It’s Week Six

Welcome! We are hope that you had a fantastic fifth week and that you were able to use everything in your bag. Did you discover a new recipe? Try something that will be added to your rotation of meals? Try a new to you vegetable that you liked? Let us know and I will share it here with our other members. If you loved it, others will too!

In Your Box This Week and How to Store Them

CARROTS - Store carrots in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or container. Cut tops off prior to storage. They can store for several weeks and sometimes even months $5

APPLES - I prefer to pick this variety a little early, they are still mildly tart but also sweet, which is perfect. You can display on your countertop, but they'll only last between 1 and 2 weeks, depending on the variety and room temperature. Apples in the fridge last from 2 weeks to several months. $6

CELERY - Place the celery in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, which should be set to high humidity. Don't wash or cut the celery until you're ready to use it. I would recommend storing in an open plastic bag. $5

SWEET POTATOES - Keep in a cool, dry place away from light, like a dark corner of the kitchen or in a cabinet. Also keep well ventilated. Do not store in a plastic bag but you can store in a basket or paper bag. $4 ($2 pound)

ZUCCHINI -Wash, thoroughly dry, then wrap your cucumber in a dish towel or paper towel, place in an unsealed plastic bag to allow some airflow and place them in the crisper drawer. Can store for up to 10 days. Storing zucchini in the fridge is a quick and simple way to keep zucchini fresh. Keep the zucchini whole until you're prepared to use it, avoid washing zucchini prior to storage. $1.00 x 1

DELICATA SQUASH - Winter Squash is best stored between 55-65 degrees, however, Delicata squash does not store quite as well as heartier varieties like Acorn and Butternut. Place in a cool dry room in your house (do not refrigerate) and it should last 2 months. $4 (2lbs)

FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH - Remove the greens from the root. If you choose to keep the greens, wash them and then store wrapped in a damp paper towel in a bag. Place in the crisper of the refrigerator. The root can store up to two weeks in the fridge in a plastic bag. Wash before use. $5

Veggie of the Week

Radish (French Breakfast)

Fall radishes are here. French Breakfast radishes are in your bag this week. We are hoping to give a different radish variety each week for the next 3 weeks, although as always that’s up to how quickly and well they want to grow.

French Breakfast are a small to medium-sized variety. They have an elongated shape and the skin is thin, smooth, with a two-toned color of fuchsia red with white tips. When fresh the are juicy, with a crisp texture that provides a satisfying crunch. They tend to be more mild, earthy, and subtly peppery than your traditional round, red radish. When cooked, these radishes take on a gentle sweetness with a nutty, mellow taste. The leafy green tops are also edible, featuring a crisp texture and a flavor that is fresh, green, and slightly peppery. If you by chance can hold off on just eating them raw, because trust me they are delicious on their own, I put a few recipes below.

Don’t throw out those radish greens, give this a try!

Radish Greens Pesto

½ cup pine nuts or pepitas
1 small garlic clove
1/4 tea spoon sea salt
ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup radish greens
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 - 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, more if preferred
¼ parmesan cheese, grated.

Instructions

In a food processor, combine the pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper and pulse until well chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse again.
Add the radish greens and basil and pulse until combined.
With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until combined. Add the Parmesan cheese, if using, and pulse briefly to combine. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
Makes about 1 cup

I have never made this recipe, but I thought it looked interesting. I wish I had the basil and garlic to add to your bag, but you know…. farming :(

How to Use Radish Greens Recipe - Love and Lemons - if you click the link there is also a recipe with suggestions for sauteed radish greens too!

https://www.loveandlemons.com/hummus-recipe/

Hummus; I know I haven’t provided you with any of the ingredients but, homemade hummus is delicious and is great for dipping radish, warmed up pita bread, bell peppers (if you still have any from last week), carrots or celery. It is a favorite at our house!

Additional Recipes

. French Breakfast Radishes Sautéed in Butter – coolcookstyle

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe - The Forked Spoon

Roasted Sweet Potatoes - Skinnytaste

Easy Homemade Applesauce Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com

Roasted Carrots Recipe - Love and Lemons

Recipe : Fresh Apple Donuts | The Cake Blog I know this one doesn’t fit the “healthy bill” but COME ON it’s fall and who doesn’t love apple cake donuts!)

Old Fashioned Easy Apple Crisp - The Chunky Chef

Sauteed Zucchini Recipe – WellPlated.com

The Best Zucchini Lasagna (Delicious and Not Watery) – A Simple Palate

What’s Been Happening Here

Weirdly, I started to write an update of what has been happening here and change the “If All Else Fails” section and I think last week’s update did not in fact update from the previous week…. so, if you read the same updates or storage tips two weeks in a row, sorry about that.

We are in fall clean-up. Ripping out tomato vines, cultivating fall weeds that still want to come up, cleaning our garage/wash pack area in preparation for our final markets, we planted all the strawberries but then ordered 1000 more… so were not done yet! Matt is finishing our last tunnel (still), we are pulling our final apples and sweet potatoes this week as our final excavation of the back fields will happen and all the root crops need to be out. I am looking forward to proper drainage of those fields next year which will increase our yields for next year. We are also preparing for Lincoln University to come to the farm this Saturday for a beginning farmers follow-up on how we prep for the winter, I’ll talk more about this next week.

We are in our final stretch of summer markets with only 3 left in Sedalia and Columbia. We will tip-toe into the winter market in Columbia but, only with what we have left. I had planned to have an abundance going into the winter but, we can’t seem to keep up with demand, which is a great problem to have, and it has left us with less than we anticipated.

On a final note: I left the pictures the same because 1. My kids are cute, let’s face it. 2. I don’t think the update happened last week to explain the pictures. Far left is our youngest “helping” (I use that term loosely) lay fabric, set irrigation lines and plant strawberries. The middle picture is our beds prepped with irrigation lines before weed fabric was installed. We normally do not lay weed fabric, but this is a new-ish area and berries do better when planted into plastic mulch or fabric plus it will help keep future labor costs at bay by keeping the weed pressure low. The far two right pictures are of our second middle son, high up in the bucket helping us pick apples and our last picture is our other middle son attending homecoming with his girlfriend and our exchange student with his date.

ON A FINAL NOTE: after this week’s pickup there are only TWO CSA weeks left for the fall season. It’s going by so fast!

If All Else Fails

If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:

Potatoes will store well out of direct sunlight in a cool dry place for several weeks.
Apples can store in your crisper for weeks without problem.
Winter squash will also store for weeks if not months if kept in a cool, dry space away from direct sunlight.
Make sure the greens are removed from the root vegetables. Your roots will store for a good while, your greens from your root vegetables need to be used or lose them.
Zucchini can be shredded and frozen.
Celery can be stored in your crisper drawer for quite a while but, you can also chop it and store it in a freezer bag to be used for cooking later.

Next Week’s Possibility’s

Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.

apples
carrots
green beans
beets
lettuce
okra
sweet potatoes
bell peppers
Fairy Tale Eggplant
zucchini (green or yellow)
herbs (rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley)
celery
radish
kale
spinach (big maybe)

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!

Fall CSA Newsletter: Week 6