Beets
Fennel
Escarole or Frisee
Black Twig Apples
Lacinato Kale or Broccoli Raab
Maules Red Hot or Leutschauer Paprika
Peppers
Garlic
Dill

We are excited for this week’s share as it includes some very special items, perfect for cooking with our current fall like weather. On the farm we have 3 very old apple trees, two Black Twig and one Arkansas Black.  We have been very sporadic in our management and care of these trees, although we annually mulch the ground around their trunks and every few years we do emergency pruning. Our yields from these trees is equally as sporadic; but this year we had a really good harvest and utilized our September CSA workday to get them sorted and packed away in our cooler for storage. For the first time in years we are able to include a few Black Twig apples in each CSA share. Black Twig apples originated in Tennessee around 1833, maybe being a seedling from Winesap and closely related to Arkansas Black. They have firm yellow flesh and a concentrated tart flavor, sometimes we describe as – similar to a jolly rancher, intensely sweet and tart. Our apples have a lot of exterior damage and some interior damage; but what can be eaten is so delicious and will standout even in small amounts. Think about eating them with your favorite cheese, grated in a salad, or even paired with pork or something very salty.  This week’s CSA sees the return of some favorites; dill, fennel, and escarole (some people may get Frisee, as the deer are doing their best to damage the escarole). Everyone will get Broccoli Raab, this week or next. This green is almost always perfect when sautéed with garlic, anchovy, and red pepper. Either the Maules red hot or Leutschauer paprika would be perfect in this mix. Mince part of a pepper and add to the pan with the garlic, the mild heat will not disappoint when paired with bitter greens.  Fall is truly here, so get cooking and enjoy the share……Autumn and Brian

What is Broccoli Rabe? (And How Should You Cook It?)

Sausage, Fennel, and Broccoli Rabe Sheet Pan Dinner (Use Kale as a substitute)

Winter Salad of Beets, Fennel, and Apples, with Stilton and Maple-Candied Pecans

Barley Soup with Greens, Fennel, Lemon, and Dill

Escarole and Fresh Herb Salad with Apples and Pomegranates

Escarole And White Bean Salad With Fennel And Gruyere Cheese

Escarole and Rice Soup – The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
1 head escarole (3/4-1 lb)
2 TBL finely chopped yellow onion
¼ cup butter
Salt
3 ½ homemade meat broth or 1 cup canned chicken soup mixed with 2 ½ cups water
½ cup rice preferably Arborio
3 TBL fresh grated parmesan
Detach escarole leaves discard any that are bruised and wash the rest in multiple waters until clean. Cut into ½ inch wide stripes In stockpot sauté onion in butter over medium heat until nicely browned. Add escarole and a light sprinkling of salt. Briefly sauté the escarole, stirring once to twice. Add ½ cup of broth and cook over very low heat until escarole is tender (25-45 depending on freshness and tenderness). When escarole is tender add rest of broth, raise heat and bring to a boil. Add rice and cover. Cook rice 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until just al dente, firm to the bite. Off the heat, mix in the Parmesan cheese. Taste and correct for salt, spoon onto plates and enjoy.

Arugula
Butterhead Lettuce
Highlander Onions
Miyashige Daikon & Kn Bravo Radishes
Japanese Red or Southern Green Mustards
Asian Long & Thai Round Eggplant
Koginut Winter Squash
Celebrity Tomatoes
Cilantro

