Week 19

 I am sure that if you have learned nothing else about me, you have figured out that food runs my life.  What I eat, how I prepare it and who I share it with mean so much to me.  This carries over into our farm.  I feel so appreciative that you trust us enough to grow food for you and your families.  I hope you all enjoyed the vegetables we packed for you each week.  When you pull something out of your box and admire it or comment on how you are looking forward to eating it, it thrills me.  Honestly, it provides both Kelly and I with so much satisfaction.  We would still love farming without that part, but it makes the hard days easier to swallow and the good days better.   

As most of you know, this is our last year at Shincke Road and while we do know we will still be farming and selling vegetables next year we don't know exactly what it will look like.  The farm share is one of the big question marks.  Having you pick up the farm has been convenient for us, but it has also just felt much more personal than stashing a bunch of boxes on a porch.  Personally handing you your vegetable has been more satisfying than I think either of us realized when we chose to only have on farm pick-up.   However, change is inevitable and not necessarily bad.  We will keep you posted on our decision and welcome your input if you have ideas about the future of the farm share.  

Thank you all so much for supporting local agriculture.  Every year has its challenges and you may not realize it, but you have weathered them us and helped make our farm a success.  

I am including a few squash recipes.  We have hosted a farmer squash potluck a couple times where everyone brings a dish with winter squash in it.  Farmer potlucks, particularly those held in the slow season, always have great food.  Among my favorites are the empanadas I made last year.  The recipe, which I can't find in its entirety on the Internet, was from a vegan cookbook called Vedge.  I have a favorite empanada dough that isn't vegan so I used that.  The sauce, a green romesco  will make you a fan of green peppers.  The filling uses about one and a half pounds of cubed butternut, tossed with oil, salt, pepper and a half teaspoon or so (I like both of those spices a lot and used a little more) of both ground cumin and coriander.  Roast at 400 degrees until tender and then mash while still warm.  Let it cool and then fill your empanadas.   I have experimented with vegetarian dumplings and pot stickers over the years and these winter squash dumplings are the best I have had.  I like to fry food when people come over and  pakoras are usually a hit.  While it isn't a traditional choice, they are fantastic with very small pieces of delicata and kale.  Other delicious dishes I don't have the recipes for include some black bean and squash enchiladas, some cheese, squash gougres and squash gnocchi which were bit heavier than potato ones but still yummy.  Just cooking a squash and eating it with some butter is fantastic but if you feel like doing something different, there are a lot of options out there.  

Head Lettuce - Small Share
Baby Lettuces - Large Share
Russet Potatoes 
Daikon Radish - We are planning to leave the greens on these because for once we can.   Usually we see horrible aphids on them and it was a pleasant surprise to lift the cover and not see aphids.  
Cherry Tomatoes - Just a half pint for fun...field cherries are not usually a thing this time of year.  
Yellow Onion - These should keep really well.  If you still have a sweet onion that we gave you, use that first, its days are numbered.  
Butternut Squash
Kale