Daikon radishes are drying in the sun after having the mud sprayed off them! These store wonderfully for ages in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and can simply be sliced and thrown on top of a salad, rice, or ramen bowl to add some crunch and a little spice.
This Week’s Share:
Daikon Radishes
Delicata or Pie Pumpkins
Mixed Salad Greens
Tomatoes or Peppers
Hakurei Turnips
Cabbages
Onions
Recipe:
Pumpkin Soup
Here’s another idea for your cute little pumpkins, for those who are not into baking! (Or decorating your house). Smooth and creamy pumpkin soup is easy and yummy and perfect for the upcoming chilly weather. My house is not a soup household so we will be adding chickpeas and making it a spicy pumpkin curry. Go wild!
Notes from the Field
Rockstar volunteer Tatsuko is perched atop the truck covered in bins stacked high with 1,027 pounds of cabbages harvested this morning! These are coming to you in the shares this week and are perfect for everything from cole slaw to warm soups to cabbage pancakes. We are in major bulk harvest mode right now! Luckily we completed harvesting all the winter squashes, but sweet potatoes, storage turnips and radishes and rutabagas, and storage cabbages are all starting to be ready at once. The race is on to get everything harvested before it’s damaged by frost, or split from absorbing too much rain at once!
Only four weeks remain in the season and still no frost in the forecast just yet. Though it has been wet, last week we managed to catch a dry window and pull up a good number of sweet potatoes to start their next stage in the curing room. Later this week we will move on to harvesting the next batch.
The concurrent task is clearing tomato fields and pulling posts to prepare for another round of cover crops. The goal is to establish as much ground cover as possible before winter. The more time these plants have to develop roots the better they will hold onto that soil we value so much.
Cover crops remain one of our strongest tools for soil health. They help prevent erosion, suppress weeds, break disease and pest cycles, and add biomass to feed the fields that feed us. By giving back to the land we help it retain the nutrients that nourish our food.
By the start of next month we’ll also finish up planting for the Winter CSA. The first wave of broccolini, lettuce, chard, and fennel has already been planted in the unheated high tunnels so they can size up before daylight hours shorten too much. Next comes herbs, kale, collards, turnips, and tons of salad greens.
While winter slows plant growth it also enhances flavor. A winter carrot or even a small bunch of herbs has a sweetness that is unmatched by spring or fall crops. If you have never experienced winter grown food, it is truly a treat and one we highly recommend.
Coming soon…butternut squash! These beauties were harvested from the field last week and are curing in the greenhouse. While we move through the end of the delicata and pie pumpkins this week, these will be ready to go next week. We’ll also hold about half for winter CSA shares!
WINTER CSA ON SALE
Keep your supply of Organic veggies going through the winter- be sure to sign up ASAP. Current members save $15 at checkout!
Winter veg items include kale, collards, chard, lettuce, bok choi, arugula, salad greens, spinach, turnips, radishes, sweet potatoes, herbs, butternut, carrots, daikons, kohlrabi, and sometimes onions, garlic, cabbage, and broccoli.
Bi-weekly on-farm pickup, every other Saturday 12-2pm, starting December 5 and ending March 20.
Flexible scheduling: fill out the easy Share Request Form ahead of time to let us know when you need to skip a week, double up, or need us to leave your share packed in the cooler for you to get after the pick-up window!
New this year! We will have a pickup location at the CBF headquarters in Annapolis! Annapolis pick-up is the same bi-weekly Saturdays, 10am-12pm.
What’s on U-Pick?
Sweet Peppers, Poblanos, and Shishitos are now on U-Pick!
Signs in the field directly beside the 3 high tunnels point to directly where the peppers are. Sweet peppers are best when fully ripe (all red, orange, or yellow, with no green left). Shishitos can be picked either green or red, and poblanos can be green or brown; all ripeness levels for them are good to eat. Enjoy!
In field “F”, through the gate, below the primary parking lot:
Sunflowers and zinnias are blooming! Get them before they’re gone!
In field “G” behind the pizza oven/parking lot:
Holy basil (for tea), parsley, and dill!
Hot chili peppers: jalapenos, lemon jalapenos, buena mulata (purple) and red flame cayennes, sugar rush peach, fruity habaneros, red and green serranoes, and a few sweet red pimento peppers.
Lots of zinnias and gomphrena still for your bouquets!
In the raised brick beds, also known as the Cleeland Garden:
These are still going strong so help yourself to a few stems of herbs and flowers:
Marigolds
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Greek Basil
Sorrel
Thyme, Sage, and Lemon Balm (to allow for healthy growback for these plants, pick the largest leaves from the outside, do not cut from the stem of the plant!)
Reminder that U-picking hours are Monday-Saturday, 8am-6pm. Please do not come to the farm on Sundays, as we do not have staff on site who can be available in case of an emergency. If the main gates are closed when you arrive you can follow the paved road to the right, and then follow the curve of the road back to the left. This will take you in a loop around the main deer-fenced area and up to the wash station/parking lot.
Our stock of beef and lamb is low but will be replenished soon! All cuts of our grass-finished, dry-aged beef will be back in the store by early November. Lamb cuts will be back from the butcher in mid-December and can be purchased during our Winter CSA pick-ups on Saturdays, or ordered online ahead of time. In the meantime, enjoy the sale on ground beef- $10 per pound, plus save 5% when you buy 5 pounds, or save 10% when you buy 10 pounds.