Beautiful winter lettuce coming to your kitchen this week!
This Week’s Share
Garlic
Winter Squash*
Apples*
Kale
Collards/Chard
Baby Bok Choi
Lettuce
Arugula/Spicy Mix
Pick-up will be, Saturday December 16 1:00-3:00 p.m.
All Winter CSA pick-up dates here
*Winter squash from Potomac Vegetable Farms, apples from our donation partner Shabach through West Virginia state surplus
Farm Updates:
Hey everyone from Olivia and Will!
We are looking forward to the second week of the winter shares, and hope you’re excited for some different vegetables this week. It was awesome to harvest all of the greens from outside two weeks ago, and now to see all our indoor crops that have been slowly bulking up over time looking ready to cut.
You’ll see a different variety of bok choi this week; it is naturally smaller and denser, and has a wide green stem instead of a straight white stem. We find it really fun to experience different varieties of the foods we already know and love, it keeps things interesting in the kitchen. There is also so much gorgeous multicolored lettuce this week, so get artistic making a big salad!
Below is a side by side comparison showing the day this tunnel was planted full of seedlings on Halloween, and how it looks today, right before its first harvest!
Outside of the vegetables, we’ve been doing a lot of maintenance and organization - pulling irrigation lines and supplies from fields, organizing and cleaning spaces across the farm, and inventorying supplies. It’s a lot of little tasks that set us up for success in the spring/summer when we need to focus entirely on the growing and harvesting side of farming.
This past week, we woke up to the first dusting of snow on the ground. It wasn’t a lot, but it didn’t melt immediately, and it was the first true test of how cold resilient our mature plants actually are. …
We’re happy to say that all the kale and collards outside were snug up under their row cover, and everything indoors were a little grumpy but cheered back up with some sun later in the day. And the greens seemed even sweeter from it!
Vegetables inside are warm and protected while the snow outside still hasn’t melted.
Butterkin squash pie:
Image from The Spruce/Diana Chistruga
This week you’re taking home Olivia’s favorite ever winter squash, the butterkin, which we sourced from our farmer friends who have been growing over in Vienna, Virginia for almost 60 years.
This squash is a pie pumpkin crossed with a butternut squash. It is round and looks like a short tan pumpkin, but the flesh inside has all the sweetness and firm texture of the best butternut you’ve ever eaten.
You can roast it in the oven with the peel still on and then scoop out the flesh to blend into a soup, vegan mac-n-cheese, or a simple side dish with brown sugar. You can toast the seeds with some spices for a crunch soup topping too. You can peel and cube and caramelize it in the oven to toss with pasta or over rice. OR if you’re ready to get fancy, you can make an amazing alternative to pumpkin pie for whatever holiday meal you might be having this year. Options galore! Recipe above - enjoy!
More Farm Updates
Lamb options are still available but they are selling fast!
Ground beef bundles will last the rest of the year 10 for $70
We are also offering roast bundles that are perfect center pieces to share with families over the holidays
Briskets | Chuck | Rump | London Broil
Please join our meat mailing list to get special meat updates
-Olivia (she/they) and Will (he/him)