2016 CSA Week 20- Final Week!

Hi everyone,

So here we are, at the final week of the 2016 Lucky Moon Farm CSA. I always find the end of the season to be bittersweet. It's been an intense summer full of long days and lots of hard work, so in some ways I look forward to the season being over, but I also love those long summer days and working outside all day, every day. I enjoy my winter work as well, but it's nothing like the satisfaction of the growing season. We had a hard frost at the farm last night, but we picked all the outdoor tomatoes and peppers yesterday and got them all in the barn before it got too cold. We dug a bunch of leeks to give out this week, and have some beautiful savoy cabbage as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself! 

Here's what's in your bags:

Salad Mix

Leeks

Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Kale

Kennebec Potatoes

Green Peppers (or their equivalents: purple or light green)

Czech Black Hot Peppers- wicked-looking little black or red peppers. They are moderately spicy.

Shallots

Garlic

Mixed Onions

Savoy Cabbage

Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin

Butternut Squash

Phew! 

So hopefully this will keep you supplied with veggies for a while, but if you run out, keep in mind that Sue and Claude have a farmstand open at their place from Friday through Sunday, 9 AM to 6 PM. They'll be keeping it stocked until the weather gets too cold, but most likely through October and into November, unless we get a real blizzard or something. And once the winter has truly arrived, you can keep getting veggies from them at the Poolville and Cazenovia winter markets. Poolville is on the 2nd Saturday of the month and the Caz market is on the 3rd Saturday of the month starting in November from 10 AM to 1 PM. It's held in the American Legion Building on Chenango Street. It's a great place to stock up on local produce for your holiday tables and you can find some really nice gifts there as well! 

Most of the veggies this week are self-explanatory, but here are few comments:

1) Green Peppers are not-fully-ripe peppers, but despite their name, they aren't always green. We offer "Green Peppers" that are lavendar, dark purply-black, yellow-green and dark green. But you can use them all the same way 

2) The Czech Black peppers are hot, small, and shiny black. The do eventually turn red, so you may have a few red ones mixed in. Remember to use gloves when cutting hot peppers, or at least don't touch your eyes afterwards! I did that once... I don't recommend it. 

3) Savoy Cabbage is a beautiful late-season cabbage. It's frilly leaves elevate the lowly cabbage to a vegetable with real panache! It's particularly good sliced thinly in soups or stir-fries. 

4) Pie Pumpkin (Winter Luxury or Long Pie varieties). Don't be scared of the pie pumpkin! It's really quite easy to cook and you can make a truly great pumpkin pie (or cheesecake or pancakes or bread or muffins or puree...) with some locally grown, organic pumpkin! Believe me, it's a fun point to brag on at the thanksgiving dinner table. So like the other winter squash, you want to cut off the stem, then cut the pumpkin in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, then bake it in the oven at 350 for about an hour. Or maybe longer. But the trick is to cook it long enough so that the flesh is really smooth. If you find that your pumpkin seems stringy, then you probably need to cook it longer. A fork should easily pierce the skin when it's done, and the flesh should easily whip up into a puree by hand.  That puree can be frozen or used right away in whatever pumpkiny thing your heart desires. 

Here are a couple of recipes to try:

1) Potato Leek Gratin (omg, this is delicious...)

2) Potato Leek Soup classic and heartwarming

3) Some ideas for using your cabbage: http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/2010/03/all-about-savoy-cabbage.html

Happy cooking everyone! And I wish you all a safe, happy, healthy winter and I hope to see you again next year. Local, sustainable, organic farming is only possible with the support of people like you. So thanks for your patronage and we hope you consider sharing another growing season with us in the future. 

All the very best,

Sarah VanNorstrand

for Lucky Moon Farm

2016 CSA Week 19

Hi everyone,
So we've reached the penultimate week of the 2016 CSA season. I'm finding it hard to believe! And I'm still trying to figure out what happened to September- I don't feel like I got my full 4 weeks of that month...
But here we are in October, and after a few cloudy days, it looks like we're going to get some more beautiful weather. I don't take it for granted- this time of year it could be snow, freezing rain, or sunny and 70 degrees. You never know what you'll get. We got the winter squash in last week, and overall, it did pretty well, despite the dry weather.

Here's what's in your bag this week:
Arugula
Braising Greens (a mix that includes Kale, Red Mustard, Hon Tsai Tai, Tatsoi and Collards)
Spaghetti Squash
Buttercup Squash
Fingerling Potatoes
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Onions
Eggplant
Sweet Peppers
Celeriac (aka Celery Root)

Lots of great fall veggies! I love harvesting winter squash. I picked it all from my own garden over the weekend, and it's so satisfying to see a wheelbarrow full of beautiful, delicious squash! Most of the varieties keep really well, so it will be providing great dinners all winter long and into the spring. The varieties that you should use sooner, rather than later are the Delicata (yellow, oblong, with green stripes), Spaghetti and the pie pumpkins. The Buttercup, Butternut and Acorn Squashes will keep much longer, and often sweeten up a bit with a little time. So feel free to squirrel a few of those away and save them for Thanksgiving or some evening in the middle of winter. Many people aren't familiar with the Buttercup squash (some people refer to them as kabocha squash). But beneath the thick warty rind is some of the best tasting winter squash to be had. It makes a really great pumpkin pie. Sue and I both love pumpkin pie, and this year, we're thinking of trying a taste comparison between pie made with buttercup squash, and the two pie pumpkin varieties that we grow at the farm: Longpie and Winter Luxury. I'll be sure to report our findings :)

                                                                      Pie Pumpkins

Spaghetti Squash

Here are some recipes to try:
1) Buttercup Squash with Apples (For 2 people)
When you do decide to cook up your buttercup, here's a recipe from Betty Crocker to consider if you decide not to puree it.

2) Baked Spaghetti Squash with Garlic and Butter
Yum!

3) My favorite thing to do with spaghetti squash is to cook it until the flesh is tender, then saute up some slices of garlic until they are just starting to brown, then toss in the "spaghetti" (scoop it out of the rind after it's cooked in the oven). I like to add cannellini beans and toss with a bit of feta cheese at the end. It's really tasty.

4) Braising Greens- here's a great looking recipe that should use them up nicely!
Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Braised Greens

5) Another site with great ideas for using Braising Greens: http://www.nativesonfarm.com/recipe-blog-1/2015/11/12/what-do-i-make-with-braising-mix

Have a great week, everyone! Enjoy whatever outdoor time you can to soak up the beautiful weather.

Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm