We now have Red Russian Kale in good supply on the farm for the remainder of the season!  It is a very tender kale that is especially cold hardy so we eat it a lot in the fall and winter.  You may have noticed that the curly kale is the toughest of the three variety of kales that we grow.  Lacinato is more tender, and Red (and White) Russian is the tenderest of all.  The Curly Kale can also vary quite a bit in how tough or tender it is depending on how long the planting has been around.  The tough kale works the best for kale chips and the tender kale works best for fresh massaged kale salads. Kale gets sweeter after it frosts, as do several root crops (parsnips, carrots, rutabagas).

You may have noticed that we haven't handed out a lot of carrots lately.  We had some nice early plantings but then we weren't able to plant for several weeks in June and July when it rained so much, and we also lost a planting to weeds during that time, so we've now harvested most of the early carrots (except the beds reserved for winter shares) and the late carrots are still quite small.  The carrots we put in the boxes today had quite a few small and misshapen roots but they are very tender and tasty, so please judge them by taste rather than by their looks!  

Spinach is back!  With the cool weather comes the tenderest of greens.  Spinach is great raw in salads as well as cooked or baked into dishes.  Spinach makes a delicious salad, especially when combined with cheese or fruit (goat cheese, blue cheese, walnuts, pine nuts, apples and pears all go nicely with spinach.) 

 

From Pasta East to West, by Nava Atlas

  

What a gorgeous color combination! This salad is a light and lovely
companion to any pasta or noodle dish, east or west.

5 to 6 ounces fresh spinach, preferably triple-washed, rinsed, stemmed, and coarsely chopped
½ small head radicchio, coarsely chopped
3 clementines or other small seedless orange, peeled and sectioned
1 Kirby (pickling) cucumber, thinly sliced
¼ cup toasted slivered almonds
extra-virgin olive oil
white balsamic or white wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the spinach, radicchio, clementines, cucumber, and almonds in a
serving bowl and toss together. Dress as desired with oil and vinegar, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss again and serve.