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Crossposts: http://surrealestate.livejournal.com/727777.html

Tomorrow is Farm Day so I should probably get around to the final week's share...

Week 20

2 Delicata Squash
2 Butternut Squash
4 lbs Parsnips
4 lbs Purple Top Turnips
10 lbs Red Gold Potatoes
4 roots Celeriac
8 Mutsu Apples
= 38? lbs (I can't remember if I actually weighed it)

+ Bread share: Flax Montague (whatever that is, bit damn, it was good!)

Bonus veggies from neighbors:
+ Several stalks Brussels Sprouts
+ 2 Daikon
+ 1 large Kohlrabi

I made the awesome celeriac soup. Because awesome. I might have to get more celeriac. I always say that. Also made assorted other soups, shredded salad, etc. And plenty of roasted brussels sprouts. Nom nom.

And the season winds down... Tomorrow will be the last share, so I'd better catch up. Up-to-the-minute squash count stands at 6 butternut, 5 acorn, 3 buttercup, and 2 pumpkin. Buttercups are my new favorite squash. So yummy.

Week 18

2 Acorn Squash
2 Butternut Squash
2 bunches Kale
4 lbs Onions
4 lbs Carrots
4 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 bunches Beets
8 Jonagold Apples
= 38 lbs

+ Bread share: Sourdough Buckwheat
+ 2 stalks Brussels Sprouts

Week 19

2 Butternut Squash
2 Buttercup Squash
12 lbs Kennebec Potatoes
2 Sweet Yellow Onions
20 Mutsu Apples
2 heads Cabbage
2 bunches Cilantro
= 38 lbs

+ Bread share: I think Semolina Sesame? I can't remember but it was insanely good. I'm really going to miss the bread.
+ 1 Sugar Pumpkin

Week 17

2 Buttercup Squash
2 Butternut Squash
2 bunches Radishes
4 White Spanish Onions
2 bunches Carrots
4 lbs Red Gold Potatoes
4 lbs Green Tomatoes
8 Mutsu Apples
= 34 lbs

+ Bread share: multigrain and caramelized onion & fennel focaccias

And then a neighbor decided they couldn't handle their own CSA bounty, so also:
+ 1 bunch mixed Kale
+ 3 Leeks
+ 1 Rutabaga
+ 1 Kohlrabi
+ 1 Daikon
+ 1 bunch Parsley
+ 1 bunch Fennel
+ Bag of String Beans (green/purple)

And another neighbor went off to Bhutan for vacation so cleared out their fridge:
+ More apples
+ Peppers
+ I can't remember anymore

And I made cinnamon rolls for a friend's birthday brunch, aloo masala and roasted acorn slices for a school potluck, a giant bowl of shredded salad for a party, and we made pizza again, and generally ate well. But yowza, I've got a lot more stuff to get through! The frost fear also prompted a final harvest of at-risk veggies, so I ended up making pesto at like one in the morning. But damn, that is some delicious pesto.

Week 16

2 Acorn Squash
2 Butternut Squash
2 bunches Chard
8 Cucumbers
2 bunches Cilantro
10 Beets
2 lbs Green Beans
8 Apples
= 32 lbs

+ Bread share: Multigrain Loaf

+ 1 bunch Rainbow Chard
+ 1 big Tomato
+ 6 heads Garlic

I made what may have been my last batch of bruschetta for the season. Hard to say, though, because some of the local farms could still have greenhouse tomatoes for some weeks yet. Big piles of greens went into a Greens Peanut Stew. Cilantro went to a neighbor. The cukes were of pickling kind and are currently sitting in brine. I'm thinking I may pickle (in the vinegar sense) the beets and can them. Those were ten huge beets.

It's also pizza season, so we had some with my homemade dough, homemade roasted tomato sauce, homemade pesto, and homemade cheez! It was damn good, especially with the pesto, which always feels so special. I wonder if I will regret not making even more of it. I think I can still do another batch with the final harvest from my gardens.

Week 15

4 lbs Tomatoes
2 Butternut Squash
2 bunches Rabe
2 heads Cabbage
2 bunches Arugula
4 Zucchini
4 Eggplant
12 Spartan Apples
= 36 lbs

+ My bread share: A pair French baguettes

And from a neighbor:
+ 1 Asian Eggplant
+ 4 assorted Peppers
+ half a giant Cabbage
+ 2 Leeks

I hate to even admit how little I've cooked this past week. At least today I made a giant shredded salad/slaw with cabbage, beets, and carrots. It felt so good to eat a big bowl of raw vegetables. Poor Rainbow has been sleeping so poorly that I'm too tired to motivate myself to do much of anything. During the day, she's one the happiest babies you could ever meet, but at night... eek.

(This was last week's.) Week 14

8 Cortland Apples
4 lbs Kennebec potatoes
6 Heirloom (Ailsa Craig) Spanish Onions
2 bunches Swiss Chard
4 Zucchini
2 Buttercup Squash
6 lbs Tomatoes
2 bunches Cilantro (except DD forgot to get this)
= 38 lbs

+ And our bread from the bread share

And from neighbors who couldn't use their whole farm shares:
+ 3 Asian Eggplant
+ 1 giant Zucchini
+ A sizable bag of Carrots
+ 1 bunch Parsley
+ 4 Sweet Potatoes

This week, I made some of the best bruschetta ever. I don't know why it was so good -- my process was the same as always -- but maybe the tomatoes were extra great? I'd also had them in the fridge for a few days (now that Kenji has convinced me that's okay, and it does keep them good longer) and I don't know if that somehow improved the flavor? Who knows. But dayum, that was good. DD even did a quick run with the jogging stroller out to get more bread just so we'd be able to have more of it right away.

