Nothing says Autumn like a truckload full of harvested winter squash! Asinete, Tione and I and a helper spent Sunday hauling in the winter squash from out in the field. We knew the rain was coming and wanted to get the squash in while they were dry. We will have five varieties to share with you in the coming weeks.. butternut, green acorn, Cha Cha (a green Kabocha variety), delicata and Red Kuri. If you are new to the winter squash world you are in for a treat! Winter squash are sweet, chock full of nutrients and cook up wonderfully in pies and many other dishes (also while they are sitting on your counter waiting to be used they add quite a festive flair!) You can see Asinete above doing his best Jack 'O Lantern face!
The first fall rains on the farm are welcome as they give all the crops a good drenching.. doing a much more thorough job than we do with our irrigation system. The rain is not good for the berries however.. it makes them wet, soggy and quick to spoil so please enjoy your berries quickly!
We spent another part of Sunday erecting a large carport to store our tractor implements under this winter. This year we have invested in our new Kubota tractor along with the costly implements of a new rototiller and flail mower.
In the next coming weeks we will be cleaning up the farm.. tilling in old crops and starting to plant out our cover crops which will arrive this week (all 350 pounds of them!) We will need to make the tough call about when to call it quits on the strawberry patch and till them in before the ground is too muddy to work. The strawberries you have been enjoying this year are now in their second year which is their last year. As the years progress the berries produce less and less, are smaller and not as sweet. This coming Spring we will replant 2,000 new strawberry crowns and will be rewarded soon after with large, sweet berries!
The last big planting we will do this Fall is planting out our garlic. We would love to have some help planting out the cloves. We will be planting it out on Sunday October 16th from 1-4 pm. There will be snacks provided! Please let us know if you can make it out even if just for an hour.
Enjoy the tastes of Fall!
Suzie, Asinete, Tione, M.A, Sally, Violet & Grandma GG
Harvest This Week Includes:
Beets
Red Meat Radish *also called watermelon radish.. cut them open and see why!
Sweet Corn (please excuse the corn ear worm at the top. The tip of the corn is all they should be living in.. simply cut off the tip and eat!)
Strawberries OR Raspberries
Boothby Blonde Cucumbers ( a crunchy, sweet, heirloom gherkin from Maine)
Basil
Tomatoes (large ones only this week.. the rain made all the cherry toms split open)
Sweet Peppers (some are ugly we know. These have been sunburned. Just cut away that part and eat the rest.. they are still good!)
Shallot
Yellow Copra Storage Onions
French Fingerling Potatoes (look at the beautiful blush inside when you cut it!)
Watermelon (finally!) Instead of eating cold out in the warm sunshine you may have to eat huddled up by your wood stove!) Eat it and relive the long days of summer :)
Recipe Ideas
Beet Risotto with Purple Greens
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 small spring onion bulbs, chopped
1 spring garlic stem, or 4 garlic chives, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 medium beets, peeled and grated
3 cups of greens – use the beet greens, and if you need to make up the difference, you can add chard, kale or spinach.
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
Zest and juice of one lemon
Bring stock to a simmer on the stove. In another large, wide-bottomed stock pot, heat the butter and olive oil, then add the onion and garlic and cook on medium heat until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the rice, stir to coat it, and cook for 1 minute.
Add red wine, stir, and simmer until it is absorbed. Stir in the parsley, basil, and beets, plus some salt and pepper to taste. Combine well, then add 2 cups of the stock, cover and cook at an energetic simmer until the liquid is absorbed.
Begin adding the remaining stock at 1/2 cup increments, stirring constantly until each addition has been absorbed. When you have a half cup left, add the chopped beet greens. When the last ½ cup is absorbed, stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt and pepper, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Watermelon Radish
This gorgeous root crop, also called red meat or red heart radish, is
less spicy than other radishes. It is great sliced thin or grated raw into
salads, roasted with olive oil and herbs or butter and brown sugar, or
sliced or diced into a stir fry or soup. Red heart radish slices are great
chip or cracker substitutes to use with hummus and other dips, and
make great edible garnishes for any dish. The tops can also be sautéed
like any other green.
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