 Midsummer Farm CSA Weekly Newsletter: Share Pick Up #15 Hi all!
I can't believe the Autumn Scent in the air - this year really sped by fast! There is only one more week to go after this one...
The shorter day light hours have signaled the hens to molt and start growing winter feathers and so the egg production is very light now. Our gigantic Shagbark Hickory tree that sits at the center of our farm is dropping nuts like crazy - it is bit dangerous walking under it! We're starting the winterizing process of cleaning up the fields, sowing cover crops, and pulling down trellising.
We pulled up the burdock roots and the fennels this week - a very arduous and dirty process! The dirt goes flying everywhere once you actually get them out of the ground!
Fennel is great combined with fruit in a salad. Very festive. Thinly slice the fennel, along with apples and grated carrots for a great seasonal salad. Toss with apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper - so simple yet truly sublime. And eat the fennel greens too - they're great!
We pride ourselves in the heightened flavor of our fennels - we grow all our herbs and vegetables with yarrow as a companion plant. The yarrow is an extremely powerful biodynamic plant and heightens the essential oil content and therefore the flavor and scent of the plants growing around it. ________________________________________________________________________
Burdock These are very dark gnarly roots - full of nutrients and all the goodness and toughness of the soil and earth. We grow them in raised beds as we discovered that they are too difficult to pull up when planted in the regular soil.
Burdock root definitely falls into the "can't judge a book ..." category of vegetables. The humble exterior of the large, dark, woody-looking root belies the sweet, nutty, delicate, crunchy flesh within. Burdock's flavor is subtle and very much its own. Although its bark-like skin looks thick, it is actually tissue-paper-thin and can be scraped away with a fingernail or light scrubbing. Gobo is the Japanese word for burdock, which is considered an intensely "yang" vegetable. Although the plant grows throughout Europe and North America, it had, until very recently, been cultivated only in Japan. It is now cultivated here and there throughout the United States, but its consumption is still more or less confined to those on a macrobiotic diet. Only now are we rediscovering what the Iroquois and other American Indians knew - and what the Japanese still know - that burdock is a delicious, nutritious, and even healing root vegetable.
Burdock keeps well in the fridge in an open plastic bag or you can freeze it.
Burdock can be termed a health food simply by virtue of its high fiber and low calorie content. It is also a very good source of minerals. But perhaps the most unique aspect of the root is its very high amount of inulin, a phytochemical that mimics the actions of insulin. According to one source, from 27 to 45 percent of the root is inulin and some people have found it an effective food to control hypoglycemia and prediabetes. I have found that eating it with carrots as a breakfast-stir fry gives me tremendous energy and stamina for the day. A lot of positive energy in a root!
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We're also harvesting more bell peppers and some beautiful bok choi this week. The winter squash vines do not look well - I'm afraid we lost most of them to the hurricane. But we were able to harvest the smaller Sweet Dumpling squash, which we are thankful for.
And I almost forgot about the Okra! I love growing okra - it is very easy to grow and gets beautiful flowers, and I tend to forget that the okra plants are there making okra pods! I start craving gumbo on the first cool nights, and then I remember it! You can get very complex in creating gumbos, but here's a very easy recipe that comes out delicious:
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Seafood Gumbo Recipe
1/2 stick butter
3 tablespoons flour
5-10 okras, sliced
About 11-ounces chicken broth
1 12-ounce can tomato juice
3 cups water
1-2 chicken breasts or 3-4 boneless, skinless thighs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 to 1-1/2 lbs of seafood or about 3 6-ounce cans seafood (shrimp, clams, crab or any combination)
1 teaspoon file' (optional) Directions
In a large heavy pot brown butter and flour lightly on medium heat. Stir in remaining ingredients except seafood and file'. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir at 15 minute intervals.
Add seafood and all liquid. Stir and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat, add file' and stir gently. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
Serve over rice.
________________________________________________________________________ I am also including an Evaluation Form in your basket this week. If you could take the time to fill it out and give it back to us next week, that would be very helpful in our planning for next year. Thanks again and best always,
Barbara & Mark
Midsummer Farm
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