13 October 07Week 18 News and Produce

Today's harvest was a lot more enjoyable than Wednesday morning's harvest in the rain! We were drenched but I guess it is to be expected at this time of the year. This morning though was nice and dry and we had fun harvesting apples and pumpkins for you. One of the apple trees was so tall and grows over the road, that we had to stand on the top of Erik's big work truck to pick them. And when we were bringing in the pumpkins, I hit a rock with the cart and almost spilled them all. But fortunately Nate came to the rescue and grabbed the cart!

This Week's Produce

• Cabbage - It's nice to have the green cabbage back this fall. I brought a cabbage salad to a potluck in the spring and another farmer asked, "What is this? It's so sweet." It was so sweet and tender, he didn't realize it was cabbage! Now that is some good cabbage! I've attached a recipe for shredded cabbage salad.
• Winter squash - This delicious squash is called 'Uncle David's Dakota Dessert Squash'. It's quite a mouthful to say but the name is the main reason I bought the seed the first year as it sounded different and interesting. The reason I bought the seed again this second year is because it is so good! It is essentially a buttercup variety and can be used in sweet and savory situations. I've included a recipe that is on the sweeter side but would still be considered a side dish.
  
• Apples - Now keep in mind we are not professional apple growers and the size and appearance are probably not what you are used to but we sampled some from each tree that we harvested from and they are really tasty!
• Carving Pumpkin - It's that time of year again to start thinking about carving pumpkins and making hot apple cider! We will be going through the pumpkin patch and picking out the best pumpkins we have for you. We are giving you ones for carving today and next week we'll be passing out Cinderella pumpkins (which are beautiful but also edible) and corn stalks. Don't forget to roast your pumpkin seeds! I've attached a quick recipe to use up the seeds for a nutritional snack.
  
• Broccoli - We're lucky to have some nice size heads of broccoli this late in the season. It can be a little iffy once we start getting a lot of rain as the rain can sit on the tops and rot them.
  
• Mini lettuce - These lettuce heads were planted late and will not get to full head size but are perfect for a salad or using on sandwiches.
  
• Peppers - 'Jalapeno' peppers. For you hot sauce fans I've included a recipe for a Jalapeno hot pepper sauce that is easy to make and will last for a long time.
  
• Tomatoes - This will be the last week for the ripe tomatoes.
• Garlic