Tomato & Egg Stir-Fry with Sauteed Mustard Greens

Mustard Green Masala

Eggplant & Tomato Masala With Chickpeas

Thai Red Curry Eggplant and Mustard Greens

Sesame-Ginger Daikon Noodle Soup with Bok Choy, Snow Peas and Shiitake Mushrooms

Pickled Radish

Meet the New Squash In Town: Robin’s Koginut

Silky Coconut-Pumpkin Soup – Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffery Alford & Naomi Duguid
3-4 Shallots unpeeled
1 1/2 lbs of Pumpkin or Squash
2 cups canned Coconut milk
2 cups Pork or Chicken Broth
1 cup loosely packed Cilantro
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Tbls. Thai fish sauce
Generous grindings of Black Pepper
¼ cup minced Scallions
In a skillet or on a grill, dry roast the unpeeled shallots until softened and blackened. Peel, cut lengthwise and set aside. Peel the pumpkin and clean off any seeds. Cut into ½-inch cubes. You should have 41/2 – 5 cups cubed pumpkin. Place the coconut milk, broth, pumpkin cubes, shallots, and coriander leaves in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the salt and simmer over medium heat until the pumpkin is tender, about 10 minutes. **Stir in fish sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste for salt and add a little more fish sauce if you wish. (The soup can be served immediately, but has even more flavor if left to stand for up to an hour.  Reheat just before serving.) Serve from a large soup bowl or in individual bowls. Grind black pepper over generously, and, if you wish, garnish with a sprinkling of minced scallion greens. Leftovers freeze very well.
**At this point you can strain out about 1/3-1/2 the pumpkin cubes and blend just for a few seconds, return to the pot and the soup will have a slightly more creamy and emulsified texture.

Frisee
Lettuce Mix
Romano Beans
Sweet, Seyrek, & Cubanelle Peppers
Eggplant Mix
Swiss Chard
Garlic
Basil

Dijon Vinaigrette with Frisée, Artichoke & Pepper Salad

One-Pot Garlicky Chard With Chickpeas

Burrata with Romano Beans and Roasted Eggplant

Haricots Verts with Frisée and Bacon

Eggplant and Chard Rollatini in Basil Cream Sauce

Bibb Lettuce
Collard Greens
Verona or Celebrity Tomatoes
Anaheim & Poblano Peppers
Jalapeno or Serrano Peppers
Goldrush Russet Potatoes
Red Candy Onions
Cilantro
extra – Beets

Last Sunday we had our third CSA work share workday of the season. The weather forecast was looking very dismal with a lot of rain; but we needed to move forward and get some cleanup done on the farm. Everyone showed up game to get wet and muddy and then we got amazing weather (albeit very sticky and humid) and it didn’t rain until the last 15minutes when we were picking apples off our ancient old southern variety trees. It was such a productive day. We cleared our outdoor tomato crops to make room for our overwintered low tunnel beds. We will begin transplanting purple sprouting broccoli, purple overwintered cauliflower, and our orchieada and grumolo chicories into these beds next week, a quick turn around. Clearing these beds is a bit of a chore; so having a group of enthusiastic workers makes it so much more pleasant. We also finished sorting the last of our potatoes. They have been curing in our basement for 6 weeks (they only need to cure for 2 weeks) and now are stored away into our walk-in. You will get some of these delicious potatoes in your share this week. We also got some neglected high tunnel beds cleaned up and weeded, so they will be ready to plant when we need it. Lastly we had a real apple harvest. Our Black Twig and Arkansas Black trees are very old and this is the first good harvest we have had in years, meaning the CSA will actually get a few in the coming weeks. A good harvest means a few hundred pounds of ugly, delicious, slightly damaged apples. The flavor and texture of old variety apples is so different than the newer apple styles, that sometimes they are a breath of fresh air, even though they have so many imperfections.
This week’s share has more peppers and all the fixings for delicious fresh or oven-roasted salsa. Pairing russet potatoes, poblano or anaheim peppers, and collards together in the same meal is one of our favorites. Get creative with a collard and potato enchiladas or a breakfast hash. Collards can be cooked low and slow or sautéed real quick. They go well with eggs, peppers, onions, cheese, beans, rice, all of it. Enjoy the share…… Autumn and Brian

Homemade Roasted Salsa

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Matt’s Four-Pepper Collards

Potatoes with Roasted Poblano Chiles and Mexican Sour Cream

Russian Kale
Lettuce Head
Shishito Peppers
Khmer Thai Chilies
Salad Turnips or Radishes
Asian Long Beans
Bok Choy
Garlic
extra – Eggplant

Greens and quick roots are growing fast all over the farm. We have had some issues with germination in our cut greens and are beginning to see some deer pressure in the lettuce heads and cooking greens, whatever smells sweetest at the moment they will find; but overall crops are coming along. This week’s share is made for all kinds of stir-fry’s. Bok Choy, shishitos, long beans, and turnips or radishes all do well cooked on their own quickly over high heat doused in some soy sauce, hoisin, or oyster sauce. They also work well together, or with a protein. Our Khmer thai chilies are very hot; but can lend a subtle, floral, heady flavor and aroma when tossed into a stir-fry whole. If you don’t like too much heat, pull it out when done cooking. Both the salad turnips and radishes are also delicious thinly sliced and soaked in salt and rice vinegar. Check the recipes out below and enjoy the share…..Autumn & Brian

