Fall CSA #26

October 10th 2014

Good evening everyone

For as long as I can remember, Fall has been my favorite season, not only because it was my birthday, but because the smells, colors and temperature were so comforting.  I was reminded by something i read today, just how wonderful Thanksgiving is, a time to be thankful and enjoy each other without the need or stress to buy gifts.  This Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful for how learning to live with less has given me so much more.  Moving in to a smaller house, doing away of excess material possessions  and disconnecting from that part of society that tells us we need this and that to be happy.  It wasn't a conscious decision but one we needed to make to accommodate changes we made in our lives to make our dream happen and it ended up becoming a crucial part to our finding happiness and freedom.  This living with less, a minimalist lifestyle has opened our eyes to what is necessary to be happy so even as we move forward and have the liberty to spend and accumulate again it's not something i want to do instead i would like to live with even less and continue to pursue those things that truly bring us joy our family, our new career choice, each other, nature and good food.

This Thanksgiving I turn 40 and i am in such a peaceful place compared to my 20's and early 30's when i was supposedly "living the life" I guess one of the virtues of getting older has been finding my perfect spot!  My wish for you this Thanksgiving is to clear a little space in your lives from all the noise, and enjoy those things that truly bring you joy and meaning and hopefully a good meal that was passionately grown by our small organic farm.

In your basket this week:

1 bag of Chez Nous Salad Mix
1 bag of Carrots
1 Bag of Hakurei Turnips (greens also edible)
1 Leek
1 Bag of Flower Tops
1 Bag of Mustard Greens
 Herbs: Sage, Thyme and Rosemary

Juicing upgrade: Broccoli Greens, Swiss Shard and Bok Choy

Carrots this week and lots more to come!

Mustard Greens like many greens such as Arugula, Cress even celery leaves taste quite hot or spicy or bitter when tasted straight out of the bag.  Howver, once you add them to a soup, salad or curry etc... really mellow out.  With Mustard greens, if you find them too spicy, you can blanch them before adding to a dish or eating to mellow them out.  What's really neat about these spicier greens is you can turn them into a bland green item in your dish or have them more flavorful if you wish by cooking them less. I usually blanch them if i am adding them to a dish that my kids will eat-like lasagna. The stalks and flowers are also edible. 

For our new members: the turnips you have received are summer turnips called Hakurei Turnips and they cook up very fast, the greens are also edible- they are also delicious eaten raw with dip, eggs or in a salad.  This week I cooked them with bok choy in a recipe that I shared last week  called Stir Fried Bok Choy with Ginger and Soy. It's such a quick simple sauce, I also used it to make a noodle dish with beef, turnip/greens and broccoli topped with toasted sesame seeds.  Many of the recipes in that article called  for Peanut oil something i had never used before-turns out i love it and from what i have read it's healthy too! I bought the Spectrum Unrefined Peanut Oil from Commisso's. An off the wall recipe I liked last year was the buffalo turnip - I did however use homemade hot sauce.: http://www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com/2013/06/hannahs-buffalo-style-hakurei-turnips-3/

Harvesting Flower Sprout and Brussels Sprout Tops

Cutting the tops off the plants pushes the sprouts out faster. We love these tops best steamed with butter- they are mild and have a Brussels Sprouts taste.

A awesome gift I got from my dad a spool of electrical wire to bring more power out to the farm- it will give me a little extra piece of mind next summer as this year things were shorting out due to an increased power demand on the farm. I also got a new pair of rubber boots = heaven!  Boy has my taste changed!