This Week’s Produce
Lacinato Kale, This variety has thin stems and is makes a good raw salad, like coleslaw.
Swiss Chard, Try making this week’s “Swiss Chard Rolls” recipe.
Fennel, Great cooked or raw.
Beets, Save the greens and use like spinach.
Carrots, The first of the season.
Bell Peppers, Try making a Cajun dish, with this essential ingredient in their “holy trinity”.
Poblano Peppers, Great for salsa and Mexican dishes.
Turnips, No Greens, these are fighting a new bug, that Michelle talks about on the farm.
Canary Melons, Full Share Only
Pippin Apples, Fruit Share Only, Fruitilicious Farm, Watsonville, CA
Valencia Oranges, Fruit Share Only, Eco-Farms, Temecula, CA
Hass Avocados, Fruit Share Only, Las Palmalitas Ranch, Carpinteria, CA
What to do with what we grow
This week we fall is in full swing, and the evidence is in our boxes, with root vegetables and greens. I put my favorite turnip recipe first, Spicy Turnip and Carrot Slaw. I think turnips are best raw, and this slaw is an easy salad added to your lunch or dinner. Make sure to try roasting our fennel, I really like eating it this way, but it is great raw, shredded, with a little lemon juice and olive oil. The Fennel and Tomato Gratin recipe is another of my favorites. If you don’t think you like fennel, I recommend, chopping it up and slowly cooking it with an onion in a sauté pan for about 15-20 minutes. The flavor changes the longer you cook it and you will be left with just the sweetness. Use the fennel-onion as a spread on toasted baguette with and serve with goat cheese. I have a Swiss chard roll recipe, that is vegan, but you could add meat or cheese if desired. I think it would be a fun project for kids to assemble, anytime they get to help in the kitchen, they become invested in the process of feeding themselves and more likely to try new things. I have many of the Burroughs Family Farms, almond and olive oil products, now on the web store and ready to purchase. The have extra virgin olive oil, roasted almonds and chocolate covered almonds. All of their items are organic and grown here in the central valley.
What’s happening on the farm?
The sweet potato harvest wrapped up Monday night at about zero dark thirty, whew! Regardless, there are still a lot of potatoes out in the ground just waiting to be picked. Unfortunately for our Brassicae plants (Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Kale), the dreaded Bagrada Bug has been spotted on our farm. This is a fairly new bug that has been hitting California for a couple of years; it originates in Africa, but was first seen in Southern California in 2008. We are experimenting with various organic compounds to see if that will shoo these pesky and very damaging bugs away, but have not had any luck. Research is being done but there are currently no known beneficial plants, pests, or birds that have been effective in eradicating these pests. In the meantime we are planting other crops that the bugs don’t seem to like. More to come!