THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Hardy winter stalwarts to ground and nourish you as the light wanes.
Spinach, Cherokee Lettuce, Dazzling Blue Kale, Kohlrabi, Brussel Sprouts, Leeks, Celery Root, Mixed Daikon Radishes, Cabbage, Delicata and Jester Winter Squash, Bolero Carrots, Bintje Potatoes, Yellow Elsye Onions, Lorz Softneck Garlic
U-PICK
Herbs: We will be mowing the annual portion of the garden soon, but until then there is still a very small amount of select herbs left for the gleaning: Italian Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Oregano, Lemon Verbena, Thyme, and French Sorrel.
HARVEST NOTES
Delicata and Jester Winter Squash: Do you have a squash horde (colloquially known as a “squord”) at home? One tip to taking best advantage of the season’s winter squash bounty is to make sure to eat the small ones first. The sweet little gems like this week’s Delicata and Jester will start to lose their flavor more quickly than the larger varieties such as Butternut and the upcoming Marina di Chioggia pumpkins. We recommend enjoying these sweet treats within the next few weeks. Try having a piping hot roasted half for breakfast! Yum!
Celery Root: See the recipe below, or Week 22’s Newsletter for ideas on what to do with this rare and delicious winter vegetable.
Multi-colored Daikon: Three varieties of Daikon make a confetti of color. Try using a mandolin or cutting super thin slices and adding a splash of lemon juice and salt for a colorful side salad to brighten up your winter plate.
We had some super cold — for California — morning’s this week!
WHEN DOES THE CSA END?
Because of the wet Spring and late start we had, our 2023 harvest season will run all the way until the third week of December this year! The last Saturday pickup will be December 16th, and the last Tuesday pick-up of the year will be December, 19th.
WHEN CAN I RESERVE MY SPOT FOR 2024?
We are deep in the planning phases for next season, rest assured, current members will be given the first chance to reserve a spot in our 2024 CSA program!
Celery Root Rösti with Caper and Celery Salsa
Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi
This is a dish for any time of the day: for brunch (with some crisp bacon, maybe?), or for a light meal or first course. Makes 10 rösti, to serve two to four.
Note: if you’re in need of some additional Celery Root inspiration, check out Ottolenghi’s other mouth-watering recipes here.
Ingredients
1 celeriac, peeled and coarsely grated
1 small desiree potato, peeled and coarsely grated
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced (use a mandolin, if you have one)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
½ tsp each coriander seeds, celery seeds and caraway seeds, toasted and finely crushed
½ garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 eggs, beaten
2½ tbsp plain flour
Vegetable oil, for frying
100g sour cream, to serve
For the salsa:
½ small shallot, peeled and very finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
10g basil leaves, finely shredded
10g parsley, finely chopped
15g capers, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp juice
1½ tbsp olive oil
Celeriac rösti — photo from The Guardian
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the celeriac, potato, shallot and lemon juice in a medium bowl with two teaspoons of salt, then tip into a sieve lined with a clean tea towel or cheesecloth. Set the sieve over a bowl and leave for 30 minutes, for the liquid to drain off. Draw together the edges of the towel, then wring it a few times, to get rid of as much water as possible. Transfer to a clean bowl and combine with the spices, garlic, eggs and flour. Using your hands, form the mix into 10 6cm-wide patties, compressing the rösti as you make them, to squeeze out any remaining liquid.
Put all the salsa ingredients in a separate bowl, add a generous grind of pepper and mix to combine.
Pour enough oil into a medium-sized nonstick frying pan to come 1/2 inch up the sides. Put the pan on a medium heat and, once the oil is very hot, fry the rösti in batches for seven minutes, turning them a few times, until crisp and golden-brown all over. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel and keep warm while you cook the rest of the rösti. Serve at once with the salsa and a spoonful of sour cream.
Local Olive Oil For Sale this Week!
Hawks Feather Olive Oil will be available for purchase at both this week’s Saturday and Tuesday pickups. Please come sample local, organic, extra-virgin olive oil that is grown and pressed here in Sebastopol by a fellow CSA member. Tuscan varietals thrive in our ideal climate, making a divine EVOO. Please come sample the latest harvest - Olio Nuovo – a vibrant green full of peppery personality. 375 ml bottles ($25) are a perfect holiday gift!
FARMER’S LOG
ECHOES
On the farm, time is an echo. Moments, days — the particular slant of light while you harvest Fall carrots — each return from a long distance, the long distance of a year, like a deja-vu.
A corn plant itself is an echo. It’s whole life, from seed to harvest, is the echo of the lives of the thousands of corn plants that came before it.
For a farmer, these echoes are full of memory. All it takes is a certain smell, the sound of dry corn rustling in the wind, and there you are again, surrounded by the memories of who you were and who you were with the last time you heard that sound.
Last December 1st, we were also rich in winter vegetables. We were prepping next year’s strawberry beds in the icy morning. We were pulling our irrigation lines out of the field and battening down the hatches for the winter floods. Frosts were sweeping through the farm, turning it silver for an hour or two on cold mornings.
Prepping 2023’s strawberry patch last December — looked mighty similar to this Monday morning.
The silver December light is full of echoes. We can hear them in the early morning, shimmering out over the frosted cover crop, and they make us smile.
Sometimes, when we are still, the echoes seem to continue on forward, strangely, and it is as if we can hear the echoes of December’s yet to come…
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
