This Week's Vegetable Notes - by Diana Nolden, assistant growing manager

We are two days into autumn and it doesn’t feel like fall at all. I just checked weather boy, the digital weather station that sits on my desk. He tells you the weather based on the clothes he is wearing. Today it is pants and a t-shirt, but with the accessory of a lounge chair and beach ball. Weather boy claims that it is 75 degrees outside, but the chair and ball tell me it is only going to get hotter.

The warmth of season makes it difficult to get that true sense of fall. For me it has always been a time of harvest, having grown up on a farm. The fields of corn and soybeans would begin to yellow and dry. Tractors would trade in their seeders and cultivating equipment for harvesting machinery. And combines, the mammoth of tractors, would emerge from the shadows of sheds to drive through the fields. My uncle owns a combine and is employed by farmers in the area to harvest their crops. I have gotten the opportunity to ride with him while he moves through my dad’s fields. It is strange sitting in the cabin surrounded by glass and watching the corn bend and break as giant tines on the front comb it through. Combines are pretty comfortable now with climate control and radios. My uncles’ also has candy.

I once brought home a friend from college to visit the farm and my uncle happened to be combining the beans. I asked if she wanted a ride and figured she would walk back up to the house after a few trips down the field. Three hours later I walked back to the field they were working in and it was empty of crops as well as the combine, my uncle, and friend. My dad eventually showed up and I said, "Where is Christy?" She was enjoying herself so much she just stayed in the cab as my uncle moved on to the next field. When she finally joined me another hour later she was filled up with knowledge about my entire family. Now when I talk to her she will often ask about my uncle and my cousins who I know she has never met.

Even though I have been doing fall things I am having a hard time getting into the spirit. The corn and soybeans are turning yellow, we are harvesting fall crops here at Angelic Organics, and even some trees have begun to turn different colors. However, the unseasonal warmth is screwing with my internal clock and making me feel like it is still summer. I like the crisp autumn mornings, the lingering smell of burning leaves, apple orchards, and the feel of the earth shifting towards a well deserved rest. Weather boy and I are going to have a talk, he needs to change up his beach attire and get a rake in his hands. I might just have to write to the manufacturer and ask for new graphics.

Please note: this box summary is written the week before you receive your box. It is updated but not all the boxes packed for your delivery day will be exactly the same, although it is likely that all the boxes at your dropsite will be the same. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all your vegetables.

The page numbers listed below refer to cooking tips and recipes in Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables as provided to all shareholders.

COOKING GREENS-pp. 81-94

Helvetican Spinach-See week 12 NL if you missed Bob writes.

Toscano Kale-New York Times recipe for toscano kale

ROOTS

Potatoes-dark red norland, kennebec and/or carola, pp. 289-294

Beets-make sure to use the beet greens! pp. 55-62

BRASSICAS

Kohlrabi-substitute for celeriac in an apple celeriac salad, pp. 201-204

Broccoli-pp. 248-252

Cabbage or Cauliflower-maybe

ALLIUMS-pp. 121-128

Garlic-Can be the main feature, try a garlic soup.

Onion(s)-yellow storage

FRUITING CROPS

Winter Squash-pie pumpkin and a sweet dumpling; pp. 307-315

Peppers-maybe, pp. 215-222

HERBS-pp. 102-120

Lemon Balm or Anise Hyssop-try in baked goods, fruit or vegetable salads, or fish

Cilantro

SALAD GREENS-pp. 136-141

Lettuce-heads of Red Salad Bowl (a red oakleaf), Magenta (a red summer crisp) and/or Two Star (a green leaf)

This last weekend we had our fall open house. It was great weather and the pumpkins were a big hit. I had a good amount of fun at it and I want to thank all those on the crew who brought it together. I especially want to thank Joanne Lenz-Mandt, from our office, who handles so many of the details at the open house thereby enabling me to be more available to what’s going on and less occupied with logistical concerns. Truly, with Joanne here, Open Houses are a much more enjoyable event for me. She is very reliable, accountable, and thorough. Still, at the end of the day I am totally wiped out. But now it is Tuesday and I am just about fully recovered.

Thanks also to all shareholders who came out to see the fields, picked out pumpkins and gourds, and partook in the potluck. Hmm, that potluck--we need to figure some way to make it work out better. Those who go through the line earlier get so excited (I know because I’ve done this) and have to take a spoonful of almost each dish because they all look so good. And before we know it our plates are heaped full, with no room for anything else. But then we see our favorite dish and we figure out how to get at least a taste’s worth onto our plate. The food is great! But then, we don’t even realize it, the overall quantity of food gets depleted rapidly. I know, because I’ve been to over 20 open houses. They are among the best potlucks I’ve ever been to. But at the open houses where I’ve gone through the food lines later, what’s left can be sparse--late eaters can then only imagine what the empty dishes looked and tasted like. We’ll have to figure something out for the future. We already say that people should bring enough for 10 people but maybe we should have people double or triple the quantity of food that their family would normally eat at a an entire meal. We’ll see, but I am sorry for those who went on a late hayride with me and then returned to an almost empty food line. Hopefully, it’ll be better next year.

Another thing I wonder about is: how many people don’t read the newsletter or other correspondence from the farm? how many people don’t even know that the open house just occurred? (I am guessing that if you are reading this far, you are not usually in this group.) Personally, I know that I don’t keep up with my emails, regular mail, phone calls, to do’s, etc. I might only get to 10% of what comes at me. In any case, in a future newsletter I will explore this more. In the meantime, please enjoy the reverse/following page from our partner non-profit, Angelic Organics Learning Center, about some of their latest activities.

Coming Soon...Rutabaga, Daikon Radish, Carrots, Cabbage