Week 12

8 ears Corn
4 lbs Red Gold Potatoes
4 Italian Eggplant
6 small Zucchini
8 lbs Tomatoes
2 boxes Cherry Tomatoes (once again, the yummiest Sungold ever, wow)
2 bunches Broccoli Rabe
10 Paula Red Apples
= 35 lbs

With Sun Moon bonus:
+ 1 bunch Turnips
+ 1 bunch Dill
+ 1 huge Tomato

…And I forgot to write down what the bread was.

Week 13

8 ears corn
4 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
4 small Italian Eggplant
8 lbs Tomatoes
16 Apples
6 Sweet Spanish Onions
2 bunches Beets
2 Acorn Squash
= 40.5 lbs

With Sun Moon bonus:
+ 6 Asian Eggplant
+ 1 bunch Rainbow Chard
+ 1 bunch Tatsoi
+ ~1/2 lb Green Beans

+ something Rye Bread

Also pears and green beans harvested from a friend’s yard plus I bought a box of peach seconds.

With Week 12 stuff, I made an even bigger batch of eggplant caponata and ended up freezing four quarts of it. There was a Thai curry and a stir fry, and I think that might have been the first week in a long while that didn’t involve Indian food. All the potatoes were shredded and turned into hash brown waffles and OMG yum. I made bruschetta to go with the bread. By Monday, we still had plenty of tomatoes, so I made more roasted tomato sauce. There are now many containers of that in the freezer. I canned a bunch of bourbon peaches.

This week, I may do eggplant parm again because it turned out so well last time, though things also line up well for another Indian feast with friends, so the eggplant might give their lives for that. There are a lot of options, though. The big missing piece here are carrots, and I think Steve must be having some issue with his crop because usually we’d be getting a ton this time of year. So we’ll have to get some carrots at the farmers market.

I promise that after school starts, I will post at least twice a week aside from the farm share updates.

Week 11

8 ears Corn
8 lbs Tomatoes
2 lbs Green Beans
2 bunches Radishes
4 Eggplant
6 loose Onions
2 boxes Cherry Tomatoes (once again Sungold)
10 Peaches
= ~30 lbs

+ a loaf of sourdough in the bread share
+ ~2 lbs tomatoes from Sun Moon

Another Indian feast yesterday used up all the green beans and eggplant as well as some of the tomatoes. We managed to eat all the bread before making any bruschetta so now I need more bread. And I think it’s time to get going on some tomato sauce…

Unfortunately, I forgot to give [Bad username or site: “beowabbit” @ livejournal.com] the radishes I’d put aside for him last night. Would anyone like some radishes?

Week 10 (Parker)

8 lbs Tomatoes
4 Italian Eggplant
2 heads Red Cabbage
2 bunches Celery
2 boxes Cherry Tomatoes (Sungold!)
2 lbs Green Beans
8 ears Corn
16 Apples
= 41 lbs

And bonus presents from Sun Moon:
+ 1 bunch assorted Kale
+ 2 ginormous Green Onions (at a glance, they look like good-sized leeks)
+ 1 bunch Flowers (decorative)

Plus a lovely loaf of bread from the bread share but I forgot to write down what kind it was.

Using up everything this week is extra challenging since we’ll be off making ice cream in the woods for a long weekend, so I quickly whipped up a big batch of eggplant caponata with all the eggplant and some of the tomatoes and celery (plus onions we still have from previous weeks, but those keep just fine). That went into the freezer, since I know how well it freezes. Woo! Also made a big batch of bruschetta to eat with the bread. Then yesterday, it was Indian feast time: all the greens beans and peas, bund gobi (one head of cabbage is a triple batch, oy), and chana masala (using more of the tomatoes and some kale) and had a friend over to help eat it (still plenty of leftovers, of course). The corn we’ve been eating one-off and it’s almost gone — I’m glad this was a light corn week. I may throw all the apples into the dehydrator today for a nice batch of dried apple rings. The rest of the celery and the other cabbage will keep til we get back (last week’s celery I mostly chopped and froze in recipe-sized batches — I use farm share celery in soups and stuff all winter long). A bunch of tomatoes still left, though, so I need to figure those out. I think I’ve now reached the point of the season when I am ready to stop just eating every tomato and start thinking about making some sauce. I may need to bite the bullet and actually can some this year, though, because our chest freezer is already pretty full.

As a side note, if you want to be a person we contact for a last-minute dinner invitation on a Wednesday (or sometimes another day) because there is a reasonable chance you might say yes, let me know and make sure I have your phone number to text you. Wednesday is the usual big cooking day, but sometimes it slips to later in the week.

Week 9

2 bunches Fennel (+voluminous tops)
2 bunches Red Onions
2 bunches Celery
4 Italian Eggplant
4 lbs Red Gold Potatoes
2 pts Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
2 heads Green Cabbage
16 Peaches
= 34 lbs

And also, from Sun Moon Farm, either directly or via neighbors:
+big jar of cukes
+1 bunch bok choy
+2 bunches chard
+a few radishes

And an amazing loaf of Italian Paisano bread.