Hoisin Eggplant, Prawn and Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Stir-Fried Beef with Bok Choy and Turnips

Stir-Fried Hakurei Turnips With Dried Shrimp, Chiles, Garlic And Lime

Snake Bean and Egg Stir-Fry

Chinese Beans and Bok Choy with Peppered Shrimp

Brown Butter Scallops With Sautéed Kale, Shishitos Over A Bed Of Polenta

Arugula
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Romano Beans
Hakurei Turnips or Radishes
Maules Red Hot Pepper
Assorted Sweet Peppers
Assorted Eggplant
Parsley

Welcome to the Fall 2022 CSA season! The crops are looking good and although we have had some struggles in the last few months (where’s the okra?  Well the deer are still eating it.), most of the late summer crops are very strong with a bumper crop of long beans (deer stopped eating them), loads of tomatoes, and some healthy enormous eggplant and pepper plants. The fall crops are looking pretty healthy even though it has been warm and humid for a lot of the past few months. Compared to last year when we lost tons of our brassicas crops to heat, disease, and pests and had to replant carrots three times, our fall diversity seems in a great place. We still have intense worm and early aphid pressure and with the week of rain a few weeks back the weeds are really trying their best to take hold; but our management up to this point seems to be keeping the crops healthy. This is good news! Before we know it the cooking and eating greens will abound. Chicories, collards, and broccoli raab will get some sweetness from the cold nights and be at perfection and the wide diversity of fall roots will be available. We did lose our parsnip crop again this Spring, so none of that unfortunately; but the winter squash is currently curing, fennel is looking strong, herbs are beginning to grow, our polenta corn looks like it might have a little something that is harvestable and on and on. Point being there should be plenty of food. Thanks for being here for the ride. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn

Turnip And Red Pepper Salad

Italian Green Bean Salad

Burrata with Romano Beans and Roasted Eggplant

Radish and Arugula Salad with Pecorino and Lemon

Pan-Roasted Peppers With Garlic Infused Sauce

Green Beans in Tomato Sauce – The New Book of Middle Eastern Cooking by Claudia Roden
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
½ lb green beans, topped and talied and cut into 2-3 pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
juice of ¼ lemon
Fry the onion in oil till soft and golden. Add the garlic, and when the aroma arises, add the tomatoes and beans. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, add water as necessary to cover the beans, and lemon juice, simmering 15-20 minutes, or until the beans are tender and the sauce reduced a little.

Eggplant in a Spicy Honey Sauce –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
The sauce is a splendid example of the hot, spicy, and sweet combinations; which are a thrilling feature of North African cooking. Serve it cold with bread.
2 medium-large eggplants
olive oil
salt
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated, or cut into pieces
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
large pinch cayenne or ground chili pepper, to taste
4-6 Tbls honey
juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup water
Cut the eggplants into rounds about 1/3” thick. Do not peel them. Dip them in olive oil, turning them over, and cook on a griddle or under a broiler, turning them over once, until they are lightly browned. They do not need to be soft, as they will cook further in the sauce. In a wide saucepan or skillet, fry the garlic in 2 Tbls of the oil for seconds only, stirring, then take off the heat. Add the ginger, cumin, and cayenne or gorund chili pepper, honey, lemon juice, and water. Put in the eggplant slices and cook over low heat –either in batches, so they are in one layer, or together, rearranging them so that each slice gets some time in the sauce –for about 10 minutes, or until the slices are soft and have absorbed the sauce. Add a little water if necessary.

