CSA Newsletter Week 17

October 15-21, 2023    |    “A” Week

CSA Week 17 Box Contents:

CELERY ROOT ~ To store: Store unwashed celeriac in a plastic bag in the refrigerator where it will keep for 6 months! Celeriac leaves can be dried into an excellent seasoning. To prep: Slice off stalks at the root crown. Soak the root in warm water to loosen dirt, then scrub with a brush. Peel skin with a sharp knife. You may need to remove the core if it appears pithy or hollow. Peeled celeriac will darken when exposed to air. To slow the darkening, toss with lemon juice or soak in water. To use: Use in place of celery as a base for soups or casseroles. Add raw celeriac in grated beet, carrot, or apple salads. Or serve raw celeriac with a creamy dipping sauce.  Combine celeriac with other winter roots in stews and gratins. Add cooked celeriac to mashed potatoes: peel and quarter celeriac, then boil until soft, 20-30 minutes, before mashing it into potatoes.

RAINBOW CARROTS (no tops) ~ Refrigerate these carrots in a plastic bag. You can also store them in a bin of water (like celery) to keep them crisp, changing out the water every few days. To prep: Organic carrots don’t need to be peeled. Boil 2-inch cubed carrots in rapidly boiling salt water, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes.To freeze: Blanch cut coins for 3 minutes in boiling salt water, dunk in cold ice water for 3 minutes, drain, let dry, and pack in airtight container.

AUTUMN FROST WINTER SQUASH (1)  ~ This has a tan skin. Cut open squash. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. Save the seeds to roast. To cook: Steam 1-2 inch chunks for 15-20 minutes. Puree or top with butter and use for your pumpkin pie filling. Or you can boil 1-2 inch chunks in salted water until tender, 8- 10 minutes. Or cut pumpkin in half, scrape out seeds/pulp, and bake cut-side down with 1/2 inch of water in the pan at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Then allow to cool and scrape the flesh out and puree in food processor. Seeds make a great snack too, baked in some olive oil and salt at 350 degrees until browned.  To freeze: Cook squash and mash or puree it. Then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. Pop the frozen cubes into freezer Ziplock bags. From our cousin Steve Turnow at Turnow Ventures.

This is what celery root looks like. Also known as celeriac.

WATERMELON RADISHES (6) ~ Watermelon radishes have a light greenish skin and a bright red interior. They are quite striking when you slice them down the middle — you can see why they look like a watermelon.Store radish roots unwashed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 4 weeks. To prep: Scrub radishes well. Trim off the stem and rootlets. To use: Eat radishes raw with a sprinkle of salt. Grate radishes into slaws and salads. Try small young radish leaves in salads or scrambled eggs. Blanch whole radishes in boiling, salt water for 5-10 minutes, or steam them until just tender, 8-12 minutes. Top with butter, salt, and pepper or with a vinaigrette. They’re also great grilled and pickled.

POBLANO PEPPERS (6) The final peppers of they year. These have a bit of heat! To store: Refrigerate peppers unwashed in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer for 1-2 weeks. To prep: Cut in half and remove the seeds from the inside. Slice, chop or mince. To use: Try roasting peppers over a flame until the skin blackens. Place the pepper inside a plastic bag to cool. Then remove to slide off the skins. To freeze: Wash and dry peppers. Freeze whole or cut into bite-size pieces and place in Ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air as possible.

