Season Extension Week 4; November 3, 2016. Final Delivery of the season!

What's in the box. 

butternut squash
cilantro
bag of onions and garlic
potatoes
carrots
savoy cabbage
storage cabbage
collards
spinach
beets

Notes on the box. 

Squash, onions, garlic, and potatoes should be stored outside of your fridge.  Onions, garlic, and potatoes will store best in a cool and dark area.  I'm sure every flat surface of your kitchen is covered in squash at this point (bumper crop!) but it makes a decoration in other parts of your house until you are ready to eat it.  Everything else will store best inside your fridge.  

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

A new cheese this week!  The Milky Whey is similar to creme fresh and I have added some honey from our farm and some fresh Organic Lemon to flavor it.  It's very nice with deserts!  We have had it on its own, with toasted nuts and fruit in the morning, and it truly shines as adollop on top ofcarrot cake or a chocolate ginger tart!  That was pretty heavenly.  Also, if you can get your hands on some Raincost Crisps (the crackers with nuts and dried fruit baked into them) you have a match made in heaven. 

And finally we sent a wedge of our Circle of the Sun which is a farm original and a favorite of mine.  It's very versatile and easy to eat.  I was really happy when I brought some to an event a couple of weeekends ago and I got to see a very knowledgeable cheesemonger and Certified Cheese Professional do a nice little freak-out when she tasted it.  Hope you enjoy!  If you want to get some cheese during the winter from us, we are offering cheese shares through Foxtail Farm's Winter Share.  The cheese share is wait listed right now, but once I get a few more people on the wait list, I will make cheese shares available to those folks.  Otherwise, we will be attending Mill City Winter Markets duringNovember and December and sporadically after that.  Also will attend Neighborhood Roots Winter Markets.  I will post the dates on the Cosmic Wheel Web site and on our Facebook page. 

Recipes.

Colcannon

Curry Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpeas

Creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw so good with tacos!

Collards, Cornmeal, and Sausage Soup

On the Farm.

The last vegetable delivery of the season!  Whew!  Now we get to buckle down and catch up on paperwork and book-keeping and house cleaning!  Since we don't have any snow we will be able to get field cleanup done.  Our cover crops are looking really great and since the cows are still grazing, we are still making cheese!  We also have another building project going on.  Our inspectors have required an update to our cheese making room, so that's a pretty big and unexpected project happening.  Kind of an unexpected and expensive pain, but in the end it will make cheese making life easier, so it's not too bad.  We are enjoying focusing on our cheesemaking and expanding that side of our business as we also focus on making our vegetable business more intensive andwe are seeing the benefits of really building our soils. At the end of every season we reflect and try to improve upon where our weak areas were the season before.  We try to balance the needs and wants of our members with the needs and abilities of our land and ourselves.  We are always looking to improve and make our business and farm more sustainable and resilient.

We couldn't do any of this without our amazing crew.  This season our peak season crew included Hannah and part time help from Miranda, Anna, and Andrew, We also struck gold again this year with Aimee, Liberty, and of course Haley. 

Aimee has been such a dedicated worker and very giving of herself working 6 days a week for the whole season!  She always has a great attitude and adds so much fun to the crew.  Otto and Sadie will be especially sad to see her go as the season ends. 

Liberty has been a truly phenomenal livestock manager often working 7 days a week since the cows don't take a day off of milking!  She also helped with veggies on heavy harvest and box packing days.  We are so happy that Liberty will be joining us again next season and she is learning cheese making! 

And our dear dear wonderful Haley who has been with us for 3 years now!  She has been the glue for the last few years managing the vegetable operation beautifully and gracefully.  Her smiles lighting up the fields with her smile and knowing just what the plants need.  She is moving on and exploring a new profession, and we will miss her so much!  But we hope she will be back to visit often and we hope she will join us sometimes in the field when she needs a little time in the dirt.  Haley, we can't thank you enough for all that you have given us and the farm over the years.  We love you very much!! 

Finally, we have to give a big big big THANK YOU to YOU!  We don't exist without those of you committed to local foods directly from your local farmers.  We know there are many options out there for getting local foods at your co-op or farmers market, and we know there are many options to get food delivered to you now with meal services.  We also know there are a lot of CSA farms out there and we are so glad that you joined us this season.  If you felt like we were a good fit for your needs, we will be opening sign-ups for next season in early 2017.  We have had members with us since we started our own farm in 2009 and some of you since before that when Josh started the CSA at MFA in 2006!  Your commitment means the world to us and we are grateful to be able to provide you and your families with food that nourishes you and is grown with respect for the environment, the animals, the people, and the soil involved.  Thank you again and again! 

Turnip Rock FarmerComment
Season Extension Week 3; October 27, 2016

What's in the box? 

winter squash - butternut, black futsu, and/or acorn
potatoes
sweet potatoes
yellow and red onions
green top beets
carrots
tatsoi
spinach
red russian kale
dill
garlic
savoy cabbage

Notes on the box. 

Store Squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic out of the fridge.  Everything else should be stored in the fridge. 

The skin of black futsu is edible!  It's a great squash to slice into moons and roast.  You can use them in place of delicata squash, but they have a more robust flavor. 

Is every flat area in your kitchen covered in butternut squash?  While they do store for many many weeks, if you need the space and feel like storing some, I like to do the following:  cut squash in half and remove seeds, place cut side down in a baking dish that is lightly greased.  (you can add a little bit of water, but not too much.  Place in a 400 degree oven and roast until you can poke a for easily into the squash through the skin.  take it out of the oven and let it cool, then scoop out the flesh.  It's good to puree it at this point and then put into freezer bags for later use.  I like to measure out the amount needed for a loaf of my favorite pumpkin bread so that I can thaw the bag then add it to a recipe without waste later.  Now you have your own delicious pumpkin puree for pies, breads, and soups all through the Winter. 

