PICK-LIST

SWEET POTATOES - KALE - LETTUCE - CURLY PARSLEY - DELICATA WINTER SQUASH - BROCCOLI - SAVOY CABBAGE - ORNAMENTAL CORN - FENNEL - BOK CHOY - ROMANESCO - RED POTATOES

Ok, now is the time of year where my emotions can really get the best of me and I become very sentimental. This week, the better half of our field crew heads home to Jamaica, and it always makes me a little weepy. Roy, Strong, Ramone, Jasper, and Garnet begin to work with us seasonally starting in May. Their arrival in the Spring marks the beginning of our full bore growing season. Together, we plant, weed, pick, and pack, clean, etc… truly embracing the adage, many hands make light work. And if I knew an old adage about life is better working with people you love, trust, and laugh with, I’d use it here too.

For me personally, this crew makes it possible to farm and parent at the same time. Both the fields and the kiddos demand love and attention. So while Roy, Strong, Ramone, Jasper, and Garnet tend more towards tasks that go into raising good crops, Ray and I (and full disclosure, Grannie Annie (Anne Sprague)) tend more towards the tasks that go into raising (good?) kids.

Also, if you don’t already know, Roy Mitchell in particular, is key in the success of our CSA. He shows up every single Wednesday to assist in the CSA box pack-out. We work together from the start of CSA harvest on Monday to pick-up on Wednesday. After working together for the past 12 years we’ve got our systems in place with potentially too many jokes thrown in along the way. Later today, Roy and I will pack his last CSA box for the year with our Wednesday radio station of choice (97.5 fm) to carry us through.

But it’s mid-November now, and the temps have certainly dropped! By Thursday night these guys will be back in the tropics quarantining until they can step foot into their own homes and reunite with their own families- giving hugs, eating good goat curry and catching up on life. Of course traveling during this time (hello pandemic) feels completely complicated and nothing is without risk, but we are taking all the precautions that we can on our end to get them back home safely. If all goes well- and I have to believe it will- the next 5 or 6 months will move swiftly through winter, into the next growing season and we will all be back in the fields in no time, planting onions, catching up, snacking on donuts, and preparing for the 2021 harvest season.

LASTLY BEFORE WE GET INTO RECIPES, HOT TIPS, ETC….

The final CSA pick up is next week on TUESDAY (this timing should allow for proper Thanksgiving meal prep for all)

HOT TIPS:

KALE SALAD WITH ROASTED SQUASH AND FENNEL

FROM START SIMPLE

The dressing - a mix of maple syrup, lemon juice, and olive oil, plus an optional jolt of ginger- could make anything taste good, and the salad, with its autumnal profile, works just as well in holiday menus as it does in packed weekday lunches… Add some crumbled feta if you’d like a tangy creamy element.

2 cups winter squash cut into bite size pieces

1 to 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup or honey

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 teaspoons finely grated ginger (optional)

Salt & pepper

1 small fennel, cored

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 large bunch of kale (stemmed and torn into bite size pieces

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425. Spread the squash on a baking sheet, then toss with 1 ½ tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool.

Whisk together the remaining1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon juice, maple syrup or honey, and ginger, if using, in a serving bowl. Cut the fennel into thinnest-possible shavings, preferable using a mandoline or, if not, a very sharp knife. Add the fennel and squash to the bowl with the dressing and stir to coat. Let stand for about 5 minutes, which will soften up the fennel, then add the kale and toss with your hands. Top with cheese if using.

BAKED SWEET POTATO CHIPS

FROM START SIMPLE

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Zest of 1 lime

Preheat the oven to 425.

Using a mandoline, or if you don’t have one, a chef’s knife, slice the sweet potatoes into rounds about ¼ inch thick. Place in a large bowl, add the oil, and stir to coat evenly. Arrange on a baking sheet in the best single layer you can manage, then transfer to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Stir and flip, then return to the overn and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until most of the chips are crisp and browned (some take on some black spots; thats fine!). Watch carefully towards the end, as they darken quickly.

In a small bowl, mix together the salt and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle over the sweet potatoes chips and zest lime over everything. Serve while they’re still warm. These are best when eaten within a few hours.

roasted broccoli/romanesco

FROM START SIMPLE

JENNY’S NOTE: I don’t know why it took me so long in life to cook broccoli in the oven (vs. steaming). I feel like I’ve been shown the light, and I am so excited to grow old and spend the next 37 years (more? less?) roasting broccoli. It’s Perfect.

Broccoli/Romanesco

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

Salt

Preheat the oven to 400*

Working close to the stem, cut or snap off large bunches of florets of broccoli or romanesco. Depending on their size, halve or quarter them so that you’ve got a flat surface or two. For the broccoli, use a vegetable peeler or baring knife to remove the thick fibrous skin around the stem, then cut the peeled stem into pieces the same thickness as the florets.

Divide the vegetable between the two baking sheets, then drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Toss to evenly coat, then transfer to the oven and roast until tender and caramelized in parts, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring and rotating the pans once halfway through.

Jenny’s note on start simple by lukas volger:

I can not stress enough how helpful this book has been when it comes to easy GOOD meals. And it highlights all the food that we tend to have so much of this time of year: squash, sweet potatoes, kale, and cabbage. This would be a great addition to your cookbook collection to get you through the year. Nope this is not a paid advertisement- I'm just a lover of this book and it complements a CSA season all too well. I also feel the same way about TENDER by Nigel Slater. If anyone needs any more cook recs, reach out, apparently I’ve just deemed myself an expert.

BOK CHOY:

I am a forever lover of this crisp asian green. Goes great in stir fries, soups, salads, etc..

LETTUCE:

You might come across some browning on the bottom (it was picked on Saturday due to cold nights ahead). This lettuce will continue to stay fresh for a while, just cut back the bottom butt and outer leaves if need be.