I can’t believe it’s the last week of Farm Share! And I also can’t believe we are expecting such heat for this time of year.The forecast is promising 20 degrees with sunshine on Thursday, our last day to harvest and pack your veggies. I couldn’t ask for better.
This fall, I had some curveballs thrown my way with the apples, brussels sprouts, broccoli and celery root all not turning out. But amazingly, we still had abundance and I still had choices of what to put in your boxes for the last week. That’s the beauty of growing a diversity of crops- one failed crop is not the death of us! This is actually a wonderful time of year for the cooler weather crops. The radishes look the best I have ever seen them- apparently you can eat the tops and this might be just the week to try that considering how gorgeous they are. Also, the leafy vegetables and beet tops are happy as can be as their normal pests disappear with the cold nights.
This week I am excited to have chioggia or candy-striped beets for everyone. They are the rock stars of the beet world, with their striking pink and white stripes. Simply stunning in a salad or roasted and sliced to show off their hot colours. This week I tried them raw with some quinoa- and it looked pretty and was amazingly sweet and delicious with the natural taste of the beets.
In your box this week:
Half
-rainbow carrots
-chioggia beets
-pepper squash (from Kawartha Organics- our squash is gone already!)
-jerusalem artichokes (the roots in the mesh bag that look like ginger- see last week’s post)
-red radish (seem to taste mild this week)
-spinach
-baby bok choy
-sweet peppers
-green cabbage
-leeks
Whole
-rainbow carrots
-chioggia beets
-pepper squash (from Kawartha Organics- our squash is gone already!)
-jerusalem artichokes (the roots in the mesh bag that look like ginger- see last week’s post)
-red radish (seem to taste mild this week)
-spinach
-baby bok choy
-sweet peppers
-green cabbage
-leeks
-eggplant
-green onions
-parsnips
-red swiss chard
-regular carrots
Candy Striped Beet Quinoa Salad with Cheese from www.citylifeeats.com (see our facebook page for a picture)
Makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups quinoa
4 medium candy striped beets (or a combo of whatever beets you have- I did half golden)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tbsp. avacado (or olive) oil
1 tbsp. mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup water
3-4 green onions, roots removed
arugula or peppery green to serve
scallion cashew vegan cheese (recipe on their website, I just used cottage cheese although goat cheese would’ve been tastier)
Directions
Cook quinoa according to directions. While hot, add beets, lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt and pepper, water and green onions and mix. Remove from heat and chill in the refridgerator until cool. Serve over arugula or peppery greens with the cheese of your choice!
A final note:
I feel so totally blessed by the abundance of good, clean food I have access to, and sharing it has made it all the richer. Consider the joy it would be to share some homemade soup or that item that you still have plenty of with a neighbour or friend this week. It doesn’t even matter if they are truly needy, because everyone needs to know that someone cares.
A sincere thank you to you incredible Farm Share participants that chose to support the farm this year by purchasing a Farm Share and encouraging me by your kind words, enthusiasm and creativity all year. Getting my hands (and everything else) dirty on the farm was well worth it!
Feel free to drop by the farm for a free decorative pumpkin (while supplies last) to get ready for fall/Halloween.
Thank you for loving good, organic food.
Jennifer