Week 18

The change in seasons makes me crave different food.  I know I should be grasping onto the veggies I am about to say good bye to, but all I want to fill my belly with is roasted roots and soups.  I breath a sigh of relief when August is over, but our lives really don't change much until this time of year.  We shifted the start time forward a half and hour and I look forward to an extra half hour of sleep each night this week.  In a couple more weeks and we will have days with no crew and we will start working in earnest on some projects around the house, many of which are farm related, but still it gives our days a much different feel.  Just as spring fills me with hope, fall makes me reflective.  In summer I don't hope, I don't reflect, I just put my head down and go.  Winter, I don't know what winter does.  I guess in the beginning I reflect and at the end I hope and in the middle I just wish it wasn't winter!  This week I have been thinking a lot about the changes that need to happen to make next year better.  I signed up to go to women in farming conference at the end of November and I hope it inspires me and gives me some good ideas.

The farm share season is winding down.  I will try to touch base with all of your this week to make sure we are on the same page about whether or not you skipped a week.  For some of you next week will be the grand finale.  Those of you who skipped a week will have two more weeks after this week.

We decided to go with celery root, also known as celeriac this week.  Next week we will dig our first parsnips!

We had a little surprise this morning.  Our missing hen appeared with eight chicks.  This is the third time we have had fall chicks.  The rest of the year when a hen goes missing we look for her and usually either find some sign she was killed or occasionally we find her sitting on eggs and take them away from her.  However in late summer when a chicken goes missing we usually just think about looking for her.  That is what we did with Freckles and as it turns out she was right under our noses sitting on a pile of eggs.

Carrots
Golden Beets - milder than the purple ones but just as sweet
Lettuce
Herb Choice
Celery Root - leaves can be used in stock.  We like to mash it, often with potatoes.  It also adds some nice flavor to soups both in chunks in a broth or in a pureed soup.  Ian, who many of you see on Wednesday, loves it roasted with parsnips.
Radish
Kabocha Squash - green or orange - I like to use kabocha for all my baked goods.  It is also nice in curry or braised.
Spinach - Large Only

Marcus Samuelsson's Thai Chicken and Pumpkin Curry