Farm News Crop Forecast
U-Pick Recipes Nuts and Bolts
Greetings!
We are loving the colors of Fall this year and hope you are too! The colors of the leaves and the colors of the vegetables. A feast for the eyes.
Since the carrots got harvested — earlier than ever before, to beat the 5″ of rain a couple weeks ago — we got to sneak away this past weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation. So lovely to see the big lake and all the colors around it, and also the colors on the drive up!
We look forward to seeing you on the farm this week! Thanks for being flexible with our schedule change this October. It was so, so nice to have the time we needed to get the root crops in before the rain came. The ground takes a long time to dry out at this time of year, and often it doesn’t, so it makes life so so much easier if we can get the roots in before the soil gets too wet. With the soil wet and more rain coming this week, it would have been a nail-biter getting all the roots harvested before it became a mud-wresting match (which the Earth always wins).
Thank you so much for being a CSA member this year! The farm and weather gave us a diverse bounty again, and we hope it was a great and integral part of your lives. We are so grateful for your support and for your excitement about fresh, local veggies!
Crop Forecast
This week is a regular sized share. Full share folks take what the signs say and split share folks take half the amount that the signs say, just like usual throughout the season. Every other week folks have both share partners coming this week, so you also take take half of what the signs say.
Winter squash — 2 per share this week — butternut, buttercup, ambercup, acorn, starry night, carnival.
We will have lots of carrots, beets, celeriac, onions, watermelon radishes, leeks, sweet potatoes, purple and pink daikon. Kohlrabi is really big, but isn’t woody and is very sweet after the frost!
Parsnips are back! Great in soups and sauteed in butter. Yum!
Greens are only available for u-pick, but we will still be harvesting lettuce and kale for you. Sadly, the spinach got a disease so there is none to pick right now. We just mowed it, in hopes that the re-growth will be okay to pick for the storage share and u-pick later this Fall. We will keep you posted.
Brussels Sprouts are here! We give it to you on the stalk because it is fun to see how it grows and it is easier for us to fit into the workload. Try them sauteed with bacon or roasted with parmesean. They are so good!!
We might also have celery and fennel leaves and flowers for fun. They survived the coldest night (a light frost) so why not put them in the share?! The leaves/ fronds are just like earlier in the fall, to add to salads or a braising or roasting dish. The flowers we’ve never eaten before last week, but they were so pretty when iced up in the frost we did the logical thing and ate them. They’re virtually like anise seeds, but only partially developed, and in cute little flower clusters.
What’s for U-Pick?
Everything that is affected by frost died (basil, the flowers, beans), but there is still more to pick!
Cilantro—there is still some out there by the road.
Also sage, parsley, thyme and oregano.
There are also lettuce and greens near the solar panels. And kale and collards on your way to the lettuce and greens. Watch out for the thistle when picking kale and collards.
Nuts and Bolts
November Storage Share 2023 Sign Up HERE. Crops look great. Eat well all fall !!
Sign up for 2024 CSA is in the email.
Bulk Produce for You
Check here each newsletter for what we have available for extra purchase.
This week’s selection is : Beets and Carrots for $1.25/lb, Cabbage for 75 cents /lb. Kohlrabi for $1.50 /lb. Lettuce for $6/lb, Kale for $3/lb. Radishes and Celeriac for $2/lb. Winter squash $1/lb. Garlic for $1.25 / head (4 for $5) ( no need to pre order garlic).
To place a bulk order, simply email us a day ahead of the day you’d like to pick it up. Orders can be picked up at the farm during our regular pickup hours, but it doesn’t have to be your share pickup day. Usually we can make an order on the spot, too.
Share Pickup Hours TUESDAY and THURSDAY 1:30-6:30 pm.
Change Pick-Up Day Form — Click here. Please fill out this form instead of emailing us. Thanks!
Where is the farm? 4151 320th Street West, Northfield.
Please Drive Carefully —Children are everywhere.
We love having all of you come to the farm! Thank you for making it such a great season!
Your farmers,
Erin and Ben, with Allia, Alexandra, Elliott, Emily, Kae and Karin
From LuAnn in the Medicinal Herbs Garden.
From LuAnn in the Medicinal Herbs Garden:
About a month ago, I shut down the website that I had been using all summer and shifted all of that information, and more, to a new site. My tech support (retired husband) has been tweaking its appearance and makes me look pretty good! Check it out. We’ve both been dealing with some nasty colds, which I’m using as an opportunity to figure out what herbs actually help us! I had a very productive cough, mostly upper respiratory. His is lower in his lungs and dry. Great opportunity to figure out the differences and which herbs help in each scenario, as well as other tips that were shared with me or I found in research. I’ll be adding that information to the “Healthy Ideas” area of my website soon.
I enjoyed seeing many of you at the garden or my house this past growing season. If you have any questions or concerns over the next few months, feel free to email luannraadt@gmail.com or text at 612-987-3960.
RECIPES
Maple Roasted Bacon Brussels Sprouts
from allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole Brussels sprouts
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Trim ends off Brussels sprouts and cut any large ones in half. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add bacon, salt, and pepper to the Brussels spouts. Drizzle olive oil and maple syrup over top and toss until sprouts are well coated.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread in a single layer.
Roast in the preheated oven until bacon is crispy and Brussels sprouts are caramelized, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Serve warm and enjoy!
Garlic Butter Roasted Parsnips
from diethood.com
- 2 to 2½ pounds parsnips
- ▢5 tablespoons butter
- ▢4 cloves garlic, pressed
- ▢½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary, or any other fresh herbs that you prefer/have on hand
- ▢¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ▢¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ▢chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- ▢crushed red pepper flakes, for garnish, optional
- Preheat oven to 450˚F.
- Prepare the Parsnips: Wash and optionally peel the parsnips. Cut parsnips down the center, longwise. Then cut each half into 3 to 4 batons. From there, cut away any tough, woody core.
- Spread out the parsnips on a large rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a skillet set over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook for 20 seconds or until fragrant. DO NOT burn the garlic. Remove from heat and stir in the rosemary.
- Pour the garlic butter over the parsnips. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
- Spread parsnips out in a single layer and roast for 10 minutes.
- Stir the parsnips and continue to roast for 8 to 10 more minutes, or until tender.
- Remove from oven. Taste the parsnips for salt and pepper, and adjust accordingly.
- Garnish with parsley and pepper flakes. Serve.
Open Hands Farm 