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Alex and Sophia are our expert dahlia harvesters
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What's happening on the farm right now?
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We have been loving these cooler days and even cooler nights. With the cooler temperatures and shorter day lengths, things are slowing down slightly. The kale isn't growing back quite as quickly, the lettuce is heading up more slowly. It would follow that the weeds also grow more slowly but somehow it doesn't seem like that. Maybe we got just a wee bit behind because of all the rain? Below is a "before and after" of one the beds we weeded this morning. Considering you couldn't see even see it before we started, the cabbage looks really good!
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
No head lettuce this week I'm afraid but we do have lettuce mix. Green kale, red curly kale, lacinato kale and collards. A big variety of winter squash, including butternut this week. Red, yellow and sweet onions. White and yellow potatoes. Cilantro and basil. Sweet italian and bell peppers. Poblanos, jalapenos and shishitos. Cherry tomatoes, heirloom and red tomatoes. Japanese and fairytale eggplants are back along with the Italian globe eggplant.
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The dahlias are loving these cooler nights and continue to put out buckets and buckets of blooms. Only about a month until our typical first frost, and then we'll have to wait until next spring to enjoy our beautiful flowers. I hope you can take time to enjoy them now.
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We are seeing more and more of these exotic-looking leaf bugs. I think it is a katydid.
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John's Recipe of the Week
John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful cooking observations and delicious recipe offerings appear here each week.
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A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” Thomas Keller
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| KALE AND PECORINO CROSTINI – from a 2010 Bon Appétit. |
| 1 bunch of kale – around 14 ounces |
| 12 ½ inch thick diagonal baguette slices |
| 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided |
| 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced |
| 2 oil packed anchovy fillets, chopped |
1 ounce Pecorino cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler
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Cut and discard the center stems in the kale and put it in a pot of boiling water and cook until just tender but still bright green, 3 or 4 minutes. Coarsely chop kale.
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Preheat your oven to 400F. Arrange the baguette slices on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush slices on topside with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake until brown. About 10 or 12 minutes. The kale and bread can be done in advance and kept at room temperature.
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Heat remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and anchovies, stir 1 minute. Add the kale and cook until it is heated through, 3 or 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Mound the kale on the bread and top with the cheese and serve.
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| Substitute for anchovy. Chopped Kalamata olives. Capers. Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce or capers. |
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This garden spider looks like it is guarding our tomatoes and saying
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"If you want 'em, you're going to have to come through me!"
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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