Week 24 of 26: Sweet potatoes make an appearance

Have you noticed the tall plants with yellow flowers in some of our fields?  It's called sunn hemp, and we grow it along with sudan grass for a thick, carbon-rich cover crop to feed our soil.  Sunn hemp isn't related to cannabis.  It gets that name because of its strong, fibrous stalks.  It's actually related to peas and beans, and like them, has bacteria on its roots that gather nitrogen from the air and make it usable to plants. This is how we grow our own fertilizer.  

Announcements

• U-picking is still going on for herbs and any flowers you can find around farm (all by wash station, and some extra striped marigolds over by the where the sunflowers were in G2). We have a nice amount of parsley and cilantro, in addition to many of the other herbs we have mentioned in the past. We might have a frost this weekend, so if you're planning to pick any basil, this might be your last chance.

• The deadline to order fresh, Bay-friendly oysters has passed for the Annapolis pick up on October 29th, but you can order oysters now for pick up at the farm on November 14th! There will also be another chance to pick up oysters in Annapolis--just before Thanksgiving on 11/24. Details coming soon.

• We're still selling garlic!
  For CSA members, the prices are $8/lb or a discounted $6/lb for purchases of at least 10 pounds.
  Non-members pay $12/pound or $8/pound for 10 pounds or more.
  If you're purchasing more than 10 pounds for pick up at Dupont or Annapolis, please give us at least one day advanced notice so we can be sure to get it in the van for you.
  All the options are available for on-line purchase now. We do not ship or deliver, except to our CSA pick-ups.

• It is Week 24 which means after this week, we only have 2 more weeks of shares! Your final week of shares is November 11, 12 and 14.

• Don't forget that you cannot take more than 2 shares at a time. We can tell you at the pick-up how many you have remaining to use up.

• We can still use extra help in the fields with harvesting and other field work, any day, Tuesdays through Saturdays. Call 301-627-4662 to sign up.

This week's share

• 2 heads garlic

• 1.25 pounds sweet potatoes (some of them look pretty funny but they're still delicious!)

• 1 daikon radish

• 1 purple-top turnip

• 1 large head bok choi

• 1/2 pound eggplant

• 1.5 pounds peppers (mostly green)

• Choose 6 ounces of greens from a selection of options (including spicy mix and collards)

• Optional: 8 ounces of a mild or hot blend of chilies

Note that sweet potatoes store best with their dirt on.  If you don't find the dust a nuisance, wait until you're ready to cook them before you wash them.

Recipes

• Sweet Potato Oven Fries

  • Ingredients:
    Sweet Potatoes
    Olive Oil
    Coconut oil (optional)
    Salt

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice up however many sweet potatoes you want about a 1/4" wide, for them to be similar thickness, for even cooking. Toss in a bowl, with enough olive oil to coat, and a little salt.
    If you have coconut oil, I like to put a tablespoon or two on a baking sheet and set it in the oven for a minute to melt. Then spread the oil around the pan for a good coating. You could oil the pan with another high heat oil. I think the oil on the bottom gets them to brown better.
    Spread the sweet potatoes across the pan so none are piled on top of each other, and each has good contact with the pan. Cover the pan with tin foil. Put in the oven and bake until sweet potatoes are tender, about a 1/2 hr.
    Then remove the foil, and put the pan back in the oven to brown. Don’t stir, as this will mess up the browning. Scope the fries out periodically as they bake until you get the level of browning you want

• Baked Tofu with Peanut Sauce and Bok Choi from the Washington Post

• Bok Choi Salad

  • Dressing ingredients:

    • 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

    • 1/2 cup sugar

    • 2/3 cup combination olive oil and toasted sesame oil, to your preference

    • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

    • a minced chili

    • If you have a flavor packet with your package of ramen (below), you can use it in place of some of the seasoning in this dressing).

  • Salad ingredients:

    • 1 head bok choi, chopped

    • 1 bunch green onions or chives, chopped (we have chives in the herb garden for u-pick)

    • 1 package ramen noodles

    • 4-8 oz slivered or sliced almonds

    • 1 tablespoon butter

  • Instructions:

    • Mix dressing ingredients and set aside (using a blender will thicken the dressing).

    • Chop bok choi and chives or green onions. Mix with dressing.

    • Crush ramen noodles. Mix with almonds and butter and brown in skillet. Use as a garnish on top of the salad.

    • Serve immediately.

Coming Soon

The forecast for this coming weekend is for a possible frost, so we're busy picking all the remaining peppers and eggplant.  We think we'll have more sweet potatoes, but they will be smaller and skinnier, like fat fingers.  This is the last week for daikon radishes.  We have one more butternut to give everyone, which we're saving for next week.  And we should have bok choi, salad greens, kale, collards, purple top turnips and garlic through to the last week.  


By this time next week election day will have passed!  May we all breathe a sigh of relief when it is over.  
The Clagett Farm Team