THE BEET: Volume 14, Issue 19

In This Week's BEET:

  1. CSA News
  2. Your Share
  3. Letter from Ted & Windflower Farm
  4. Recipes
  5. Storage Tips

Pick up today: 5:00-7:30 at PS 56 on the corner of Gates and Downing

FULL SHARE & YELLOW HALF SHARE PICK UP TONIGHT

Hello Everyone,

Fall is upon us!  And winter squashes are on their way, along with our Halloween Pot Luck, and our last distribution, which is November 5th.  If you still need to fulfill your volunteer hours, please sign up, or if none of the slots left work for your schedule, please contact me- we need volunteers to help out with the Halloween Pot Luck, and are looking for a few tech savvy people to do a few other projects.

Please keep bringing your extra bags, and if you didn't bring your wallet last distort- bring it tonight, as there will once again be Cacao for Sale on site!  

This Week's Share:

  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Tomatoes
  • Sweet peppers
  • Winter Squashes (acorns & buttercups)
  • Leeks
  • Russet Potatoes
  • Fresh herbs
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Bok Choy
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Fruit Share: Bosc pears & Honey Crisp Apples

News from Windflower Farm

Our fall root crop harvest has been in full swing here at Windflower Farm for the last two weeks and more.  Carrots, rutabagas, beets, potatoes, turnips and sweet potatoes are filling up our empty places. Earlier this week we refined our sweet potato harvesting technique with a mechanical harvesting aid (see our Instagram page for an image), and today we had harvesting help – visiting CSA shareholders and new friends. We have harvested three quarters or so of the crop, and have just nine beds to go, or perhaps another 200 bushels. Although your first sweet potatoes will arrive this week, you might consider letting them sit on a warm counter for another week to let more of the starches turn to sugars and more of the flavor to develop. Sweet potatoes require curing, and we do most of that here at the farm. We place the harvested crops in a warm greenhouse (85 F) for at least a week prior to sending them to you. That allows the skin to set, wounds to heal, and helps the roots last in storage. And curing begins the conversion of starches to sugars. It’s a relatively new crop for us, and we are tickled to have had such a good one. I hope you enjoy them. Our favorite lasagna recipe features sweet potatoes, as does our favorite omelet, which is all the better when combined with cardamon.      

Have a great Week,

Ted & Jan

Recipes

I love winter squashes!  Almost as much as I love Heirloom Tomatoes.... I will defiantly be making a butternut squash galette; the dough is very quick to come together, and squashes flavor only improves in the oven.  

This squash amazing soup recipe from Bed-Stuy's Bryant Terry gives another spin on squash soup- it's story and delicate- using leeks and pears instead of onions and apples, and is extra creamy with the addition of coconut milk.  I like to add a dash of Herbs de Provence :)  

If you're not going to eat all your fruit right away, might I suggest making some preserves and canning it?  Jams and Apple Butter are great Holiday gifts.  Especially if they're home made.  Just a little something to warm someone's heart.  Here's a recipe for Ginger Pear Jam and Slow Cooker Apple butter that I make every year, and by the following year- (usually sooner) there is never any left.  If you've never canned before, Jams and Apple butter are a great way to start- because of the sugar and citrus, they are naturally resistant to spoilage, and only take about 12 minutes in the hot water bath to seal.  For Canning instructions- go here.

I made this Gluten Free Apple Cheddar Loaf last weekend for the family, and not one bite was left after dinner- the glutens and the non-glutens all agreed on it's deliciousness.  Highly recommended. 


Storage Tips

Keep in a cool dry spot -somewhere around 50-55 degrees if possible, higher temps cause the flesh to become stringy.  Clean the squashes with white vinegar or grapefruit oil, make sure they are fully dry before storing.  A cooler spot in your apartment- near the front door- where it's drafty, or a basement if you happen to have one.  Wrap squash loosely in paper and place in cardboard box when putting it away for a while.

Acorn squash keep for up to 4 weeks 

Buttercup keeps up to 13 weeks

Butternut keeps up to 6 months (so eat them last!)

Veronica