Straw bales in the strawberries, cover crop blanketing the lettuce field, bare blueberry bushes, and browned asparagus fronds in the distance… it must be November! Don’t let the warm days fool you - we’ve had cold enough overnight temperatures to frost kill all of the tomato and pepper plants in our high tunnels (alas, this unfortunately means no green tomatoes in the CSA as originally planned, as we were caught off guard by a colder than predicted night last week). Though the warm days make for pleasant working conditions right now, we do need those freezing temperatures eventually to kill off plant diseases. Also, fall-planted crops like tulips and garlic need a period of cold dormancy over the winter in order to grow properly in the spring. So while we are enjoying the short-term benefits of warm daytime temps - like being able to start our tractors up easily and being able to to wash produce bins without getting numb fingers - we won’t be sad about proper November weather when it finally arrives!
In the CSA this week (Week 23 for Extended and Flex members):
The Main Season CSA has ended, the Extended and Flex CSAs continue until November 20th. Pick up hours are Thursday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm (there are no Tuesday pick-ups). Pick ups are now inside the greenhouse attached to the farm stand (enter through the farm stand doors). Face masks are required inside the greenhouse. Please note we do our best to predict what will be available each week, but conditions change and there may be slight variations in what’s available!
Cabbage - red and green storage cabbage. Particularly the green cabbage will keep in the fridge for weeks. I like to save it for no-mayo coleslaw when the salad greens run out!
Salanova Lettuce Mix - Grown in our high tunnel!
Lettuce - the last of our field lettuce and some heads of salanova from our high tunnel that grew too big to harvest as cut lettuce
Potatoes - Russet potatoes from Atlas Farm (certified organic and grown in South Deerfield, MA).
Onions - Red and yellow storage onions from Red Fire Farm (certified organic and grown in Granby and Montague, MA)
Winter squash - Autumn Frost squash, butternut and tetsukabuto. The Autumn Frost skin is edible, so if the ribbing around the outside of the squash makes peeling too daunting, you can cut into wedges and roast on a baking sheet. Flavor-wise, this has become my favorite squash!
Sweet potatoes - The last of the sweet potatoes from our own planting will make their appearance this week! They are mostly extra large and fingerling potatoes. Additional sweet potatoes from Red Fire Farm will be available next week.
Carrots
Leeks
Garlic
Salad turnips
Radishes - Red King 2, KN Bravo (purple), Mini Mak (white), Watermelon. Red king is a new radish this week that, like it’s name suggests, is bright red. It is a mini daikon radish that is sweeter than the KN Bravo. We will also have some watermelon radishes mixed in this week. They are white on the outside with green and red inside. They can be distinguished in the bin by their round shape.
Kale - a mix of the last field kale and first kale harvest from one of our high tunnels.
Peppers - the last of the green and colored peppers rescued from our high tunnel just after an unexpectedly hard frost.
CSA PYO:
Herbs - parsley or sage
The farm store is now closed for the season. The flower field is also finished for the year. Thank you for all your support of the store this season, we look forward to seeing you in 2022!
Sheet-Pan Curry Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes
This recipe is a great way to use smaller sweet potatoes!
By Anna Stockwell, Epicurious September 2018
4 tsp. mild curry powder
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. light brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 (1"-thick) small bone-in pork chops (2 lb. total)
8 small sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.), scrubbed, sliced in half lengthwise. You can also use fingerling sized sweet potatoes and you don’t need to cut at all.
1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 small radishes, thinly sliced
1 cup pomegranate arils (optional - I’ve never had pomegranates available for this recipe and it still tastes great without it!)
Arrange a rack in top third of oven; preheat to 450°F. Stir curry, pepper, brown sugar, and 2 tsp. salt in a small bowl. Rub an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet with oil. Sprinkle pork chops and potatoes with spice mixture on prepared pan to evenly coat, then arrange in an even layer with potatoes cut side down. Roast until pork is golden brown and cooked through and potatoes are deeply browned on cut sides and fork-tender, about 20 minutes. (The pork might finish cooking before the potatoes do; if so, transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest, then continue roasting the potatoes until done). Meanwhile, whisk yogurt, lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Arrange pork and potatoes on a platter. Top with yogurt sauce, radishes, and pomegranate arils.
Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne Pasta
I post this squash and pasta recipe most years because it never disappoints! I made it with autumn frost squash this year and it was the best batch yet:
From the Whole Foods Market Cookbook by Steve Petusevsky and Whole Foods Market Team Members
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash (or autumn frost!)
1 ½ cups diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 ½ teaspoons)
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1 pound penne pasta
½ cup minced parley
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375F
Peel the butternut squash (a vegetable peeler works best). Using a heavy knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and discard them. Dice the squash into 1 inch cubes (you should have about 4 cups). Place the squash cubes into a large mixing bowl, and add the onion, garlic, red chili flakes, olive oil, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons salt. Toss the ingredients to mix well.
Place the mixture in a large roasting pan, and roast for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. The squash should be firm-tender, not mushy.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is al dente. Darin the pasta, and place it in a large serving bow. Mix in the cooked squash mixture, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.