Farm Happenings
What a great roots harvest! The farm’s sandy loam is well-suited to growing roots. Though there were long dry stretches during the summer, we watered at the right times to keep these plants growing steadily. There’s abundant carrots, beets and radishes this week for everyone to enjoy. Parsnips and rutabagas also make a cameo in the wash stand, though in lesser quantities.
A passing comment from a shareholder is the reason we planted an early season crop of Easter egg radishes this spring. Another note helped us realize an easy hack to mark items more clearly at the farm. Seeing things from your perspective is useful for us. That’s why we have a season-end survey and we request that every adult in your household give their input. There’s a dozen questions which are a mix of multiple choice and open-ended. Please find a few quiet minutes this week to share your experience. The survey is at this link.
In the last week of this season’s share, we hope you carve out some time to give the fields a final stroll. If you do, you’ll see there are many greens still available, plus lots of leeks and woody herbs. Other beds have been cover cropped and there’s young rye growing to hold the soil and nutrients in place through the winter.
Parsnip harvest
A solid roots harvest means more to distribute to our Homestead shareholders, who got to decide how many carrots and beets they wanted in this abundant season.
A warming carrot, ginger soup as a companion for these rainy days
Tips for Success
- Roots will last for several weeks in the fridge. There are ample carrots, beets and radish, if you’d like to take more than usual, feel free!
- Try a root puree. Most people are familiar with mashed potatoes, but many flavors can be mixed and enjoyed with an infused butter, such as rosemary or thyme.
Seize the daikon! Radishes are good raw, cooked or fermented.
Crops Available
This list and availability are subject to change, check the share whiteboard at the start of every visit. If you are unsure about how to harvest: ask us! In person, via text or email.
Cell phone numbers, Flip: 315-854-5399 and Bob 315-854-5395.
*New this week
- Arugula
- Beets
- Carrots
- Celery stalks
- Collards
- Fennel bulb and greens
- Head lettuce, red
- Hot peppers, multiple varieties
- Kale, curly or dinosaur
- Leeks
- Mixed lettuce greens
- Parsnip*
- Potatoes
- Rainbow chard
- Rutabaga*
- Shallots
- White daikon radish*
- Winter squash
Culinary and Medicinal Herbs
- Fennel seeds
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Thyme
- Winter savory
Halloween means kimchi at littleGrasse. This morning we made our vegetarian version of this favorite ferment. The 2021 batch included purple chinese cabbage, scallions, carrots, daikon radish, onions, garlic, ginger, peppers and salt.
Happy Halloween!
-Flip & Bob