Hi, everyone! This is Fall Program week 5 out of 8... 3 more weeks of goodness to go!
This newsletter seems so dreary these days. As I upload photos each week, I can look back at all of the photos from the season, and there's such a difference between the bright, sunny photos of colorful produce, and the mid-November photos we see today. Of course, we were spoiled with the weather earlier this month, and we'll see a pretty big shift in weather this week. As Randy and I made the list for the shares this week, we discussed which crops need to be harvested ASAP because they won't survive the cold. Arugula and broccoli rabe are a bit too tender and delicate, so this week you'll see them in your share. One pretty photo I was able to capture last Friday was of rain glistening on the red kale at sunset. Hopefully this brings you a sense of peace and calm when you see it.
As I mentioned last week, we have been hard at work planting garlic. Randy explains the process in depth in his video message below, so check it out for the details. Here he is with crew members Ethan and Tyler as they tucked in the last of it. The entire process is completed by hand, from start to finish. It's labor-intensive but with a big, flavorful payoff.
Another one of Randy's tasks has been working with his dad to frame our hardening house to be closed in as greenhouse #2! It's a lot smaller, but it'll be an awesome addition when we have our Mother's Day hanging pot sale in the spring and maybe give us a little more of a jump on some summer crops. In the background of this photo, you can see that they took down the gutters that were hanging in the hardening house and laid them out alongside greenhouse #1 to be herb beds next year. Here is Randy, laying down landscape fabric, which is a great semi-permanent weed suppression tool. This will help clean up these gardens, which have been in need of some TLC. This winter, he'll rebuild the rotten wooden raised beds and we'll seed more herbs and flowers next spring.
Would anyone like to help us deliver some produce to an organization in need this holiday season? If you know of an organization that can accept fresh produce and are willing and able to pick up from us and deliver to them, message us to make it happen. We've had quite a few community members reach out to us about this for Thanksgiving and would love to continue the trend into December.
A couple more photos to share: we find lots of things in the soil here, like this pottery. Plus, a view of the field from a lesser-seen angle alongside the leeks:
Thanksgiving Centerpiece Workshop
We added a few more take-home kits for anyone interested in making a floral arrangement at home. Katelyn will provide a video showing you how to make the centerpiece, and you get some much-needed relaxation and me-time at home!
To purchase a kit, visit: www.laurelglenfarm.com/events and select Take Home Kit, available for pickup any time on Tuesday, 11/24 between 10:30 and 6 p.m.
Spotlight on Hakurei Salad Turnips:
The hakurei turnip is also known as the Tokyo turnip and is a member of the brassica (cabbage) family. These turnips were first developed in Japan in the 1950s. Sometimes these are also called salad turnips because they're so similar to radishes and can be eaten raw in a salad. Hakurei turnips are sweeter than radishes, without as much of a spice. If your greens haven't been damaged by frost, you can eat those raw or cooked, too. The higher the heat you cook them on, the sweeter they will become, so we recommend stir frying or roasting them if you don't typically like the taste of turnips. You can even drizzle some maple syrup or honey onto them for some extra sweetness. No need to peel these turnips; the skins are smooth and perfectly fine to eat.
A Message from Randy:
https://youtu.be/0Ws5YYp4mxo
The Uncrating:
https://youtu.be/4v2rxXVgjd8
Contents (In approximate order from shortest shelf life to longest):
Small:
1 bunch of broccoli rabe
1/4 lb. of arugula
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of hakurei turnips
1 lb. of peppers
1 sugar pumpkin
Large:
1 bunch of broccoli rabe
1/2 lb. of arugula
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of cutting celery
1 bunch of hakurei turnips
1 lb. of peppers
1 sugar pumpkin
Caring For Your Share:
Wash all before using:
Twist off the greens from the salad turnips and store them each in a Ziploc bag in the fridge.
Store the broccoli rabe, collard greens, and head of lettuce in a Ziploc bag in the fridge. Shake out the head of lettuce to remove excess water. Wash and spin out when ready to use. Arugula can also be cared for the same way; just leave it in the bag and wash and spin out when ready to use it.
Store the sugar pumpkin in a cool, dark place such as a pantry. Put it in a location where it will get some air flow. Keep it out of the fridge; it will store for months.
Store the tops of celery in a Ziploc bag with the stalks in a small glass of water, like a vase.
LGF Cooking Club:
Sesame Roasted Turnip Salad with Quinoa (the recipe calls for regular turnips, but you can absolutely use halved or quartered hakurei turnips):
Big Ol' Weeknight Salad (with lettuce and hakurei turnips):
Hakurei Turnip Gratin:
Skillet Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (Hello, Durante's and Shaggy Coos!)
Broccoli Rabe and Provolone Panini:
Broccoli Rabe and White Bean Gratin:
The Best Stuffed Pepper Soup:
Green Pepper Steak (substitute hakurei turnips for the tomatoes):
Pepper and Egg Sandwich (toss in the broccoli rabe or arugula!):
30+ Easy Pumpkin Puree Recipes: https://www.delish.com/cooking/g21986284/pumpkin-puree-recipes/
23 Savory Pumpkin Recipes:
Falafel Pita Sliders (featuring arugula):
Tortellini, Chicken, and Arugula Salad (use some regular lettuce, too):
Radish and Arugula Crostini with Brie (use hakurei instead of radishes):
Autumn Chopped Salad with Creamy Poppyseed Dressing (use your lettuce):
Cooking Tip(s) of the Week:
3 Steps for Making Fresh Homemade Pumpkin Puree:
Biweekly Catch-up Time:
Randy reports that he's two weeks ahead of clean-up schedule! Part of this is because the weather has been a little bit in his favor over the last week, but honestly, most of it is due to our amazing, reliable, hard-working crew. Most of our drip tape, Reemay cloth, hoops for the Reemay, and rocks for the Reemay have all been picked up. Most of the plants we can't harvest from anymore have been mowed down and tilled under. Here's a shot from Waverly Rd. that shows what it looks like now and underneath is a shot from June, before we even really got going with the summer crops. What a difference!
One of Randy's big jobs now is seeding cover crop on his fields. Cover crops are used to restore nutrients to the soil. When you're not using a particular plot of land, you can seed crops that are specifically meant for this purpose: oats, peas, rye, millet, wheatgrass, alfalfa, clover, and vetch are all examples of cover crops. Most of the time, these aren't crops that you are going to harvest, eat, and use. Rather, they are planted when you know that your soil is depleted of nutrients after a long growing season.
Randy chooses rye for a few reasons. One, it is the hardiest winter crop that can tolerate temperatures below freezing, to keep the soil in place and prevent erosion during extreme winter weather. If you're using a cover crop in the summer, you might choose something different. Second, it restores organic matter to the soil when you till it under, which means it's a natural fertilizer and you can reduce your chemical inputs come spring. Third, it will continue growing again in the early spring, which creates a natural weed suppression. Because it's already established, early weeds have less area to spring up. Lastly, it has a very quick germination rate, which is so important when you're seeding it this late in the year, when the sunlight and warmth are less abundant. If you don't get it established before the freezing temps hit, it won't work, so it's a race against time. Here's a photo of Randy loading the rye into the seeder on his tractor.
