Holiday vegetables

We’ve been fairly absent on this blog as the time for rest and relaxation is upon most of the farm staff.  However, some vegetables don’t take a break (with the help of some hard-working staff in the cold temperatures), and we’ve got some to offer you for the holidays.  Visit our Flex Share webstore to order but you must do it BEFORE midnight on Tuesday, December 18th for Thursday, Dec. 20th delivery.  Questions? Contact us at csaflex@uky.edu

http://csa.farmigo.com/store/ukcsa

Thanksgiving Boxes are now available!

Thanksgiving boxes are now available on the Flex Share webstore.  Check out all this great food still in the fields, ready to harvest for you!  Don’t worry, the frost only helps the vegetables sparkle and become sweeter!

To learn how you can order a box today, read the following link:

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ffbdfffc48e238930e3476392&id=e90a9702c2us2.campaign-archive1.com

Sweet Potato Biscuits

These biscuits appeared in the November-December 2011 issue of Edible Louisville & The Bluegrass Region.  Author, Tomese Buthod.

Prepare the sweet potato purée a day or so in advance.
1 or 2 sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces) to make 3/4 cup purée
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling out
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoon unsalted butter, very cold, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan and brushing on biscuits
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind (optional)

1.  Peel the sweet potato and cut into chunks.  In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with water; bring to a boil.  Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain very well.  Purée the chunks in a food processor or blender.  Measure out 3/4 cup for biscuit recipe and chill thoroughly.  Any leftover purée can be frozen for a later use.

2.  Preheat oven to 425°F., with rack in bottom third of the oven.  Butter a baking sheet.  Using a food processor, mix together the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and pulse in quickly, until the mixture looks like coarse corn meal.  Separately, stir together the sweet potato, buttermilk and orange rind if using.  Add buttermilk to dry ingredients, and then quickly pulse that mixture into the flour mixture.  Do not over mix.

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently until dough holds together.  It will be slightly lumpy.  You are only going to knead it about 5 times to get it to hold together; again, do not overwork it and add only the tiniest bit of flour-the dough will be sticky.

4.  Pat the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.  Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 2-inch biscuits.  Gather scraps and re-pat.  Alternatively, you can use a sharp knife to cut the dough into small squares and then you won’t have to fool with scraps.  If you want bigger biscuits, roll the dough thicker.  The larger the biscuits, the thicker you should roll the dough.

5.  Place the cut biscuits on the buttered sheet, and brush with a little melted butter.  Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve as quickly as you can!  Makes about 18 2-inch biscuits.

We made it! 22 weeks

We made it to the end of a great season and are grateful, despite the year’s difficulties (heat/drought), of the bountiful food we were able to offer.  I wanted to thank you, the “community” in CSA, for your continued support and words of encouragement.  Also critically important in the work, is our staff—to whom we are all grateful.  The sentiment at the farm is one of relief and satisfaction to have crossed the finish line of 22 weeks of harvest for our Full Share.  Although the farm crew always changes throughout the year, we made sure to take a couple of pictures for who was responsible in harvesting the last share for you last week.

THANKS to:

Wednesday’s Harvest Crew: Neil, Zach, Mims, Kristi, Tiffany

Thursday’s Harvest Crew (L-R clockwise): Nic, Ethan, Zach, Jay, Neil, Eliza, Tiffany

Distribution Crew: Tiffany, Nic, Eliza

We aren’t done yet, though!  Many of the items in the last share will be available on the Flex Share this Fall.

Squash and Sage Pizza

A great recipe for your butternut squash and sage!

http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/10/21/butternut-squash-and-crispy-sage-pizza-five-minutes-a-day-style/

September Snapshot

Thanks to apprentice-turned-staff member Kristi Durbin for snapping some stunning photography at a recent SAG potluck.  These pictures provide a snapshot of what the fields looked like in late September with both vegetables and cover crops.  Just in time, too, as many of the cover crops are now mowed…prepping for more cover crops to grow over the winter months.  Thanks also to staff member Zach Davis for highlighting our often under-represented non-produce crops in the newsletters this week.

Potato Harvest Time

We’ve been trying to harvest potatoes for quite some time now; both irish potatoes and sweet potatoes.  After finally acquiring the right tools for the job, it has been a waiting game with the rain.  Last week’s rain on Monday and Tuesday delayed us but we were still able to dig 2 beds of sweet potatoes on Friday and about 12 beds of potatoes on Monday.  The rain yesterday will once again set us back from finishing this long-awaited task as it will be too wet to drive the tractors and their digging implements into the fields.  In the meantime here are a few pictures of the harvest…while it lasted.  View more on the Flickr site (click on the pictures to the right).

sweet potatoes of all different sizes and shapes

these are some state fair winners!!!

picking up potatoes on a chilly monday morning

 

Planting for next year…already!