We had been falling behind on the veggies so this week, I decided I had to step it up, and so far, progress has been pretty good. Among other things, I started yet another round of sour dill pickles (as well as a smaller batch of spicy ones), made a big batch of my Greens & Peanut Stew to use up all the remaining cooking greens I had (rabe, beet greens, kale, arugula, there was a lot) except the chard, since I was to make that linguine dish again. The tomatoes went into fresh bruschetta. Then I started a big batch of kimchi, using two heads of cabbage, onions, and the rest of the baby carrots, turnips, and radishes. For lunch today, I made kimchi pancakes with the last batch. Tonight I made a Thai curry that took care of the bok choy, all the remaining carrots, some potatoes, and squash. I also roasted the eggplant on the grill and made some amazing babaghanoush. Phew.

Oh, and did I mention my new online Cooking Club? I’m sure I haven’t as it’s new since my last post. The idea is that every week, a member presents a recipe, then the rest of the group makes it and posts about it. It’s a small, curated group of people and I was honored to be asked to join. This week’s recipe is a naan, which works out well since I was going to make more aloo masala and bund gobi & mater anyway.

In the past couple of weeks, I also started canning for the season: I canned 7 pints and a half-pint of dill relish (plus an extra pint and half-pint into the fridge) using the large slicing cukes, and 6 jars (mostly half-pints) of plum jam using fruit from a friend's tree. Yesterday, Tadpole and I harvested a few quarts of blackberries at someone's house and I suspect a bunch of that will turn into something for Baitcon.

Non-food-related things are also happening in my life, but I’m not as committed to posting about them, I guess. Maybe after Tadpole starts school, I will see about trying to do daily posts for some period of time at least.

Week 7

6 Cucumbers
6 Yellow Summer Squash
2 bunches Red Onions
4 lbs Red Gold & Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 heads Red Cabbage
2 bunches Red Russian Kale
2 bunches Red Beets (+greens)
2 bunches Fennel
= 41 lbs

Plus bonus veggies from Sun Moon:

Lots of pickling cukes (enough to fill a two-gallon jar that I filled with brine and other relevant items to make proper half-sour dill pickles)

2 heads Baby Bok Choy

1 bunch Kohlrabi

And our bread share was Sesame Semolina.

Week 8

4 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 bunches Carrots
2 bunches White Sweet Spanish Onions
2 bunches Rabe Greens
2 bunches French Breakfast Radishes
6 Cucumbers
2 pts Cherry Tomatoes
16 Peaches
= 31 lbs

In addition, one of our neighbors is out of town so let us pick up their on-site Sun Moon Farm share:

1 head Green Cabbage
1 bunch Sage
1 bunch Parsley
Bit of Basil
Bag of Arugula
1 head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 bunch Baby Carrots
2 Red Onions
1 bunch Red Radishes
1 Italian Eggplant
4 Jalapeños
2 Cucumbers
A few small assorted Summer Squash
~2 lbs Potatoes
=15 or 17 lbs (I can't remember if I weighed with the potatoes or not)

Our bread share was Potato Garlic and we got a second loaf because the absent neighbor has a bread share, too. Woo! The share also included a bunch of lovely flowers.

I busted out the big jar mentioned above to see how the pickles were doing and they were amazing! So I shared them with farmer Craig as well as our neighbors when they came by and any shareholders who wanted some. Many pickles were consumed, and Craig let me refill the crock with a new batch of cucumbers, so next week will be more pickles, yay! They may be done faster, too, since the bacteria have a head start in the brine. I also filled a smaller jar with cukes to make more pickes than that.

Believe it or not, this was my first big success with making proper Jewish-style pickles! Some years ago, my first attempt at fermenting whole cukes went badly enough that I was put off the process for a while. These were good enough that my Russian immigrant neighbor was blown away. :)

So much! I made a big batch of squash-potato latkes. Arugula pesto. A lot of basil pesto, because all that basil I got added up to a pound of leaves after trimming. Whoa. Also been using the grilled garlic scapes in hummus, mostly eaten with cucumber spears. Giant batch of marinated kale because that all was a lot of kale. I now have a crapton of onions so I think a big batch of caramelized onions to freeze is in order. (The pestos and leftover latkes are already frozen. The hummus doesn’t last long enough to freeze.)

Week 6

2 lbs Fava Beans
4 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
6 large Onions
6 assorted Summer Squash (Zucchini, Cousa, and Yellow)
6 Cucumbers
2 bunches Harukei Turnips (+greens)
2 bunches Kale
2 bunches Rabe
= 29 lbs

Plus…

1 lb assorted color string beans (yellow, green, purple)
6oz snow peas
8oz sugar snap peas
Bag mixed salad greens (including edible flowers)
6oz Basil leaves
1 bunch Rainbow Chard
1 bunch mixed Kale
1 bunch Green Onions
1 bunch Mexican Tarragon
1 bunch Dill
1 bunch Radishes
1 Cucumber
3 Squash (1 Zucchini, 1 Cousa, 1 Costata Romanesco)
= 8 lbs

AND

Three more bags of basil

Note that the second list has more items but considerably less mass.

On Monday, I did a bunch of cooking to clear out the backlog of stuff in preparation for a new share on Tuesday. I find it much easier to think of things to cook given limitations than when I can do anything I want. So I used most of the big cabbage for kimchi along with the rest of the carrots, turnips, and green onions. Then other onions along with the rest of the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower turned into a Thai red curry since I had the rest of an open can of coconut milk. And since I also had the remainder of a can of tomatoes as well as plenty of fresh ginger (frantically acquired for the kimchi), I made chana masala. The two dishes worked together far better than I would have thought, too.