Lots of greens still look good out there in the field, but we have seen a few mornings of some heavy frost. Lucky for all of us, it makes the greens sweeter and more delicious.

 

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Cheese curds!  Have you tried floating your cheese curds in a veggie lentil soup, yet?  Or chili?  We highly suggest you give it a try.  Just put them in the bowls as you serve them and they will warm up and become yummy cheesy bites to enjoy with your soup.  Vega is the aged cheese this week.  Vega is nice and creamy and wonderful to snack on or melt on top of a casserole, stuffed squash, or roasted veggies. 

Recipes.

Red Onions with Walnut Salsa
(adapted from Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi)
4 med red onions
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup spinach, arugula, or other greens
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley or 1/4 cup fresh dill
2 oz goat cheese or quark broken into chunks
salt and black pepper
Walnut salsa
2/3 cup walnuts
1 red chile seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
Heat oven to 425.  Peel onions and remove tops and tails.  Cut each crosswise into 3 slices about 3/4 inch thick and place on a baking sheet.  Brush slices with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for about 40 min until onions are cooked and golden brown on top. 
While onions are cooking, put all of the salsa ingredients in a small bowl.  add 1/4 tsp salt, stir, and set aside. 
To serve, put chopped greens and herbs in alarge bowl.  add the warm onions, the cheese, and half the salsa and toss carefully so the onions dont fall apart.  Spoon remaining salsa over the top and serve.

Paleo Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chili

Getting a meat share?  This recipe is a must!  Sausage and Cabbage from NYT

Roasted Carrots with Tumeric and Cumin from NYT

Wild Rice with Maple Butternut Squash and Kale Salad (you can use red russian kale for this one)

On the Farm. 

Eat like a farmer shares!  Don't forget you will be getting a meat delivery today along with your veggies (unless other arrangements were made).  Also, we had a few folks ask about difference in egg shares once the season extension started.  Some had signed up for additional egg shares, but those were delivered just with your main season.  We offered a season extension egg share add on, but it had to be added on to your share once the main season was over.  Sorry about the confusion! 

If anyone wants to order an extra case or two of storage carrots or butternut squash we will have them, carrots will be 25# case (Brown box) and butternut 35# (big white box) one case of carrots should fit in your crisper drawer (and fill it up!) if you have an average sized fridge.  Holds for months. Squash will hold until Jan if you keep it dry and room temp.  If you'd like either one, send us an email. we will start collecting orders and add them onto the last delivery which is next Thursday.

Going back to the grocery store,,, if that sounds like something you don't want to do check out Foxtail farm, our old friends and mentors just a few miles west of us in Osceola WI. They do a full blown Winter share with great variety of winter vegetables (hoop house greens too) and value added goods made in their on farm commercial kitchen. Soups, breads, jams, kraut etc. Plus you can add on our cheese and keep that gold coming.  Who needs a grocery store when you've got farmers who sell direct? 

 

 

Turnip Rock FarmerComment
Season Extension Week 2; October 20, 2016

What's in the box? 

red and yellow onions
butternut squash
black futsu squash
green top beets
carrots
diakon radish
arugula
rainbow chard
sweet peppers
scarlet trunips
tatsoi
spinach
garlic
sweet potatoes

 

Notes on the box. 

Onions, squash, garlic, and sweet potatoes should be stored outside of the fridge. 
The sweet potatoes are not fully cured, so they will not store for an extended period of time.  Some of the sweet potatoes are gold and some are white.  Both are delicious!  Our favorite way to eat them is roasted. 
Greens!  are back in full force.  Put them in plastic bags in your crisper to keep them from wilting.  Remove beet greens from the roots for better storage. 
Diakon Radish may be a new one for many people.  If you don't want to make kimchi or otherwise ferment or pickle your diakon, they are pretty nice roasted or you can shred them and add to salad.  They are nice and mild. 
Tatsoi might be a new green for many of you.  It is really wonderful in asian noodle soups.  Your farmers are not above an instant noodle soup every now and again.  But we make ourselves feel better about it by adding some of these greens such as tatsoi so it has some nutritional value! 
The skin of the black futsu squash is edible.  It's hands down favorite squash around here.  You can use it as you would delicata, but it has a more robust and nutty flavor.  Sliced into half moons and roasted with a little olive oil makes a nice side on it's own, or you can add to a salad or make a dressing for it.  And f you can't get to it right away, it's a beautiful seasonal decoration! 

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Two aged cheeses this week.  We have Antares which is our cows milk manchego.  It has a really nice piquant finish.  The other is Arcturus which is our take on a traditional English style cheese.  There were some flaws near the rind, so if you have a piece with a big of blue mold, don't be afraid!  you can cut the area off and the rest of the cheese is great.  If you are an adventurous cheese lover, feel free to eat it!  It won't hurt you, it just has a strong flavor.  Bothe cheeses this week melt well. 

Recipes.

Spinach and White Bean Soup (feel free to use any of your greens in a soup like this.  Tatsoi, beet greens, or chard would all work nicely)

Chickpea Tatsoi and Coconut Curry

Cranberry, Walnut, Sweet Potato Wild Rice Pilaf

Cheesy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese If you have any quark left from your cheese share, it would be nice mixed into this recipe.

 

On the Farm

Couldn't ask for more beautiful fall weather.  The colors are amazing out here and we are enjoying working outside n the beautiful light. 

Turnip Rock Farmer Comment