CSA Pickups -- Week 31

Roots Farm CSA Week 31: November 23

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This Week:
-Peppers: Carmen, Islander, Lipstick, Green & Colored Bells
-Lettuce: Greenleaf, Redleaf, Romain, Green Butterheads, Red Butterheads
-Winterbor Kale
-Bright Lights Swiss Chard
-Beans: Gold of Bacau & Northeaster
-Snow Crown Cauliflower
-Easter Egg Radishes or Watermelon Radishes
-Hakurei Turnips or Purple-top Turnips
-Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
-Bolero Carrots

On the Farm . . .
The weather just continues to be beautiful. Beans and peppers are still growing. Carrots and lettuce grace the fields. Our sweet onion transplants should be coming soon--about 3,000 of them. We’ll plant them and grow them through the winter for harvest in April and May. And our CSA is drawing to an end . . .

Last Week of the 2010 CSA!!
This is it, folks, the last week of our 31-week run for 2010. Wow. Thanks for being a part of the farm this year. We really appreciate it. It’s been our longest season ever thanks to you! More weeks passing out veggies than not. Wow. We’ll be deciding details for next year’s CSA in December and January, so be on the lookout for notifications in January & February when we open up to accepting members for our 2011 season! Hope to have you back!

Want More Roots Veggies?
If you still want more, here are your options: 1) I’m going to offer a CSA-style basket through Athens Locally Grown www.athens.locallygrown.net. You have to be a member and pay the annual membership fees ($25/year), but it’s well worth it--especially if you want fresh, locally-grown veggies through the winter and beyond when the Farmers Markets end. Anyway. Join up and then look under the “Market” section, the “Vegetables” section, then the “Mixed Veggies” section. We’ll have a couple of CSA-Style basket sizes for you available on a week-by-week basis. Pickups are Thursdays at Ben’s Bikes downtown off Broad Street. Or, you can order vegetables from us by veggie. Lettuce, carrots, kale, chard, spinach, turnips, scallions, peppers, garlic, butternut squash, and more! Check it out. 2) You can buy from us on Saturdays at the Athens Farmers Market at Bishop Park. That market is going to go for 3 more weeks of December, and we’ll be there! 3) Look for us at Daily Grocery Co-Op off Prince Street. Sometimes we sell through them and besides, they try hard to support local farmers and they’re a great business to support. So yeah, please continue to buy Roots produce--we need you! Help us as we grow through the winter and work on expanding our year-round production. Without our customers, there’s no reason for us to be growing. Again, thanks for all your support this season!

In Your Basket . . .
We’ve got swiss chard, which I know some of you love, and which is looking really good this month. And the kale is our first picking from the hoop houses and looks really tender and beautiful. Hakurei turnips are appearing, which are my favorite. They’re sweet and tender. I cut them and add them to salads, or steam them and eat them with butter. The turnip greens also look particularly tender, good, and delicious. And carrots are appearing! Our fall carrots have sized up nicely and are tender and crunchy and bright orange! And the lettuce continues to flow in. Frilly, buttery, romaine--we’ve got it all. This week, there are lots of radishes and turnips in the basket, so I’ve got radish and turnip recipes for you below. . .

RECIPES

Buttered Turnips with Mixed Herbs
1 ½ lbs turnips, peeled
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp butter or sunflower oil
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped tarragon or thyme
2 Tbsp snipped chives
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup fresh bread crumbs, browned in 1 Tbsp butter or oil

Dice the turnips into ½-inch cubes. Boil them in salted water until they’re tender-firm, about 12 minutes. Drain. Melt the butter in a wide skillet. When foamy, add the vegetables and saute over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden. Toss with the herbs and garlic, taste for salt, and season with pepper. Remove to a serving dish and scatter the crisped bread crumbs over the top. Makes 4-6 servings. From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Turnip & Leek Gratin with Blue Cheese
1 garlic clove and butter for the dish
1 cup half & half
6 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 large leeks, white parts only, cut into ¼-inch rounds
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 ½ lbs turnips, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds or half rounds
2 oz Maytag or other blue cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Rub a 2-quart gratin dish with the garlic, then with butter. Heat the half-and-half with the remains of the garlic, 2 sprigs of thyme, and the bay leaf. When it’s close to boiling, turn off the heat and set aside. Cook the leeks in 2 quarts of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Scoop them out and put them in a bowl. Add the turnips and cook for 4 minutes, then drain. Layer the vegetables in the dish, intersperse the remaining thyme sprigs among them, season lightly with salt and pepper, and add the blue cheese. Pour the half-and-half through a strainer over the top. Bake, uncovered, until the cream is absorbed and the top is browned, about 30 minutes. Makes 3-4 servings. From Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone.

Braised Radishes
20 plump radishes
1-2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, diced
1 tsp chopped thyme or several pinches dried
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Trim the leaves from the radishes, leaving a bit of the green stems, and scrub them. If the leaves are tender and in good condition, wash them and set aside. Leave smaller radishes whole and halve or quarter the larger ones. Melt 2-3 tsp butter in a small saute pan. Add the shallot and thyme and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the radishes, a little salt and pepper, and water just to cover. Simmer until the radishes are tender, 3-5 minutes. Add the leaves if using an d cook until they’re wilted and tender, 1 minute more. Remove the radishes to a serving dish. Boil the liquid, add a teaspoon or two more butter if you like, until only about ¼ cup remains. Pour it over the radishes and serve. Makes 4 servings. From Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone.

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