GREEN CABBAGE ~ To store: Place dry, unwashed cabbage heads in the refrigerator, preferably in the vegetable bin. The outer leaves may eventually get floppy or yellowish, but they can be removed and discarded to reveal fresh inner leaves. Store for up to 3 months! To prep: Rinse the cabbage under cold water before use. Cut cabbage head first into quarters, then diagonally across the wedge. Be sure to remove the stem end and triangular core near the base. To use: Eat raw in salads, steamed, braised or fried. Turn raw cabbage into coleslaw or sauerkraut. Roast cabbage steaks/slices at 400 F drizzled with olive oil and salt. Or try stir-frying shredded cabbage in olive oil until wilted with a little bit of minced garlic. To freeze: Choose how to cut your heads based on your end use. Cook in boiling pot of water for 90 seconds. Douse in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the cabbage and dry as much as possible. Place in Ziplock freezer bags based on your portions you plan to use, and remove as much air as possible. Put in freezer.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH ~ This variety of winter squash has unusual string-like flesh, which looks like spaghetti when scraped out with a fork. They are often baked or boiled and then the mildly sweet flesh is scooped out and topped with spaghetti sauce. To store: Store in a cool, dry, dark place at around 50 degrees, but make sure they do not freeze. To prep: Stand the squash up and slice in half lengthwise around the “belly-button.” Scoop out seeds. To use: To bake, place squash halves facedown on a cookie sheet. Add a 1/2 inch water to the pan to avoid drying out. Bake at 400 degrees. Squash will need about an hour— 90 minutes to cook, depending on size. Cook until tender. Flesh is done when it scoops out easily in spaghetti-like strings with a fork. Serve hot with butter and parmesan cheese or your favorite tomato sauce on top. To freeze: Let the cooked squash cool to near room temperature and then transfer the noodles to Ziplock freezer bags. Store for up to 8 months in freezer.

MINI KALE MIX SALAD ~ To store: Store unwashed lettuce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried with a spinner, place back in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel in the bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Use within 4 days.

Jed and Josiah help Corinna can about 40 quarts of green beans last week.

ADD-ON SHARES, WEEK 17

This is the final week for WEEKLY FRUIT shares.

This is “A” week for biweekly coffee, egg, and flower shares. This is also the final week for Cheese.

Fruit: Ida Red apples, Melrose apples, half gallon apple cider

Maddie & Bella Coffee: Nicaragua Red Catui, caramel, creamy, floral.

Artisan Cheese: Apricot Ginger Chevre from MacKenzie Creamery; Wabash Erie Canal and Black Swamp hard cheese from Canal Junction Farmstead

Knueven Ice Cream: Apple Crisp

HOW TO RENEW YOUR CSA MEMBERSHIP

Registration for 2024 CSA opens Sunday, October 15, at 7 AM and runs through October 23rd at 10 PM.

You’ll go to a SPECIAL online store link. This link will be emailed to you. Be sure to choose the correct pickup site during checkout. It will list a date in June, 2023, as your pickup date.

To see all the details (and changes) please review last week’s blog newsletter here.

 

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Farmer Kurt picks pears this week with the crew.

 

FARMER KURT’S FIELD NOTES

We picked a bunch of storage pears off our tree up front this week. These are hard like Asian pears with a lot of water in them. I really like them — I have no idea what variety they are. But it’s a fun tradition now for our crew to climb up the ladder and shake the trees, throw down pears, and just generally have a good time! Hopefully I can give you a few in your box on the last week.

OSU Extension came out to the farm to harvest a test plot of annual forage. They planted a variety of summer annuals here this summer in our regular fields with different fertilizer types. Some of the crops were planted no-till. They came out to harvest it all this week and compare the results of the different plots. They were checking the tonnage and weight, and they’ll test the protein amounts in a lab to see which ones scored higher.

OSU Extension was here this week harvesting the forage for their trials.

Rainy weather is planned for the weekend. I gave my guys the weekend off. Jose, Polo, Pedro and Asuncion have their last contract day here on Nov. 12. We booked flights to Mexico City for them this week…got a pretty good fare, too. They’re tired, and I can tell they’re ready to go home and see their wives and kids. You’ll notice we’re giving you a chance to leave a tip for the crew this year. We started doing this a few years ago, and it’s always so nice to see your response. Don’t feel like you have to do anything. We’ll make sure they are well taken care of, but I just like giving you a way to say thanks if you want to.

