrot varieties we’ve ever grown! But they’re not for everyone – read an interesting story about farmers in NY who tried unsuccessfully to grown them for school lunches here. 
• Celery: Not as tender as what you’d buy in the store, but so much more flavor! Perfect for a traditional thanksgiving stuffing. Also wonderful in  soup.
• Garlic: Extra heads in your share this week because wanted you to be able to make the kale salad (below) and have plenty left over for Thanksgiving
• Kale: I have been obsessed with this recipe for garlicky, lemon kale salad since shareholder David Culpepper passed along to me last spring. Finally the Winterbor kale is back so I can satisfy my cravings!
• Parsley:  Same variety we’ve had all year, Giant of Italy, has great flavor and just keeps on going. Planted in May and harvested all summer it sweetest this time of year following fall frosts. 
• Potatoes: Yellow Finn is one of my favorite potatoes. First for the buttery sweet flavor. Then because it is productive, stores well and is so versatile -try boiling, frying, mashing, or roasting.  
• Pie Pumpkins: In fact “pumpkin pie” can be made with most squash varieties, but there is something appealing about using the real thing. Try my grandmothers recipe.
• Winter Squash: The variety we’re giving out this week is called Jet Bush and it has some of the largest fruit I’ve ever seen on an acorn. The plants were semi-bush, which means the vines were much more compact than other squash variety. This is a nice one to use on the edges of the fields – otherwise the more vigorous vines just grow over and smother neighboring crops.
• Tomatoes: For several years we have been trialing this special variety of storage tomato called, appropriately, Long Keeper. If picked just as they start to ripen in October, then stored where it is cool & dry, they can last for several months. The flavor is nowhere near as good as summer heirloom tomatoes, but lots better than what you can buy in the store this time of year. Just another novel (but natural) way to extend the season.

Wondering what to do with all that luscious and lovely basil in your basket? How about whipping up a batch of fresh pesto. Not only does it taste wonderful on everything it touches but it freezes beautifully. Just spoon any leftovers into ice cube trays. Freeze until firm, then seal tightly in a sip lock bag. Your pesto should stay nice and tasty for up to six months.

Enjoy!

Homemade Pesto
From the kitchen of Chef Tse

Makes about 1 cup

4 cups basil, packed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Place basil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan in a food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are well chopped. With processor running, slowly pour in oil until desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve over pasta, tossed with fresh vegetables, in vinaigrette or spread on toasted baguette slices.

It’s hard not to eat the carrots raw that we’ve been getting in our share. They’re so tender and sweet that I often eat a few on my way home from the farm. They also take prominent roles in fresh salads and quick stir-fries.

But if you want to try something new, check out my recipe for Carrot and Ginger Soup below. Not only is it healthy because there’s no cream, but it has a secret ingredient – orange juice. The acidity in the juice brightens the carrot flavor but doesn’t make the soup sweet. If it’s just way too hot to eat a warm soup, refrigerate it and serve it cold. Or you can even freeze it for up to 3 months.

Enjoy!

Carrot and Ginger Soup
From the kitchen of Chef Tse

Serves 6

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
4 cups or more chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup peeled minced ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
6 tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and sauté until transparent. Add chicken stock and carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Working in small batches, puree soup in a blender. Return soup to pot and set over medium heat. Add orange juice and season with salt and pepper. Thin with a little more chicken stock if soup is too thick. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into six bowls and top with yogurt or sour cream (or even crème fraîche if you’re feeling indulgent). Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top and serve.

This week your share may include… 

• Beets: A mix of red, chioggia and golden beets this week. The greens also look great and can be cooked up just like chard or spinach. 
• Broccoli: Several different varieties have held up well through the heat including Packman and Violet Queen. The latter is especially beautiful purple color, though sadly it fades when cooked. 
• SWEET CORN!! It came in early and by doing multiple plantings we should have corn for quite a few weeks.  The variety is Sugar Buns and it took a lot of TLC to make it happen – including transplanting corn which is unheard of – but it was definitely worth it. YUM!! See the recipe from shareholder Chez Tse below.
• Cucumbers: The green ones are mostly Diva – a tasty , productive and thin skinned variety. Also in the mix are several small yellow heirloom varieties including Lemon and Boothby’s Blonde.
• Edamame: These soybean varieties, grown especially for fresh eating, came originally from Japan. They are gaining popularity here as an easy, tasty and healthy snack. Just pluck the pods from the vine, steam or boil them whole until the beans are tender (5-10min), and sprinkle with salt. They can be served hot or at room temp – just pop the beans of of the pods and enjoy!  
• Fresh Garlic: This is lots bigger than green garlic, but a little different than what you usually see at the store. These heads are almost full size with nice big cloves inside, but they have not been completely dried down so the result is fresh, juicy bursting with flavor garlic. Enjoy! 
• Kale: The blue-green leaves with red veins are Red Russian and the darker variety with highly savoyed leaves is Toscano (aka Nero di Toscana, Black Kale, Dinsaur Kale).
• Parsley: Try this Salsa Verde recipe from shareholder David Culpepper below
• Potatoes: This week we have Bintje – a beautiful creamy yellow skinned potato that is especially good roasted.  
• Summer Squash: Great on the grill – slice patty pan varieties through the scalloped edge and smaller zucchini lengthwise, brush with a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, and enjoy!