I made more scape & basil pesto and we also grilled pizza so I grilled the remaining garlic scapes for grilled garlic scape pesto. I'll just say OMG. I mean, grilled garlic scapes are amazing, so eat those, but if you have a crapton of them try using grilled in pesto.

Oh, also also a big batch of zucchini/cousa fritters with the remaining squash.

And then we got all this stuff!

Week 5

6 Cucumbers
2 heads Red Cabbage
2 heads Broccoli
2 lbs Fava Beans
2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
2 bunches Arugula
4 lbs Yukon Gold New Potatoes
2 bunches Red Spring Onions (+tops)
= 29 lbs

Bonus veggies from the in-house drop-off was a bunch of harukei turnips and a bunch of radishes, which went straight to beowabbit. And I baked a loaf of rolled bread with the scape pesto to share with the farmer. Also met more non-coho neighbors. Tuesdays have turned out to be pretty good days.

Since Tuesday, I haven't cooked much since there were so many leftovers to nom on and just lazy, I guess. I did do a big batch of Manjula's green (wonder) beans and peas, though, and also threw in the Fava beans. Might do Manjula cabbage, too. Arugula pesto. Hm. Still have tons of onions, too. Ideas? Or maybe we need more sauerkraut, I'll have to check.

Which, crap, reminds me that I haven't checked the kimchi yet at all! Eep. Better do that now.

And the share keeps growing every week! So many awesome veggies. For Tuesday night, I threw together a quick stir fry with a selection of the veggies and then stashed much of the rest in the Common House overnight. Wednesday was once again the big cooking night, in part because it's the only way to get everything to fit into our fridge. :)

So Wednesday, I made a big (had to borrow one of the ginormous bowls from the CH to fit it all) slaw-salad with shredded cabbage, carrots, last week's kohlrabi and harukei turnips, with a dijon balsamic vinaigrette. All leafy greens were sauteed with garlic. I marinated tofu, garlic scapes (does everyone know how amazing grilled garlic scapes are??), sliced zucchini, and walla walla onions, then grilled them all, and we had that over brown rice along with a sauce I made via reduction of the remaining marinade. Nom nom.

Thursday was a special treat: a Vietnamese family visiting the States who had stayed at a neighbor's house earlier in July came over to show us all how to make Vietnamese fried spring rolls (both meat and veg) and fresh spring rolls (shrimp or tofu) and also made (meat) pho while that was all going on. So that was a lovely dinner, even without the soup, though that was probably the best pho anyone here had ever had. I also had enough fresh rolls to provide breakfast on Friday. (And I could have made dozens more later Friday except we had to come out to the Berkshires for family stuff.)

Week 4

2 heads green Cabbages
2 bunches Walla Walla Onions (+tops)
2 bunches Carrots (tops removed)
2 bunches Beets (+greens)
2 heads Broccoli
2 heads Cauliflower
10 Summer Squash (Zucchini and Cousa)
2 lbs Fava Beans
= 29 lbs

Minimal bonus veggies this week because everyone picked up their shares in-house and there also wasn't much in the way of general extras, but I was given two bunches of green onions. Between those, the turnips I kept, the remaining cabbage, and the carrots, there will be a new batch of kimchi started when I get back home.

Sometimes I am a serious veggie magnet. Yesterday was one of those days.

This was my regular farm share, which is a lot of stuff.

Week 3

2 bunches Kohlrabi (with greens)
2 lbs Green Beans
2 bunches Red Spring Onions (with tops)
2 bunches Yellow Carrots
4 Zucchini
2 bunches Radishes
2 bags mixed Baby Lettuce
2 bunches Broccoli
= 20 lbs

In addition to all of that, I also ended up with:

1 bag Baby Spinach
1 bag Basil
2 bunches Harukei Turnips
1 head Red Leaf Lettuce
1 bunch Oregano
1 bunch Kale
1 bunch Rainbow Chard
1 bunch curly Parsley
1 bunch flat Parsley
1 bunch Kohlrabi (with greens)
1 bunch Kohlrabi greens (without kohlrabi)
2 lbs Garlic Scapes (which is, ftr, a whole lot of garlic scapes)

I also have a bread share which I keep forgetting to mention. This week's loaf was a light rye.

Since something needed to be done, last night I finally made my first batch of Greens & Peanut Stew of the season, using up the remaining greens from last week as well as this week’s kale and some of the kohlrabi greens. Which was a lot but still leaves a lot. Also prepped all the bagged lettuce along with spinach for salad.

I have all the fixings for kimchi except the cabbage. Pondering whether I should look for some Napa at the farmers markets Wednesday or just do something else with this stuff. Seems kind of absurd to go and buy more veggies under the circumstances. Maybe beowabbit will come over and I can give him the radishes.

Last year, what with the buying and the selling and the moving, I didn't track the farm share past week one, it seems, and I missed doing it. I know they aren't the most interesting posts, but posting at all makes me more likely to post more. Farm share started last week and we are definitely still ramping up. I didn't weigh either weeks, but week one filled two reusable shopping bags fully and week two filled three, so that much. :)

( Week 1 )

We've been eating lots of salad. Much of the peas were munched raw -- Tadpole was very excited to see them. One evening, a friend came over to cook dinner (ftr, I totally welcome more friends like that :) and I was supposed to have planned a veggie but completely forgot. As luck would have it, she was sautéing marinated shitake, so when those came out, I tossed the sugar snap peas in and cooked them every so briefly in the super-hot cast iron pan. Oh wowowow. I am psyched that we have extra marinade because I know what I want to do with the new batch now.