Arugula
Long Bean
Cucumber
Asian Eggplant
Shishito Peppers
Khmer Thai Chile
Yellow Onion
Tomatoes
Thai Basil
Shiso (Perilla)

We have arrived at the final week for our 2022 Spring/Summer CSA share.  Looking back at journal entries from the same time in past seasons, there are some strong similarities from year to year. We seem to struggle a bit in late August, partially because we are exhausted; but mostly because there is a significant seasonal shift. Most Summer crops are taking a little breather after an undoubtedly hot July, so our yields seem low and weather/pest dependent some crops are petering out or done. Although we are in the thick of it with planting for Fall and through the Winter, we are still two weeks away from early Fall crops being harvestable. Every year this “lull” brings on a little stress, this year that is magnified by deer ravaged okra (it will come folks just very late) among a handful of other stressful crops. The point though is that it is partially just the way it goes with our Virginia growing climate, so we should really just embrace it. Sounds like it is about time for a little break and then we can welcome in some new crops with the start of our Fall season while still enjoying the summer ones.
This week’s share is made up of some of our favorite crops and we have included recipes we have given out year after year; because we make them ourselves quite regularly and absolutely love them. The Pok Pok cucumber salad is a staple at the farm and can be improvised or shifted quite a bit and still is always delicious. We make salad rolls at crew lunch at least a few times a year. A favorite way to eat the self starting perilla we find all over our farm. Wanting something sweet, try the Shiso Granita, it is subtle and refreshing, Thanks so much for joining us this season, enjoy the share…..Autumn & Brian

Long Bean Salad

Tam Taeng Kwaa (Thai Cucumber Salad) –Pok Pok by Andy Ricker

Eggplant and Chili Garlic Pork Stir-Fry
Use a thai chili to replace the chili sauce and serve this dish alongside a simple cucumber vinegar salad and seared shishito peppers.

Japanese Eggplant With Chicken & Thai Basil Japanese Eggplant With Chicken & Thai Basil

Shiso Granita – Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
15 green shiso leaves
¼ cup granulated sugar
Place the shiso leaves in a medium-sized bowl or 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the sugar and 3 cups water to boiling in a medium saucepan, stirring the sugar to dissolve. Pour the boiling sugar water over the leaves and steep until cool. Set a strainer over a plastic container large enough to hold 3 cups and strain out the leaves. Cover and transfer the shiso-flavored sugar water to a freezer shelf. Let sit, undisturbed, in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove to the countertop, open the lid, and gently stir in the crystals that have formed on the perimeter.  Repeat this operation every 30 minutes, breaking up any larger crystals as you go. The finished granita should be flaky.  Serve alone in a glass bowl or goblet. This is also wonderful served alongside Fig Ice Cream and Plum Sorbet. Keeps frozen for several weeks.

Vietnamese Salad Rolls (Gỏi cuốn)
When we make these we let everyone prepare their own and it makes for a really fun meal activity. As the recipe states, you can substitute various herbs’ we particularly like thai basil and shiso together. We will add carrot, cucumber, daikon, long bean, scallion, and sometimes substitute shredded pork or shrimp for tofu. For dipping sauces we use a traditional Nuoc Cham and peanut sauce (recipes below).

Nuoc Cham –Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid
1/4cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup water
2 tsp rice or cider vinegar
1 Tbls sugar
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 bird chile, minces
several shreds of carrot (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Serve in small condiment bowls. Store in a tightly sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (after that, the garlic starts to taste tired).

Vietnamese Peanut Sauce –Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid
¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
2 scant Tbls tamarind pulp, dissolved in 2 Tbls warm water or substitute 2 Tbls tomato paste
2 tsp peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbls fermented soybean paste (tuong in Vietnamese; dao jiao in Thai)
1 cup water
1 ½ tsp sugar
1-2 bird chiles, mminced
Generous squeeze of fresh lime juice
Place the peanuts in a food processor or large mortar and process or pound to a coarse powder; set aside. If using tamarind, press it through a sieve; reserve the liquid and discard the solids. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until it is starting to change color, about 15 seconds. Add the soybean paste and the tamarind or tomato paste and stir to blend. Stir in ½ cup water, then stir in most of the ground peanuts, reserving about 1 Tbls for the garnish. Stir in the sugar and chiles. Add up to ½  cup more water, until you have the desired texture: a thick liquid, pourable but not watery. Serve in small condiment bowls, warm or at room temperature, squeezing on the lime and sprinkling on the reserved peanuts just before serving. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for 1 month. Reheat it in a small pan and simmer briefly before serving.