The guys planted garlic this week! Usually we wait until Corinna’s birthday, but I’m trying to get it done earlier now. I soaked my garlic seed in organic fertilizer this ear too overnight. This is supposed to help out yields.

The guys plant garlic this week.

This week the guys started tearing out the tomato stakes and cutting the tomato twine. Tomatoes are officially done for the year. I told the guys to strip the plants of whatever was left, so we have several black crates of green tomatoes, red romas, globes, and even heirlooms. This will be the last week you’ll see tomatoes in the online store. Snatch them up and enjoy that last BLT sandwich. The green bean trellis was taken down this week. Noah and John did a great job with them this year — it was their idea to trellis them instead! We saw terrific yields and less labor-intensive. I also have a better idea of what bean varieties to use next year.

Our 6 finalists in the Chopped Competition: Alyssa Baker, Lindsey Simpson, Clara Eckel, Melinda Fluckinger (champion), Christine Zychowicz, and Jim Hertzfeld.

The Chopped Competition was a blast. I was so tired that night though. I had just come back from a full-day of driving a delivery of radishes down to Cinncinati in a box truck. I was up at 2 AM, so I told Corinna, “You gotta emcee this for me!” But it turns out there was nothing to worry about. The event kind of ran itself. We have some pretty talented people in this group! Man! I was impressed.

Corinna and the boys canned a lot of green beans last weekend. I don’t think Corinna realized what she was getting herself into. She started around 4 PM, and she was still going at it around midnight. I’ll be glad to pull those out this winter though. Every now and then, our boys get fixated on something industrious! LIke Jed when he decided he wanted to make something with the paw-paws he harvested weeks ago. So he looked up paw-paw butter online, and tried it! I guess we’ll see if it tastes good…

Sign up for next year’s CSA starts tomorrow, October 15th, at 7 AM sharp. Cross our fingers, everything goes smoothly and there are no major tech hiccups. Corinna wants me to tell you that if you have trouble “logging in,” you can also just sign in as a guest or create a new account.

~Your Farmer, Kurt

Six Chopped Finalists Compete for the Crown

Melinda Fluckinger from Port Clinton was awarded the title of Chopped Champion this past Friday night at our Chopped Competition, hosted by Cork & Knife Provisions. It was her deconstructed sammie in the 2nd finalist round which clinched the victory. The judges gave her perfect marks for creativity, taste, and presentation in both rounds. She remained cool and collected, using her 30 minutes to prep, cook, and plate each of her two dishes. For the appetizer round, she submitted a chicken quesadilla with couscous, golden berries, and a zesty salsa. She was finished plating with 5 minutes left on the clock. Melinda’s husband and son were both present to watch the momentous occasion.

Our six finalists included: Clara Eckel, Lindsey Simpson, Jim Hertzfeld, Melinda Fluckinger, Chistine Zychowicz, and Alyssa Baker. If you recall, these finalists were chosen based on 2 preliminary rounds/challenges during September. For this competition, they were asked to first build an appetizer using the 4 mystery ingredients that were revealed just moments before the 30 second timer started. At their station, they each had a propane burner, cutting board, tongs, spatula, bowls, and knife. They were allowed to bring their own knives, one pot, and a spice of their choice.

For Round 1, the mystery ingredients were: pre-cooked couscous, delicata squash (pre-roasted), golden berries, and BBQ sauce. All of the contestants could access a pantry of fresh veggie/fruit ingredients, as well as sauces, spices, eggs, flour, butter to supplement their creation. Many of the finalists were stumped by the BBQ sauce — and spent the first several minutes chopping the ingredients while trying to figure out what to make with it all. Alyssa made a salsa and friend tortilla chips. Clara threw together an elegant kale salad dish. Jim cut his squash into rings and drizzled a maple-BBQ sauce over the top. Lindsey stuffed some mini peppers with her couscous. Christine roasted poblanos to form a  kind of “chip” and then filled it with a delicious salsa filling. And Melinda made her winning chicken quesadilla.

