THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Fancy Fall Salad Mix, Assorted Oakleaf and Summercrisp Lettuce, Tendita Baby Romaine Lettuce, Dazzling Blue Dino Kale, Easter Egg Radishes, Romance Carrots, Walla Walla Sweet Onions, Heirloom & Slicing Tomatoes, Green Magic Broccoli, Bishop Cauliflower, Farao Cabbage, Olympian Cucumbers, Harvest Moon Purple Potatoes, Summer Squash & Zucchini, Sweet Peppers, Poblano Peppers, Sarah’s Choice Cantaloupe (last week!), Lorz Italian Softneck Garlic
The first of this year’s cauliflower!
U-PICK
Please remember to check the u-pick board for updated weekly limits before going out to pick
Flambo Shelling Beans: Gleanings
Albion Strawberries: Still cranking!
Cherry Tomatoes: No limit
Frying Peppers: Shishitos & Padrons | Gleanings | See week 4’s newsletter for harvest and preparation tips
Hot Peppers: Buena Mulata, Habanero, Ali Limo and Jalapeño Hot Peppers
Tomatillos: Gleanings
Herbs: Dill, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Tarragon, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Vietnamese Coriander, Culinary Lavender, Culinary Sage, French Sorrel, Lemon Verbena, Cilantro, Tulsi, Various Mints, Catnip, Chamomile, Purple Basil, Genovese Basil, Thai Basil
Flowers!
Really simple braised cabbage — stills by Griffin Wilson (@cabincorn)
HARVEST NOTES
Cabbage Avalanche: As we continue to plow through what seems to be our best cabbage-year of all time, we thought you might appreciate some extra inspiration for how to keep enjoying the abundance. Check out these two delicious recipes from CSA members:
Really simple braised cabbage —
“Scorch the hell out of the open face of a half a cabbage in a dry pan on high heat. Flip it over, melt a few tablespoons of butter into the crevices, sprinkle a generous amount of salt, and wash the salt into the cabbage with a healthy splash of sherry vinegar (balsamic would also be nice). Roast in a 500f oven or a blazing wood stove for 20 minutes or until the core is soft. Slice so that each portion has some charred and soft, tender green.”
—from Griffin Wilson’s gorgeous and inspiring Instagram account @cabincorn. Click through to see Griffin’s beautiful videos of the recipe.
Goi Ga Rau Ram / Vietnamese chicken slaw
To make this incredibly refreshing Vietnamese salad from CSA member Hani Hong, mix all of the Goi Ga Rau Ram ingredients together and then dress with undiluted nuoc cham, salt & pepper. (Hani says diluting the nuoc Cham with 2 Tablespoons of water makes a perfect dipping sauce for spring or summer rolls!) Let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Top with the fried shallots. SO GOOD.
Nuoc Cham (Fish Sauce dipping sauce) — scale up as needed
-1 Tablespoon fish sauce
-1 Tablespoon sugar
-1 clove garlic (to taste)
-1 lime (to taste)
-Red hot chili pepper (to taste)
GOI GA RAU RAM
-red or white onion — cut the bite by soaking half-rings in vinegar & sugar or lime juice & sugar for 10mins or more
-rau ram / Vietnamese coriander - that pointy peppery herb growing in one of the barrels in the garden
-cabbage - chop like cole slaw; maybe about half a cabbage or less
-poached/shredded/pulled chicken
-if you want to add mint or cilantro you can
-salt & pepper to taste
-fried shallots to top it off
Sunrise over the Fall farfield veggie patch.
WINTER SISTER FARM CSA SIGN-UPS NOW OPEN!
The hottest tickets in town are getting snatch — Winter Sister Farm’s 2023 Winter CSA program is now open for registration! Winter Sister Farm, right next door to us, was started by our dear friends Anna and Sarah Dozor. Their CSA runs runs from December through May and includes 24 weeks of specialty winter veggies, flowers, herbs, and more — all picked up by CSA members, free-choice market style, on their beautiful farm here on Cooper Rd. Sign-up today!
FARMER’S LOG
We started in on one of the most autumnal tasks of the year this week — clipping the winter squash from the vines and piling them in the field to cure. You’ll all be invited to help us bring in the squash in all its vibrant glory in the next week or two. (Keep an eye on the newsletter for the exact date!)
And lucky for us, this autumn, everywhere we look the earth is touched by the delicate green of new growth in the wake of our recent rains. We are so grateful to be going greenly into what’s usually the driest time of the year. It’s brought to mind one of our favorite poems, by Ursula K. Le Guin, daughter of California, dreamer of other worlds and the richness often missed in this one.
* * * * *
TO THE RAIN
BY URSULA K. LE GUIN
Mother rain, manifold, measureless,
falling on fallow, on field and forest,
on house-roof, low hovel, high tower,
downwelling waters all-washing, wider
than cities, softer than sisterhood, vaster
than countrysides, calming, recalling:
return to us, teaching our troubled
souls in your ceaseless descent
to fall, to be fellow, to feel to the root,
to sink in, to heal, to sweeten the sea.
* * * * *
Many of you asked how the rain affected the farm. Aside from a few squishy strawberries and tomatoes, it was a manifold blessing and sweet relief to the soul and to the senses of all the creatures of the farm. Since the rain, the tyranny of summer’s scorched brown hue has slowly been replaced by the green of new grasses; the calls of the songbirds became tinged with joy and exuberance. And everything seems to have became softer — from the blades of dry grass to the very earth under our feet which seemed to change from baked brick to a bouncy sponge.
You can see and taste the rain’s blessing in the crops too. As our friend Ryan Power at New Family Farm once said, "Vegetables become more refined in the Fall." Truer words were never spoken. Perhaps it’s from those occasional fall rains. Or perhaps it’s from the slower growth caused by the reducing sunlight that makes the vegetables grow more carefully, sturdier, like hardwood trees; rarified and essentialized. Or maybe it’s because they stare more often at the moon and stars these days than the belligerent sun. Or perhaps it's the cooler days and cooler nights that slow down the insect and root worm armies and allow our veggies to let their defenses down and grow in peace. Whatever the cause, it is true: Many in our vegetable society are looking more dapper than they have all year — especially the greens.
We hope you enjoy the share this week: That unique time of year when autumn and summer collide on the harvest table and you can chase some fruity tomatoes with rain-sweetened snow white cauliflower.
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
