full share
medium share
small share
What mild beautiful weather we’ve been having. Fall is here! Along with it, some fall staples are starting to show up the boxes this week. We’ve been doing walks through the squash patch to see how good the crop is and have started harvesting some varieties. The squash looks great! Our “giant” pumpkins won’t win the fair, but they’re nice enough to show off on the front porch, and they’re sure fun to see out in the middle of the fields!
a lot of acorn squash
from left to right: carnival, sweet reba, sweet dumpling
harvesting acorn style squash into a pallet box
Little bean picker
Whats in the Box
- Radish-1 bunch for all share sizes
- Winter Squash-1 each for all share sizes
- Hot Peppers-1 each for all share sizes
- Potatoes-2 lb for small shares, 2.5 lb for medium and 3 lb for full shares
- Romano Beans-1# for small shares, 1.25# for medium shares and 1.5# for full shares
- Eggplant-1 for medium and full shares
- Peppers-2 each for medium and full shares
- Parsley-1 bunch for medium and full shares
- Brussels Sprouts tops-about 6 each for full shares
Beans of the Week
Dragon’s Tongue on the left (not to be confused with Tongue of Fire Shelling bean from last week) and Yellow Romano on the right. Both are similar in taste and size and many members will receive a mix of the two varieties. They are excellent raw or cooked. The purple striping of Dragon’s Tongue fades away when cooked.
Brussel Sprout Tops
It’s an old gardening trick to cut off the top of brussels sprouts plants at the beginning of fall, sending a signal to the plant to fill out its existing sprouts instead of growing taller. We thought members would enjoy getting these delicious tops–which are usually discarded– as a green in their box this week. The stems are soft and sweet, and the leaves have a familiar broccoli/mustard spice to them (they are part of the broccoli/mustard family after all). Use them like you might collard greens or a pac choi. Here’s a nice recipe from Saveur for an elegant saute.
Recipes
Winter Squash-what a welcome addition to fall foods! Squash is super tasty, very healthy, and one of the most versatile vegetables we have. The varieties in this week’s box also have completely edible skins. No need to peel! We are thrilled to begin cooking with it. For the inaugural squash week, we’re looking to some favorites that we’ve had to wait all summer to eat: This Miso-Curry Delicata Squash is this week’s winner, hands down. It uses the squash, potatoes and herbs that came in your box, and the unusual but delightful dressing will have you considering serving it on your holiday tables. Stuffed Delicata Squash will work well for all the varieties going out this week, whether they’re delicata, acorn, or carnival. You can easily sub walnuts or other nuts for the beef if you want to keep things meatless. Another great squash recipe for this week’s offerings is the Delicata Squash with Orange and Pistachio.
Potatoes-Our good friend Mike grew these Yukon-type potatoes for us, and we love them! If the weather stays cool as forecasted, a simple creamy potato soup like this one would be heavenly. We made a potato, parsley and pepper hash with fried eggs on top for dinner on Monday night-pretty awesome! Here’s a nice video tutorial from a cheery young Italian-American. If you want a lovely written recipe, go here.
Romano Beans-I found a video of Jose Pizarro himself teaching my favorite Romano Bean recipe!!!!! Here it is, and I hope you give it a try.
Next week’s sneak peek:
- Winter Squash-probably the crowd favorite, butternut
- Winter Greens
- Sweet Italian Frying Peppers
- Beets
All the best from all of us,
Heather, Brandon, Maybelle, Frank, Janice, Nooney, the three kitties, and the whole darn crew!
sleepy root farm 