( Week 2 )

In addition to all of that, neighbors gave us spares from their farm shares, which included a head of purple lettuce, a bunch of rainbow chard, a bunch of kale, some fresh mint, two kohlrabi with greens, 2 bunches garlic scapes, and a few stalks of rhubarb. Getting everything into the fridge was a challenge -- we really have to cook tomorrow!

Among other things, I am planning for zucchini (cousa being close enough) basil soup, since my basil is doing well, too. And salad. I need to make up a batch of the awesome Caesars dressing and just keep it in a jar in the fridge. And my salad/slaw.

Meanwhile, we still have some leftovers lentils from Sunday, when we cooked the community dinner. The menu was Caesar Salad (except just romaine, no kale), Snobby Joes, and six varieties of homemade popsicles (three boozy, three not). In addition, we did a bonus veggie using all the cooking green from Week 1 as well as additional greens neighbors gave us to add in. It was a yummy, well-received meal.

FYI, by default I opt in to everyone's opt-in filters. This is true whether or not I remembered to comment to say so. If a filter is ever problematic enough to me, I'm okay with asking to be removed, but since that is vanishing rare, it's much easier to default that way than to have to explicitly opt in to everything. So in case you have any and I failed to comment, now you know.

Seriously, I see few enough postings from y'all, I don't want that number to get any smaller!

It’s farm share time! As always, it begins with a flood of greens, and as always, a list does not convey just HOW MUCH this is, even though it’s actually small for Parker, believe it or not. I don’t mind ramping up, though — less of a shock to the system. :) Not to mention how perfectly beautiful and delicious each item is. Wow.

Week 1

2 bunches Japanese Turnips (w/ Greens)
2 bunches Pea Tendrils
2 bunches young Kale
2 bunches Swiss Chard
2 bunches Collard Greens
2 heads Napa Cabbage
= ~14#

In order to fit everything into the fridge, I had to get to stuff last night, so I went with tradition and made a big batch of my Greens and Peanut Stew using all the collards, chard, and turnip greens. This had the added bonus of giving me a reason to use the one last butternut squash I still had left from last year’s share. May the circle be unbroken.

I could have thrown in more of the greens, but I want to do a massaged kale and avocado salad. (Which reminds me that wow, I could really use a massage.) I’m also thinking a batch of kimchi with at least one of the heads of cabbage and some turnips. Maybe a nice slaw/salad with the other. Napa cabbage is so good. Not sure about the pea tendrils yet. I’ve never been great at figuring out the best uses for those.

I wrote a new song for our co-op this week, where the current theme is Transportation. I felt like too many of the songs we had focused on the same few modes and it'd be nice to have one with a little more diversity. It was a huge hit! The kids made us do it again and we could have repeated several times if we hadn't wanted to move on.

It's very easy for everyone to join in even if they don't know the song yet, you just need one person who remembers the rhyming line. You can do relevant hand/body motions during the song and clap or stomp or whatever for the beat-beat at the end of the lines. The leading "Oh" can be replaced with "Yes" or "Now" or "And" or whatever. I stuck with "Oh" here for simplicity. New stanzas can also be added, of course. I did this in less than five minutes starting with a bit I stole from another song so my artistic integrity is not threatened.

If you don't have little kids to sing with, you almost certainly won't care.

( Going Places )

I should make sure to post today! :D

Farm share season is over and now it's cold. It wasn't cold on Saturday, though, which was pretty amazing and we spent the day outside. Then yesterday, I made kaddo because it was perfect weather for the oven to be on for many hours. Which reminds me that the leftover syrup is in the freezer for the oil to solidify for easier removal and I should go deal with that.

Also made two quarts of pickled beets last week, which was a nice way to use up most of the beets. Then DD figured out how to cool rabe so it's yummy. Woohoo!

I want to make another apple crisp with almond topping, except we do such a good job of eating the share apples, I may have to go out and buy more. Definitely doing celery root soup, because it's too delicious not to.

2 bunches Beets
2 bunches Arugula
2 bunches Rabe
2 bunches Celery Root
2 bunches Fennel
2 Butternut Squash
4 lbs Parsnips
6 lbs Mutsu Apples
= 32#

[Up-to-the-minute squash count: 7]

Still in denial about the end of farm share season. And also reminded that I never got the radishes to

beowabbit but I will get them to you tomorrow!

I made pumpkin soup, roasted acorn squash for eating and for pizza, caramelized fennel that also went on pizza, a great apple crisp that also used the almond gunk leftover from making almond milk, and I can't remember what else. This will definitely be a soup week -- lentil vegetable is in progress right now.

2 bunches Beets (+Greens)
2 bunches Carrots
2 bunches Leeks
2 bunches Radishes
2 bunches Russian Kale
20 assorted (mostly I took St Nick) Peppers
2 Butternut Squash
6 lbs Cameo Apples
= 32#

[Up-to-the-minute squash count: 8]

These lists, even with the total weight at the end, don't really convey just how much we get in this share. For example, the bunches of chard and beet greens this week were enough to fill about 1/4 of the fridge. Something had to be done, so I made greens & peanut stew! Put in some of the carrots and half a b-nut, and it was so good. DD roasted the other half of the squash and stuck it in the fridge, then yesterday I used that to make almost four dozen maple butternut dumplings for a dumpling party. So yummy, despite the store-bought wrappers.