You would think that preparations for next year’s harvest wouldn’t start until, that’s right…next year.  But in fact, this month we are busy preparing the fields for cover crops (to build the soil with organic matter and necessary nutrients), and even planting crops to grow in the midst of winter.  Yup, its the season for garlic and strawberry planting.  This past week, we received our strawberry plugs from a nursery in North Carolina and promptly introduced them to their new home (you’ll see three beds on your left as you reach the organic section) and multiple more in and among the high tunnels.  These plants will start to become established this fall before going dormant in the winter.  And then as soon as it starts to get warm next spring, they will continue growing and produce fruit hopefully by June (earlier in the tunnels).  The same with the garlic.  We spent some good cold mornings sorting through our garlic stock in preparation for garlic planting.  So, as soon as we find some time after potato harvest, we’ll be setting the cloves into plastic beds adjacent to the field  strawberries.  The cloves will send up green leaves this fall, going into dormancy this winter and begin growth again this coming spring.

Thanks to Ali Rossi’s two GEN100 sections who spent some time getting their hands dirty, helping to plant strawberries last Tuesday.  The high tunnel crew appreciated your help!

garlic seed cloves

• 
• staying warm in the sun on a cold morning
• 
• picking up empty flats after water-wheel transplanting

Fall update

As we enter into fall, typically the pattern of the farm is repeated in harvesting, a bit of weeding, and more harvesting.  The bounty of September is portrayed with the full flavor of summer joining the cool sweetness of fall.  It is the time when hearty summer crops (tomatoes, beans) join the storage staples (onions, potatoes) and we start to enjoy the crunch of fall crops like greens and roots (lettuce and carrots), who are making their second appearance in the cycle of cool-season vegetables.  Even in the world of “eating in season”, we get to have it all!  This past week’s Full CSA Share harvest reflected the change in weather with potatoes and winter squash; turnips and kale; and plenty of summer crops on U-Pick.  Many ‘U-Pickers’ have taken advantage of the waning tomato and pepper crops, and if you plan to come this week—you will find us digging, and digging, and then digging some more: potatoes and sweet potatoes!!!  If you’re feeling adventurous, please join in in the task :)! We’d love to have some extra hands as we pick-up the treasure that grew under the soil.  It truly is a treasure hunt.

We were excited to make the switch to offer something different this past week and in the fields we watch, somewhat impatiently, to see how and when the next crops will mature.  Expect more potatoes and sweet potatoes, winter squash, and as they mature: carrots, beets, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi, radishes, spinach, and more.  The end of the Full CSA Share is in sight: the last distribution will be Thursday, October 18th.  But don’t let that fool you into thinking it is the end of the vegetable harvest.  We will continue to offer the Flex Share further into the fall–so don’t worry, we will still be able to supply your vegetable needs for quite some time.

And two last things to mention: we will be hosting our end of the year CSA-member potluck to be held most likely the week of Oct. 1-5.  Once the date is confirmed, I’ll be sure to post it here, on facebook, and in the newsletter emails.  Any preferences for preferred day of the week are welcome!  And finally, we have not opened sign-ups for next year’s season yet, but we will let you know as soon as we are ready.

Pawpaws

Well, if you’ve never had a pawpaw, we hope you’ve gotten the chance to taste your first ‘tropical’ Kentucky-native tree fruit.  We hope to give these out for the next week or two in the CSA, and if what we’re giving you in the share isn’t enough to wet your appetite, feel free to ask where the trees are located (near the back gate entrance on Waveland Road), and pick up more off the ground as part of U-Pick.  For all you need to know about the pawpaw, please visit Kentucky State’s Pawpaw website.  And for recipes, follow the “Recipes and Uses” link on the left-hand side of the page for pies, custards, ice cream and more.  And not to scare you away from this delectable treat, but if you’re not a fan of the pawpaw… you’re not alone.  My own personal survey (with little merit), approximates that after trying it once or twice, 50% of folks will gladly give up their pawpaw share claiming a belly-ache or other not-so-tolerable digestive issues after consuming the pawpaw.  But it’s up to you to decide which side you’ll be on!  I for one, feel that a pawpaw milkshake may be the best (only) way that I can truly enjoy the pawpaw flavor without side-effects.  Enjoy!

And if you’re recalling a certain pawpaw song from your childhood, maybe this random youtube video will spark your memory.