CSA Newsletter for October 3, 2015

Farm Update

This is the time of year for beets,
which do really well in the fall!

Hello Everyone!  This week turned into fall in a hurry, and you will see that reflected in the veggies in the share this week.  Even though it has gotten colder, fortunately we have not had any frost at the farm yet, although the wind has made working out there less than pleasant.  This weekend we have been digging up the sweet potatoes and slowly working our way through them.  This last week we were also able to seed our second round of cover crop into the land where we plowed under some of our old plantings of different veggies.  We had our organic inspector out at the farm last Sunday and the inspection went very well. This always involves a lot of paperwork since we have so many varieties, so we are glad to have the inspection off our list and done.  Our tomatoes have slowed down in a big way as the temps have gotten lower and the vines are starting to die back.  Everything in the field has slowed down bit, and the fields are slowly becoming emptier as we near the end of the season.  Now that we have just a few weeks left, it is a good time to sign up for next season if you're interested!  The cost for a half share will be $290 for the 2016 season, and a full share will be $540.  So if you're interested in signing up, just let me know, and I'll put you on the list.  We expect sign-up to be strong again next year, so it's a good idea to sign up sooner rather than later so you're assured your spot in the CSA for 2016.  It also helps us out, because if you put down a full or partial payment before the new year, that allows us to have some working capital in December and January, which is when we incur most of our farm expenses.  Even though we're still very much in the thick of the 2015 season, we're already starting to plan for 2016, and we'd love for you to be a part of it!

What to Expect in Your Share This Week

At the regular drop-offs:

In the shares this week, you'll have options for two broccoli
variations:  regular broccoli, and broccoli leaf (the one on the
right).  This is a standard part of our cooking greens mix, and
you can sautee it up like you'd do with kale or chard.

• Choice of Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes
• Choice of winter squash, broccoli, or beets
• Choice of carrots or Swiss chard
• Choice of lettuce, tomatoes, or snap beans
• Choice of cabbage, kale, or broccoli leaf
• Choice of leeks, celery root, or frisee
• Choice onion or shallot

For home/workplace delivery:

A Share:                    B Share:
Brussels sprouts        Sweet potatoes
Winter squash           Broccoli
Carrots                      Carrots
Lettuce                      Tomatoes
Cabbage                    Kale
Leeks                        Frisee
Onion                       Shallot

Veggie Spotlight:  The Onion Family

These are the onions and shallots we have in season right now.
From left to right, we have red onion, red shallot, Copra
onion, and yellow shallot.

Onions are one of the earliest and most widely eaten vegetables in the world, dating back to 5000 BC. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians were two peoples known to use onions, and in the Middle Ages the onion was very prominent in the peasant diet.  Even when Europeans first came to the Americas, the Native Americans were found widely using wild onions as well.  Part of this long history is due to the long storage life of bulbing onions.  Even when other foods were unavailable in the winter, onions could be kept for a long time, making them especially popular and prominent in winter meals.  

In your shares this season you have seen several members of the onion family, including yellow shallots, red shallots, red onions, yellow Copra onions, white pearl onions (little white round onions we had in the spring), green onions, chives, and leeks.  All of these onions have slightly different flavors and textures, so they are suitable for different uses in the kitchen.  Fred's personal favorite is the red shallot, and I love the bright springy flavor of green onions.

Even though onions can be a pain to weed (especially in a year like this one) our onion family crops grow exceptionally well because our soil is naturally suited to them.  Our back field is black sand that is high in organic matter, and it is almost spongy when you walk on it.  It is a little more moist than our front fields, which is perfect for onions.  Our onions also take a lot of nutrients and are one of the heaviest feeders on the farm, especially since we cram as many as we possibly can into the field.  Each type grows a little differently.  Our chives are a perennial that come back each year.  Our green onions and pearl onions are seeded into greenhouse flats in the early spring, with several seeds planted together and then transplanted into the field.  There they grow in clumps of several onions together. For our bulbing onions and leeks, we buy plants that come in the mail from an organic nursery out in Delaware, and plant them directly into the field in mid-April.  Our shallots are seeded thickly into greenhouse flats, then trimmed to only about 3 inches tall and separated individually and transplanted into the field in early May.  After the shallots and bulbing onions start to die back in the field, we pull of them out and dry them on racks in the greenhouse.

So what is the difference between leeks, shallots, and onions in the kitchen?  Leeks and shallots both have milder, more complex flavors than the otherwise harsher flavor of raw bulbing onions.  We had often noticed that many good recipes called for shallots rather than onions, but we were skeptical at first that they would really be all that different.   Now after growing and using them, we are shallot converts!  Now we save some red shallots every season to use throughout the winter, and barely use bulb onions. There certainly are great times to use bulb onions, especially when a more prominent onion flavor is desired (often with heavier dishes that include red meat). If onions are just a little too oniony for you, the shallots can be used instead, as they are milder and the size of the rings is smaller.  In the same vein, we personally love to use leeks chopped into small rings for omelets and in our winter venison stews, as it add more flavor without overpowering other more subtle flavors.  We like to use the shallots this time of year in our Brussels sprout/winter squash/bacon fry, as well as our roasted root vegetable mix.  The shallots are also great fresh in salads, as they do not overpower the flavor of the greens and other ingredients.

Our onion crops are becoming more prominent on our farm as folks (and especially the higher-end restaurants we supply) recognize and appreciate their excellent flavor.  We certainly appreciate them at home as well, especially as we get into the richer foods of fall and winter.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Recipes

My guess is that you already know what to do with your onions and shallots, but you are probably wondering about the mysterious celery root that is available in the shares this week.  Celery root (also called celeriac) is a root vegetable with a distinct celery flavor.  It is knobby and kind of weird-looking, but it was traditionally a winter staple in the days before refrigeration.  It cooks like a potato but tastes like celery, so it is commonly used in fall and winter soups and stews.  Also, don't worry if you don't get to it right away; it will last forever in the fridge.  (I've used five-month old celeriac before, and it still tasted great.)  So here are some recipe ideas for this probably unfamiliar veggie:

Simple as That Celeriac:  This aptly-named hash is super easy to make, and requires just a few ingredients to make a really great side dish.  Or for something a little fancier, try this Potato and Celery Root Gratin with Gruyere.  Rich and creamy, this gratin also calls for some shallot goodness, so if you've never played around with shallots before, here's your chance!