2 bunches Beets (+Greens)
2 bunches Carrots
4 lbs Turnips
2 bunches Fennel
2 Sugar Pumpkins
2 Butternut Squash
2 bunches Chard
6 lbs Golden Delicious Apples
= 37#

[Up-to-the-minute squash count: 11]

So much squash! What to do, what to do… Last week, I froze a bunch of celery for soup, beet greens, and also green beans. Maybe I should freeze more this week and just focus on the squashen. Who's got some awesome winter squash ideas? Right now I am thinking roasted, soup, and ravioli. Also pondering making pickled beets, just cuz.

Lovely Fall weather is lovely, but it's already starting to get kinda cold in the mornings, which means winter is coming. Sigh.

2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
20 Cubanelle Peppers
2 Butternut Squash
4 Acorn Squash
2 Sugar Pumpkins
2 bunches Arugula
2 bunches Beets (+Greens)
2 bunches Carrots (either scarlet nantes or chantaney)
6 lbs Mutsu Apples
= 39#

I wonder how many years before the farm share weight less than Tadpole.

[Up-to-the-minute squash count: 11]

Finding out what was in this week's share literally made me squee. I may be too into my vegetables.

Lots of fooding lately, even since Monday's post, including mashed turnips with greens, Thai curry, bruschetta, another big mess of roasted tomato sauce, caramelized onions, pizza, and a Manzana chili verde, which I'd never even heard of before.

This week's ingredients definitely call for soup, though the weather hasn't really cooperated. I also want to bring back the cassoulet and need to figure out who to have over for it, since it's not something that keeps very well as leftovers. Some of our favorite people are on an extended trip and it's been a little challenging dealing with that, since normally we see them at least four times a week, often more. But we got a message from them early morning yesterday that the key mission has been accomplished so that's uplifting.

2 bunches Beets (+Greens)
6 lbs Cortland Apples
2 bunches Scarlet Nantes Carrots
2 bunches Parsnips
2 bunches Leeks
2 Butternut Squash
2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
2 lbs Cranberry Beans
= 26.5#

Oops, forgot to hit Post. This is from last week. There has been lots of yum including more zucchini noodles. This time, I went more traditional with a curry peanut sauce. Good stuff. Made a bunch of refrigerator pickles with last week's cucumbers (sorry, I was lazy). The extra box of tomatoes was made into much roasted sauce, some of which went to ushering in pizza baking season. So it's not *all* bad when it gets a little cooler.

Made a glorious celery root soup. I hope we get more so I can make more. Finally got around to freezing some of the pepper excess, too, which is nice to have for the off season, when peppers are surprisingly expensive. I need to freeze the celery tops, too -- perfect for soup!

I still have almost all the turnips left. They keep for a while so there's no pressure, and I didn't feel particularly inspired. But I'll make some mashed turnips soon if nothing more interesting comes to mind.

Apples continue to get et with glee, and last night I made apples & honey muffins, which turned out great. There will certainly be more of those.

4 Zucchini
4 lbs Purple-Top Turnips
8 ears Corn
6 lbs Cortland Apples
2 bunches Rabe
2 Celery Root (+Celery tops!)
2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
12 Peppers
= 35#

Between these apples, going apple picking, and a friend going apple picking and giving us half their haul (they went for the experience, not so much the apples :), we had a lot of apples! But we've been eating them like crazy so they were mostly gone even before I did a big apple crisp and a pile of dried apples. I may have to acquire more.

I traded one cilantro for two ears of corn and an eggplant, which seemed like a good deal to me and made the other guy happy, so yay. (I said I'd trade it for anything and that was his offer.)

Also got a box of tomatoes yesterday so much roasting will shortly commence.

4 lbs Tomatoes
6 lbs Mac Apples
10 ears Corn
2 lbs Romano Beans
16 pickling Cucumbers
2 bunches Cilantro
12 assorted Peppers (I took mostly Poblano and St Nick)
6 Asian Eggplant
= 29#

So much stuff! I made and canned a bunch of corn salsa, since pretty much all the ingredients were in the share. (Last week's summer squash turned into relish and some of the beans into dilly beans. Yay for canning!) Of course more bruschetta. Haven't decided about the tomatillos yet.

Meanwhile (also using last week's), I made another triple batch of Zucchini Basil Soup (that stuff just hasn't stopped being awesome), but decided to do something different with the rest and made Zucchini Pasta with an improvised nummy sauce. No grain here, these noodles are just julienned zucchini, but somehow it turns out delicious. All raw, too. I brought it to the Hav for the Yom Kippur break-fast and it disappeared pretty quickly. Shockingly, I actually want more zucchini.

( Noodly Goodness )

6 lbs Tomatoes
4 lbs Peaches
2 lbs Turnips
2 pints Tomatillos
4 Zucchini
6 Cucumbers
16 ears Corn
8 Assorted Peppers
= 39#

For Rosh HaShana last night I recapped the miso-glazed eggplant, Szechuan green beans with tofu, and brown rice. Then we munched on apples we picked this weekend paired with honey from a friend's backyard hives. HaMotzi was over French bread. Y'know, the traditional yontov meal.

