Well, that's all, folks! This is the last box CSA box of 2016. And so it is time to celebrate another successful garden year and the final harvests of the season. JOIN US! Next Sunday, October 11, from 2 til 10pm, is our annual Warm and Wooly Fall Farm Festival. We'll have tractor-pulled hayride farm tours, mini-donkey cart rides and s'mores on the campfire all day long! We'll have woolcrafts -spinning and felting - from 4 to 5:30pm, a Champagne Tour of the Bed and Breakfast at 5pm, a giant potluck dinner at 6pm, and live bluegrass music with MooGrass at 6:30pm. We'll also have goods for sale from neighbor farms - bread, granola, honey, jams, salsas and more! Bring friends, family, layers to wear, comfy shoes for walking and a potluck dish or drink to share. Circle M will be providing meat from the homestead and probably a pumpkin dessert or two. There will be local beer, mint lemonade and whatever else you contribute!
Planning for the final box of the year is tricky. We always have a few things in mind that we'd love to have at the end - some of which end up being ready, and some that don't make it - and we always have a few surprises. This year, the biggest surprise is tomatoes! We've still got 'em, which is unusual for a Box 10. But we've had no frosts yet, even though we've been close, and so the tomato vines are still producing away. Most things are still going gangbusters, so your box is actually a box and a bag this week - we just couldn't fit everything in and we wanted to make sure you got a full share of the farm's bounty! So come prepared to carry a lot. Here's what's in the box:
Tomatoes - Heirloom Brandywines and tasty little cherries of every color, size, and shape.
Arugula - We planted a greens mix for fall so you could have salad, but the mix included arugula, and it grew so fast and furious that it crowded out the rest of the mix. We won't be buying that mix again! But the arugula is tasty and spicy and wonderful. I'd recommend chopping and cooking it to have with eggs or pasta. Or on top of pizza!
Swiss Chard - Tender fresh leaves, just like in spring. Yum! Try in a gratin.
Broccoli - These tiny heads are side shoots from our summer planted broccoli and new heads from our fall planting.
Eggplant - Most are very young and tender. These are sweet enough to just saute with your tomatoes and peppers.
Peppers - We didn't succeed in getting you any red bell peppers - they just didn't ripen up in these cool summer! But there are a lot of tasty peppers in here. We've bagged all the hot ones with your tomatillos - like a salsa kit! The rest are all sweet - the tiny flame-shaped ones are paprika peppers and they have an amazing fresh taste. Use like any other sweet pepper.
Tomatillos - Roast whole and then send through the food processor with garlic, onions, peppers and vinegar for terrific salsa verde.
Herb Bag - We had a lot of herbs ready this week and we wanted to get you a lot, since we wouldn't have another chance. The bag, from the top down, includes baby celery, rosemary, sage, oregano and lemon balm.
Chives - Great with the russets!
Radishes - Lots of very cool radishes in the box this week. You've got loose in the box some pretty Misato Rose, Beauty Heart and French Breakfast Radishes. Serve them sliced on a veggie plate with dip, because they've all got dramatic colors inside and out. We've also included 3 White Icicle radishes with their lovely sweet greens. Please do eat the greens - they are very nutritious and taste sauteed or included in a soup. The radishes can be sliced and lightly sauteed in butter, or grated into kimchi and relishes.
Kale - Sweeter every day as the weather cools.
Sweet Potatoes - Yum! Just in time for cool nights. Bake and eat with a little butter, cube and roast in the oven, or boil and mash into curry soup. Great paired with coconut milk!
Red Cabbage - These mini heads are unbelievably sweet. Grate for a slaw or braise with shredded apples in apple cider.
Onions - Flat cippollinis are terrific cut in half and roasted. Reds are sweet and crisp.
Kohlrabi - Terrific sliced, grated into slaw or eaten like an apple. But also wonderful cooked and mashed up with your potatoes. Add a little cabbage flavor anywhere!
Russet Potatoes - Great for fluffy mashed dishes or wonderful in hash browns. Pretty much an all-around delicious tuber!
Garlic - Robust flavor.
Enjoy!!!!!!!! And thanks a million for your support of our little farm!
Planning for the final box of the year is tricky. We always have a few things in mind that we'd love to have at the end - some of which end up being ready, and some that don't make it - and we always have a few surprises. This year, the biggest surprise is tomatoes! We've still got 'em, which is unusual for a Box 10. But we've had no frosts yet, even though we've been close, and so the tomato vines are still producing away. Most things are still going gangbusters, so your box is actually a box and a bag this week - we just couldn't fit everything in and we wanted to make sure you got a full share of the farm's bounty! So come prepared to carry a lot. Here's what's in the box:
Tomatoes - Heirloom Brandywines and tasty little cherries of every color, size, and shape.
Arugula - We planted a greens mix for fall so you could have salad, but the mix included arugula, and it grew so fast and furious that it crowded out the rest of the mix. We won't be buying that mix again! But the arugula is tasty and spicy and wonderful. I'd recommend chopping and cooking it to have with eggs or pasta. Or on top of pizza!
Swiss Chard - Tender fresh leaves, just like in spring. Yum! Try in a gratin.
Broccoli - These tiny heads are side shoots from our summer planted broccoli and new heads from our fall planting.
Eggplant - Most are very young and tender. These are sweet enough to just saute with your tomatoes and peppers.
Peppers - We didn't succeed in getting you any red bell peppers - they just didn't ripen up in these cool summer! But there are a lot of tasty peppers in here. We've bagged all the hot ones with your tomatillos - like a salsa kit! The rest are all sweet - the tiny flame-shaped ones are paprika peppers and they have an amazing fresh taste. Use like any other sweet pepper.
Tomatillos - Roast whole and then send through the food processor with garlic, onions, peppers and vinegar for terrific salsa verde.
Herb Bag - We had a lot of herbs ready this week and we wanted to get you a lot, since we wouldn't have another chance. The bag, from the top down, includes baby celery, rosemary, sage, oregano and lemon balm.
Chives - Great with the russets!
Radishes - Lots of very cool radishes in the box this week. You've got loose in the box some pretty Misato Rose, Beauty Heart and French Breakfast Radishes. Serve them sliced on a veggie plate with dip, because they've all got dramatic colors inside and out. We've also included 3 White Icicle radishes with their lovely sweet greens. Please do eat the greens - they are very nutritious and taste sauteed or included in a soup. The radishes can be sliced and lightly sauteed in butter, or grated into kimchi and relishes.
Kale - Sweeter every day as the weather cools.
Sweet Potatoes - Yum! Just in time for cool nights. Bake and eat with a little butter, cube and roast in the oven, or boil and mash into curry soup. Great paired with coconut milk!
Red Cabbage - These mini heads are unbelievably sweet. Grate for a slaw or braise with shredded apples in apple cider.
Onions - Flat cippollinis are terrific cut in half and roasted. Reds are sweet and crisp.
Kohlrabi - Terrific sliced, grated into slaw or eaten like an apple. But also wonderful cooked and mashed up with your potatoes. Add a little cabbage flavor anywhere!
Russet Potatoes - Great for fluffy mashed dishes or wonderful in hash browns. Pretty much an all-around delicious tuber!
Garlic - Robust flavor.
Enjoy!!!!!!!! And thanks a million for your support of our little farm!