What's in the box?
broccoli
peppers (sweet, bell, and hot)
savoy cabbage
leeks
tomatoes (slicers, heirlooms, and green)
potatoes (russets)
radishes
Vitamin Greens (use as you would mustard greens or bok choy)
thyme
same as above, but no cabbage or radishes
Notes on the box...
Well, I guess we stand corrected on the "don't store your tomatoes in the refrigerator" stance. This article has A LOT of information about storing tomatoes and when it's okay to put them in the fridge. A little late in the season since this will likely be the end of tomatoes this year with these cold temps we are experiencing, but still good for future reference. In summary it basically says to leave tomatoes out unless they are perfectly ripe. They can be stored in the fridge once perfectly ripe without much change in texture and flavor. You can let them warm to room temperature before eating if you don't like cold tomatoes.
Vitamin Greens can be treated as you would mustard greens or bok choy. They are similar in texture, but the flavor is not as spicy as mustards and it's much sweeter and milder than most greens. The stems cook down easily, too. It may be hard to find recipes for vitamin greens, but look up mustard greens or you can use the recipes we've provided this week. They may need an extra rinse before cooking. The name sounds very healthy, and they are (as are most other greens) but don't let the healthy sounding name keep you from eating them. They could just as easily be called "delicious greens" as vitamin greens.
The radishes are super tender and yummy and great for a buttered bread and radish sandwich sprinkled with a little salt. The greens can be cooked along with your vitamin greens. remove the greens from the radishes to prevent the radishes from going soft. both should be stored in a plastic bag in your crisper.
We harvested peppers and this season with these cold temps, we are sad that there won't be too many red and orange ripe ones. They are fine green, but we hope you got a few red ones this season. We put hot peppers and sweet red peppers in the box this week. The hungarian hot wax turn from a lime green to an orange to a bright red. The sweet roasting peppers turn from a dark green to a rich deep red. The other main way to tell them apart is the shape. The sweet peppers are generally 3 lobed and blocky at the top while the hot peppers are two lobed and narrower. Here's pictures to help. Also you can slice the peppers and give a little taste to see if you are dealing with a hot pepper or a sweet pepper. And really it's not too big a deal since we've found the hot peppers to be quite mild this season.
Recipes...
[yumprint-recipe id='48'][yumprint-recipe id='49']Lentil Stew with Mustard Greens and Sausage
On the farm...
Whoa! Some sustained cold temperatures coming. The transition out of summer is not very smooth this year. More just a sudden smothering of summer by the blanket of a cold front. It's earlier than we had hoped for, but we have lots of fall crops growing in the fields, and the temperatures should get a little more seasonal after the front passes.
We still have Winter Shares available. They are really more of a fall extension share. 4 more weeks following the last CSA delivery of the normal season. They will go until the week before Thanksgiving. If you are unable to sign up, just email us to let us know that you would like to sign up and we can add the share to your account.
Reminder: Harvest Party will be September 20th. Come between 3 or 4 to look around the farm, climb on tractors, visit animals, and have a ride in the farm gator or go kart! There will be pumpkins to bring home and hopefully some music! Dinner will be around 6 and we will provide burgers. We ask that you bring a side to share. Feel free to BYOB. After dinner there will be a bonfire. You are welcome to camp at the farm or check out some of the local campgrounds in Amery or Clear Lake. Let us know if you plan on coming out!
We are getting really excited that the Amery Food Hub is really coming along. The Farm Table restaurant will be having a soft opening this weekend for the Amery Fall Festival. Several farmers and their crews from the Hungry Turtle Farmers' Co-op got together to do some painting of the space. It's super exciting to see all of this coming together and it's always nice to be in the company of fellow farmers, foodies, and good food advocates in our community.
We have been pushing to get all of the tender crops in before the temperatures dip. A sad and early so long to our Summer crops. Hopefully the cold temperatures don't stick around for too long!
Packing day was cold and rainy this week. Lots of sweaters and rain gear. And there was a scramble in the flower garden to bring in as many bouquets as we could to save some color! There's a bouquet in every room of the house to enjoy as we come in from the cold to sip hot tea and eat SOUP! Remember this is the day before our Harvest Party. Come dance with your farmers!
AN EVENING OF MUSIC with Chris Koza and Rogue Valley $7 September 19, 7pm at Hungry Turtle Farm 410 125th Street | Amery, WI 54001 Known as one of the Twin Cities most dynamic live acts, Rogue Valley and lead singer/songwriter Chris Koza are an internationally-recognized band who perform regularly at top Twin Cities’ venues, festivals, and have extensively toured the US sharing stages with artists such as Lucinda Williams, The Jayhawks, and Nellie McKay among others. Their songs have been featured in television and film, most recently in Twentieth Century Fox’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. SIGN UP HERE!