Nicola Potatoes
Cubanelle & Pimento Peppers
Round & Teardrop Eggplant
Summer Squash
Jalapeno
Garlic
Optional: Genovese Basil

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto

Patatas Bravas

Zesty Jalapeño Pesto Pasta with Zucchini and Corn

Eggplant Sandwiches With Cubanelle Peppers And Baby Arugula

Alice Waters’ Ratatouille

Chicken Cacciatore with Cubanelle Peppers

Caponata from The Kitchen Garden
Lots and lots of olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 head garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chili flakes or fresh hot peppers, to taste
1 pound peppers, cut into large chunks
1 pound eggplant, cut into large chunks
1 or 2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp capers
3 Tbsp chopped Kalamata olive
Few sprigs chopped basil and parsley
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat about 4 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a lid that can go in the oven. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft.  Add the pepper flakes and peppers and sauté over medium heat 5-10 minutes.  Add eggplant and sauté another several minutes. You may want to add more oil to make sure everything is generously anointed.  Add the tomatoes.  Cover the pot and put it in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes.  Everything should be very, very soft.  Season with salt, pepper and the other seasonings.  Adjust sweetness, salt and acidity to taste.  Serve it warm on fresh crusty bread or at room temperature the next day.  Makes a great pasta sauce, too. (The original version contains chunks of celery, too.  If you like celery, you can add it when you add the tomatoes.)

Sugar Baby or Crimson Watermelon
Tomatoes or Tomatillos
Red Candy Onion
Anaheim Peppers
Romano Beans
Serrano Chilies
Crisp Lettuce

Not sure if everyone is as excited as we are that the weather is finally cooling down a smidge. It has been a difficult 10 weeks; with a lot of very humid and hot days, especially mid-week when we have our most active workloads. We are also antsy to begin planting our fall crops. This week if the weather cooperates, we will get all our large cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and bunching green crops in the ground. We will also seed carrots, beets, and herbs. Next week we will follow up with fennel, turnips, rutabaga, winter radishes, and the first chicory transplants. So fall is in the air for us even though we have 6 more weeks of summer.  The past few weeks have been filled with managing greenhouse crops, fending off predatory animals both big and small (harsh summers create very hungry wildlife), and cleaning up/preparing fields for the fall plantings. Our small crew of farm hands has been really productive even though we are all sweating buckets by 10am. It seems to me like one of the hottest feeling summers in our decade here in Virginia. Now as it begins to wain a tiny bit we keep our fingers crossed that our farm will be missed by big destructive storms and that we will get some precipitation but not extremes. This is a big ask but we can hope.
This week’s share finally has more beans. Our first planting was practically a wash and we are happy that the 2^nd succession is finally producing. They are delicious braised, blanched, or even eaten raw. A Romano bean is a flat-podded green bean that comes from Italy. They are meaty, with great flavor and texture. We also are happy to have a quick lettuce showing (this succession in the summer is always a crap shoot), although the heads are small and irregular, they are crisp and tender. They are so delicious as a salad with red onion, feta, and tomatoes or put in your classic blt. This week also includes the 2^nd watermelon for the season these will likely be much smaller and pair so perfectly with our mild and hot peppers. Check the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn

Watermelon Salad With Cotija And Serrano Peppers

Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

Pork Chile Verde

Italian Green Beans Recipe

Salata Horiatiki (Greek Country Salad) –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 head summer crisp lettuce, cut into ribbons
2 large firm ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, peeled, split in half through its length, and cut into thick slices
1 green pepper, cut into thin rings
1 large mild onion, thinly slices, the rings separated
8 oz feta cheese, cut into small squares or broken into coarse pieces
1 dozen or more black Kalamata olives
For the dressing
A good bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
6 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper
Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Just before serving, mix the dressing, pour over the salad, and toss.

Arugula
Chioggia Beets
Summer Squash
Round & Teardrop Eggplant
Italian Sauce Tomatoes
Genovese Basil
Garlic

Lebanese Baked Eggplant With Beef And Pine Nuts

Layered Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Casserole

Shaved Summer Squash Salad

Spaghetti With Fresh Tomato Sauce

Roasted Beet And Avocado Salad With Basil Lime Vinaigrette