Also made more of the zucchini basil soup and was once again amazed by how good it is. Just delivered some to the neighbors who just had a baby, thus accomplishing an out-of-the-house errand while the little guy napped. Woohoo!

Happy New Year!

2 bunches Chard
4 Zucchini
4 Summer Squash
4 Cucumbers
10 Peppers (assorted)
6 Asian Eggplant
2 lbs Beans
4 lbs Peaches
6 lbs Tomatoes
= 35#

I am amused at how much heavier the share is than Tadpole.

Yay tomatoes!! This week, I might be willing to forego simply eating them all and perhaps make some sauce. But we'll see. Last night I was feeling stuck about no ready-to-eat food in the house and considered ordering out, but I looked at the list and quickly whipped up a meal of miso-glazed Japanese eggplant and Szechuan green beans & tofu. Definite keepers. Really wish I had more time to can.

Week 11

6 lbs Tomatoes
6 lbs Peaches
6 Cucumbers
2 bunches Radishes
2 bunches Arugula
6 Japanese Eggplant
8 Cubanelle Peppers
2 lbs Green Bean
= 36#

Week 10

6 Peppers
8 ears Corn
4 lbs Potatoes
4 lbs Tomatoes
2 bunches Turnip Greens
2 bunches Parsley
2 bunches Carrots
4 lbs Peaches
= 29#

Just to get an idea of the abundance of this, the carrots alone, after the tops were removed, weighs 3.3 lbs. I love carrots, so this is awesome. The potato inspiration finally hit and between the weeks of them (which I mostly hadn't used yet aside from in curries), I made masala dosa at home, then a big batch of the aloo masala for a potluck cook-out, then pot pies to freeze, and the rest became home fries alongside breakfast wraps that included a tofu scramble with some of the other veggies. Nom, I say.

So far, the tomatoes are strictly bruschetta and sandwiches. Pretty sure this is always the time of year when I say I won't make sauce because I'm too busy eating them. Then eventually the huge quantities come in and I decide sure, let's make some sauce. Gotta decide when to grab a case. Also wondering if the corn hauls are going to up to their usual absurd numbers, and if so, should I make more corn salsa. It's nice to see my preserved stashes dwindle, but it makes me want to make more!

2 bunch Carrots (greens removed)
2 bunch Red Chard
4 lbs New Potatoes
6 Peppers
2 lbs Onions
8 ears Corn
4 lbs Peaches
4 lbs Tomatoes
= 30 #

Please consider bidding on yummy treats to fight cancer and support

taura_g,

candle_light, and myself -- a.k.a. Goliaths for David -- in their walk for the Jimmy Fund! Here's the current set of offerings (to be updated as bidding progresses; post if you want to contribute to the items for bid):

Home-canned bourbon peaches and cranberry sauce by surrealestate. Current bid: $8

Home-canned Dilly Wonder Beans and summer squash relish by surrealestate. Current bid: none yet

Home-canned tomatillo salsa verde and corn salsa by surrealestate. Current bid: $12

Bavarian Apfelwein by surrealestate. Current bid: $15

Blackberry barleywine ale by surrealestate. Current bid: none yet

Eggless lemon cupcakes by buxom_bey. Top 2 bidders each get 8 cupcakes. Current bid: none yet

Chocolate chunk cookies by teddywolf. Current bid: none yet

Cheddar buttermilk biscuits by teddywolf. Current bid: $8

Custom voice message by teddywolf. Current bid: none yet

Unicorn Poop (homemade marshmallows with edible glitter) by tamidon. Current bid: none yet

Fresh bagels by ceo. Current bid: $12

Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles by fangirl715. Current bid: $15

Basic brownies by asciikitty. Current bid: $10

Mini fruit pies by mizarchivist. Current bid: $18

Heart-shaped whoopie pies by trowa_barton. Current bid: none yet

Bourbon ice cream by trowa_barton. Current bid: $15

Bidding will close at 5:30pm on Monday, August 19th. Remember, this is for charity, so bid early and often. :)

[This post stolen from

hammercock as best as I could.]

Corn and tomatoes and peaches, oh my! I can hardly believe how yummy everything is. Of course, with a ~3-foot cherry tomato fiend in the house, I don't get to eat many of those, but he does allow me some peaches, for which I am grateful.

Stir fries and thai curries have abounded these past weeks and will continue to do so. This week I also went back to the basics with my marinated raw kale salad. So good, so simple. Not sure what to do with SO MUCH parsley, though. The herb garden has an abundance as well, so really, just lots of parsley.

After we'd eaten as many plums as we could before getting distracted by peaches, the remainder of last week's plums went into canned low-sugar plum jam.... Seven half-pints plus another almost-pint for the fridge. Kind of insane. But so tart and delicious!

2 bunches Red Russian Kale
2 bunches Parsley
2 bunches Baby Bok Choy
2 heads Cabbage
4 lbs New Potatoes
2 bunches Yellow Carrots
2 boxes Cherry Tomatoes
8 ears Corn
4 lbs Peaches
= 28#

It's possible I get a little over excited about my farm share, but I don't care, because it's awesome! This week was like whoa. Given the squash/cuke choice, I decided to go with zukes because I want more of that soup. There was push for more cucumber soup, too, but we still had a bit in the fridge, so I thought it was zuke's turn. I suppose I could have gone with 2 zukes and 5 cukes, but seriously, I love that soup, plus another baby just arrived, so I will no doubt be delivering some soon.

