September. Possibly the greatest month of them all.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen!  There's a chill in the air and we are liking it.  Hope you are climbing up the old attic steps and getting your sweaters out of storage.  Or, if you're anything like me, you're just happy that you never got around to packing them away....

A note to a certain shareholder, we DO grow DINOSAUR KALE aka Lacinato, so look for that in the coming weeks.

What a gorgeous week it's been up here at the farm.  It's wedding season for Marley and Charlton.  Nono, they aren't getting married yet, but their friends and Marley's brother is!  Congratulations Dan and Danielle!  Marley will be arranging the flowers for her oldest brother's wedding this weekend.  What an incredible wedding gift.  Here, I grew your wedding flowers.  I am not crying.

Tasks this week included planting our fall crop of lettuce and bok choi, weeding the root crops, harvesting the cheese pumpkins, spraying neem and peppermint oil on the fall brassica crops, etc, etc.  We're also talking about the fall's cover cropping plan and the future farm fields of America.  The mixes that we planted are coming up nicely and should be in your salad bowl in a few short weeks.  We've got arugula, lettuce mix and mesclun mixes for you guys.  Oh!  And spinach too!

A few of you guys have been asking about how long your share goes.  Our 20 week program officially ends October 14th and 15th.  Around that time, you will be hearing plenty about our end of the season picnic, which will be complete with a field gleaning where we'll all get to picnic again and you guys can clean our fields of all remaining crops!  

The variety of winter squash that will be in your share this week is called sweet dumpling.  Like other winter squash, it's most easily prepared by halving it, scooping the seeds out and roasting it in a water bath.  Sweet dumpling is a small variety of winter squash and is mildly sweet.  Due to its shape and size, it is great for stuffing and presenting whole on the table.  Online (at http://inspiredbites.blogspot.com/2008/10/stuffed-sweet-dumpling-squash.html)  I recently found a delicious recipe for sweet dumpling squash stuffed with rice, peppers, onions and garlic.  A sweeter variation I have yet to try is one that includes raisins, apples, carrots and rice.  Let us know any good recipes you find or come up with!

CROP OF THE WEEK

POTATOES

Potatoes are delicious.  Just like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, us 3 farmers believe there is no wrong way to eat a potato.  We heart them.  The variety of potatoes you will be receiving this week is Katahdin, named after the mountain in Maine.  Saturday, I found myself making french fries with this white potato variety.  All I did was fill the frying pan with oil (don't use olive!) and cut up the potatoes into long french fry shapes, with skins on, and gently placed them in the hot oil.  I let them fry for a good amount of time, maybe 10 minutes, but timing will depend on your specific stove and how high you have the temp.  Then I laid them out on a paper towel to cool and sea salted them up and then enjoyed!  Often, during the growing season, we find ourselves having a insatiable desire for potato chips.  After researching this craving, we found out that we are most likely trying to make up for a potassium deficiency.  This is likely due to the ridiculous amounts of water we drink during the hot summer months.  Our body is trying to restore the balance by making us eat potato chips.  

Potatoes are known as a classic carbohydrate - a bulky, starchy food.  Potatoes have vitamin C, potassium!, and vitamin b6.  And remember that by keeping the skins on, you are keeping the most fiber rich part.  Potatoes can offer protection from colon cancer and help improve glucose tolerance.  Potatoes are a part of the nightshade family, and the edible tubers are eaten.  Potatoes are grown by waiting until the plants above ground die, and then by letting the skins cure underground.  If you ever find a green potato, DON'T EAT IT!  Potatoes turn green when they are exposed to the sun and are poisonous.  Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat and corn (info from wikipedia:potato).  Today over 99% of all cultivated potatoes are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to Chile.  Wild potatoes grow all over the U.S. and South America, though.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

POTATO, CHORIZO AND GREENS SOUP

4 TBSP olive oil

2 medium leeks, chopped or 1 medium onion, chopped

5 large potatoes

1 large clove garlic, minced

6 cups chicken broth (can use vegetable)

2 cups water

6 oz. hard cured chorizo, pepperoni or other dry sausage, diced

1 lb mustard greens or kale (or any green), stemmed and thinly sliced.

salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat 3 TBSP oil over medium heat.  Add the leeks or onion, cover and sweat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Uncover, add the potatoes and cook until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the broth and water, and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Slightly mash the potato until thick, but leave some texture.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 TBSP oil over med. heat.  Add the chorizo and cook until light brown.

Add the chorizo to the soup along with the greens.  Return to a simmer and cook until the greens are just tender, about 5 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

:)