Week 17

 

full share (above)

medium share

small share

Second to Last Box

Well, members, friends, and hosts, this is nearly it!

We’ve made it almost entirely through another season together, and what a great one it’s been! Fall is really, truly upon us: the squash has been brought in, cleaned, and counted; the onions are stored away for the rest of the year; and the leaves swirl outside in the wind, crunchy and brown, on their way to becoming soil and growing vegetables in the near future.  There will only be one more week of deliveries after this week.

Fajita Time!

Remember last week’s newsletter? The one that wondered if there was going to be a frost during the CSA season or whether the fajita box would make it? Well, that very night, since fate was tempted, we had our first frost! Instead of going to her weekly yoga class Heather picked cases and cases of peppers, until it was to dark too see. We’re so happy we had time to act, since now we can celebrate the fajita box, a beloved Sleepy Root Tradition! Bust out your tortillas–it’s time for fajitas!

Poblano (left) are mildly hot. Sweet peppers (right) are just sweet

Everybody is getting a good amount of sweet peppers, full shares are getting half sweet and half ancho poblano in their bag–the picture above will help you keep them straight!

Speaking of celebrations we want invite all of you to our

Fall Garlic and New Farm Housewarming Potluck!!!

October 24, 2015 

10 am to 5 pm

We’ll be planting a few thousand cloves of garlic at our new farm, hosting tours of the new place, and asking all who are interested to join us in some general clean-up and settling in at the new place. We’ll provide warm drinks and a hearty meal for all of our volunteers! Please RSVP if you’re interested in helping Sleepy Root snuggle in for our first fall on OUR VERY OWN FOREVER FARM!!!!! Even if you aren’t interested in cleaning out old barns or planting garlic (we get it!) we’d love to have all our members swing by and see what the new place is like. Our hacienda es su hacienda!

In the box this week:

• Winter Squash: Butternut
• Turnips: Hinona Kabu
• Onions (2 small, 3 med, 4 full)
• Peppers (1# small, 1.5# med, 2# full–half poblano half sweet for fulls)
• Cilantro
• Kale (small and full)
• Cauliflower or Romanesco (med. only)
• Carrots (1.25# med, 1.5# full)
• Hot Peppers (1 small, 2 med, 2 full)
• Eggplant (full only)

Hinona Kabu Turnip

Wow, we are loving this turnip! At first glance it looks like an incredibly striking carrot, but it is in fact a turnip. Mildly sweet with a pleasing tender texture–if you have not been won over by turnips yet, then you surely will be now. Roast like a carrot with olive oil and salt or try caramelizing with butter, sugar and soy sauce in a saute pan. Or just enjoy raw in a salad or as a fresh snack.

Butternut Squash

Because of all the rain this year, we are having more disease problems with our winter squash than usual. Butternut is particularly prone to a fungus on its skin that looks like a tan patch or white and tan tree rings.  If your’s has this, don’t fret, it is only skin deep, just use as normal. Even if it looks like this:

It looks worse than it is.

See? Use a vegetable peeler to take off the skin or roast the squash and scoop out the meat like normal.

Recipes:

Well, it just wouldn’t be the Fajita Box without some great fajita recipes. Let’s cut to the chase by visiting one of my favorite food bloggers, the Pioneer Woman, and her entry on Beef Fajitas. It’s a bit lengthy, but there’s tons of great photos and she really guides you through the essentials of fajita-making. She covers marination, uses lots of veggies and cilantro, and one of the tastiest meats one can use in a fajita: the skirt steak (although flank steak works really well, too!)

Got some cabbage left over from last week’s box? Great! Use it up (green or red, it doesn’t matter) in this delicious-looking recipe from epicurious for Chicken Fajitas with Crunchy Lime Cabbage and Avocado.

Looking for a fun weekend culinary experience? Make your own tortillas! It’s seriously not that hard, we make them occasionally on the farm and it’s SO worth the effort. Here’s a link to the recipe we use. Enjoy!

Sneak Peek at Next Week:

• Winter Squash
• Celeriac
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Kale