I could do more kimchi, too, but I think I will end up making some stir fries. Also beet-carrot salad since I saved last week's beets on the assumption that there would be more carrots, woohoo! More kale chips? Will see.

And the plums! What to do… Tadpole ate at least eight of them yesterday (I lost count) but there are dozens and dozens. I feel like I ought to can some. Sort sort of plum jam, perhaps? Maybe also popsicles. Ideas welcome.

2 bunches Japanese Turnips
2 bunches Baby Bok Choy
2 bunches Tuscan Kale
2 bunches Carrots
2 bunches Onions
4 Squash/Zucchini or 10 Pickling Cukes (I took zucchini)
4 lbs New Potatoes
2 Bunches Basil
6 lbs Plums
= 30.8# (whew)

Left this sitting in a tab by accident. In a fit of immediate productivity, by Wednesday I'd already made a giant batch of zucchini-basil soup, a stir fry, and a carrot-beet salad. Plus almond milk, but that had nothing to do with the share. I think from now on, our milk will be homemade. And I didn't even need a nut milk bag! (heheh)

I've been minority obsessed with cold summer soups to the tune of several gallons and counting. I'll be honest and say I didn't think I'd even like the cucumber one (because come one, a soup made of cucumbers?) but I'm glad I made it anyway cuz it was awesome. Plus I've been able to bestow them upon friends who've recently (re)spawned and they've appreciated food that can be eaten straight out of the fridge (and one-handed in a mug if need be). Also canned more dilly beans.

Just got back from a weekend in Brooklyn which made me miss being right by great beaches and Jess (who also enjoyed the soup).

2 heads Cabbage
2 bunches Chioggia Beets (with Greens)
2 bunches Chard
2 lbs New Potatoes
4 Cucumbers
4 Squash
2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
2 bunches Cippolini Onions
= 22.8#

What to make what to make! I think some proper fermented pickles are in order, and if I'm up for it, maybe some canned vinegar pickles, too. Because, well, that's a lot of cukes. I made a huge batch of the awesome squash-basil soup with last week's zucchini and was thinking I might make more this week, but this week's are small yellow summer squash. I can't believe I'm now lamenting a lack of zucchini! This is why I love having a farm share.

Last week's kale turned into nummy chips, maybe this week's will, too. I also canned a half-dozen jars of dilly beans and I guess I could do more with the Kentucky Wonders. I think I definitely want to make some pesto, anyway.

2 bunches Carrots
2 bunches Red Russian Kale
2 bunches Arugula
2 bunches Basil
4 Summer Squash
2 lbs Kentucky Wonder Beans
20 Pickling Cukes (!!)
2 lbs New Red Potatoes
= 27#

This one was a challenge to lug home, not to mention get into the fridge. I didn't take the largest zukes, but makes I will grab one next time just for a photo op. The other day I made an f'in amazing squash & basil soup with last week's Cousa and I will almost certainly make more with this week's squash. Maybe use it all and freeze a bunch. I love finding uses for the veggies I'm not generally a big fan of.

Speaking of which, the fennel will join its predecessors in being caramelized. I don't use the fennel tops though. I know they are usable, but we just don't like the flavor. For future reference, is there anyone nearby who would like them?

Last week I wanted to make the Kale Chips of Awesomeness (there must be some way to distinguish them from basically plain roasted kale pieces) but ended up throwing all the greens into my Greens & Peanut Stew. Maybe chips this week.

The green beans call out to be dilly (which makes me sad that I never did get any dill into my herb garden… anyone know a good place to look for a plant now? I can go with dillseeds for now, anyway) but I'll have to see if I'm up to canning.

Also, can a person or two comment here? Just to remind me that someone is seeing these? :)

2 bunches Chioggia Beets (w/ Greens)
2 bunches Yellow Carrots
2 bunches Fennel
2 bunches Kale
4 heads Broccoli
4 Zucchini of Unusual Size
2 lbs Fava Beans
2 lbs Green Beans
4 Cucumbers
= 30#

Made today:

* My Peanut-Butter-Greens Stew with lots of farm share veggies: greens (all of the kale, beet greens, and kohlrabi greens), carrots, scallions, and, making a special appearance out of the freezer from previous harvests, jalapeños and pumpkin.

* Brown rice (on which to lay aforementioned greens)

* Rhubarb-Strawberry Ice Cream, which mostly went into popsicle molds.

* Rhubarb-Ginger Oat Squares

It's a shame we ended up missed both of today's potluck events (and everything else we were invited to, sorry).

And I still have pounds of rhubarb in the freezer. I will be making another batch of the ice cream for a gathering next week.

Plus we found the good bourbon! Anyone want the bottle of cheap stuff I never should have bought?

And onto the haul!

2 bunches Beets (plus Greens)
2 bunches Carrots
2 lbs Sugar Snap Peas
2 bunches Kohlrabi (plus Greens)
2 bunches Mizuna
2 bunches Red Russian Kale
4 Cousa Squash
2 bunches Cippolini Spring Onions
= 22#

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CSA Farm Share 2015: Week 20
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CSA Farm Share 2015: Weeks 12 and 13 (Winter Squash is Coming)
CSA Farm Share 2015: Week 11
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CSA Farm Share 2015: Weeks 7 and 8 (PICKLES!)
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