Welcome to our Fall CSA season. This year our Fall season is beginning a bit more precariously than we would like. August was brutal with a mix of high temperatures and lots of moisture. Many crops have been hard hit; not decimated but loss of 20-30% making for a stressful situation. On a good note though, we had wonderful harvests of onions, garlic, beets, potatoes and winter squash, so we have some storage crop abundance to fall back on. We are also still reaping the benefits of great summer production and will continue seeing tomatoes, okra, beans and eggplant through much of the fall season. The peppers and chilies as always are just hitting their stride as the days shorten and the nights cool, making for great additions to our weekly shares. To counteract some of the damage and loss in our greens, cabbage, broccoli, fennel and winter roots, we are hoping to do a bit more succession plantings of quick brassica crops such as salad radish and turnips, Asian greens, salad greens, and flowering brassica like things. As most of you know we love love love chicories (radicchio, escarole, frisee, puntarelle) and we are continuing trials of different varieties and their ability to succeed in our extreme weather shifts. This family of heading greens usually thrives in much more mild and temperate environments so getting them going in the fall can be difficult. We are happy to say though that we have a very healthy block of chicories and if we can keep the weeds under control we are looking at some really fun, beautiful, and tasty greens.
This week’s share is great for salads as well as for stews or sautés. A simple green salad with thinly sliced hakurei or radish and sweet peppers tossed in a simple vinaigrette and sprinkled with a salty cheese can be eaten for breakfast or dinner. Eggplant, romano beans, and okra can be cooked together or separate in curries, stewed with fresh tomatoes, or roasted/charred. A sweet pepper/garlic sauce can be used with almost any cuisine and even frozen to bring a taste of summer into the darker months. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn
Charred Romano Beans with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic and Preserved Lemon
Burrata with Romano Beans and Roasted Eggplant
Quick okra, eggplant and turmeric stew