Melinda explains her final dish to the judges

There were three judges for the event: Tim McMahon, Shana Lee, and Chef Joseph Jacobsen — all local food bloggers, former Chopped preliminary finalists, or local Emmy-award winners.

In the sprit of the TV show, three finalists were “chopped” after round 1: Clara Eckel, Alyssa Baker, and Christine Zychowicz. The tables were cleared, and a new platter of mystery ingredients was presented for round 2 (main course): goat cheese, romanesco, pickled carrots, and day-old bread. The audience members helped select the final mystery ingredient — getting to vote between two choices during round one. Once again, the finalists impressed everyone as they sprang into action:

Jim Hertzfeld was one of the 3 finalists chosen after the first round.

Jim started steaming the stale load, and ended up using it to make a graveyard hoagie sandwich with a goat cheese, chicken, and carrot filling. Melinda turned her bread into croutons and built a deconstructed sammie with heirloom tomatoes, cheese, daikon radishes, romanesco, and some secret sauce. Lindsey turned to her Korean comfort roots, and created a fish stew with Citizen Salmon’s halibut in a delicious bouillon, topped with a fried egg.

The judges deliberated for only a few moments before announcing the winner. Melinda won $100 gift certificate to the online store, as well as tickets to one of Cork & Knife’s dinner events.

Audience members were able to get up and cheer on their favorite finalists. Cork and Knife offered yummy apps for purchase along with wine and cocktails at the bar. Thank you to all our finalists for making such a fun evening! It was fun watching them work together, encouraging each other — many of them meeting each other for the first time that day. It was a perfect ending to a great season and a celebration of our community identity!

Melinda’s winning final main course entry. Deconstructed sammie.

WEEK 17 ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. TIP THE HARVEST CREW: If you’d like to show your appreciation for our harvest crew, we invite you to leave a “tip” for Noah, John, Polo, Pedro, Jose, and Asuncion. This is completely optional. We will share this equally with our crew to show our appreciation of their hard work this season. You may either write a check (made out to Shared Legacy Farms), or donate via PayPal or Venmo (@Corinna-Bench). This money will help with getting our crew home to Mexico too! (They just booked their flights this past week!)
2. Early Registration for next season’s CSA begins Sunday, October 15, at 7 AM sharp. Get the sign up link in your EMAIL!! Be sure to read the section in this newsletter that spells out all the details.
3. Shop the online store this week. We have Golden Berries (NEW!), Heart of Gold winter squash, honey nut mini squash, delicata squash, small spaghetti squash, smaller white cauliflower, cheddar cauliflower, polish linguisa tomatoes, dinosaur kale, dandelion greens, cilantro, head lettuce, chard, red turnip (no tops), daikon radish mix, purple haze carrots, sweet banana peppers, hot banana peppers, orange italian sweet peppers, gold or red beets, tomatillos, ground cherries, Jonathan apples, Crimson Crisp apples, Golden Supreme apples, Honeycrisp apples, Ambrosia apples, maple syrup, Rowdy Rider bourbon glaze, honey, extra flower bouquets.Be sure to place your order before Monday or Wednesday morning (depending on your pickup site).

Robert Seaney roasted a bunch of broccoli last week.

WEEK 17 CSA RECIPES

Members: You can download this week’s recipes here. Here is what Coach Cadie Jardin has prepared for you…

Roasted Autumn Frost Squash
Chunky Curried Autumn Frost Squash Dip
Carrots with Shallots, Sage, and Thyme
Pasta with Kalette Greens and Onions
Kale, Potato and Carrot Curry
Tuscan White Bean and Kalette Soup
Fried Celery Root Steaks with Citrus and Horseradish
Potato and Celery Root Mash
Braised Chicken with Celery Root and Garlic
Winter Squash and Savory Cabbage Gratin with Garlic
Garlic Roasted Radishes
Radish and White Bean Salad
Cinnamon Baked Apples
Apple Pancakes