2023 CSA Farm Update: Week 15
Lettuce Flower
Hello Everyone and welcome to week 15 of the Katchkie Farm CSA. The first days of fall are nearly upon us and the garden is truly reflecting this time of year. Our pepper production is slowly winding down and our fall crops are staring to reach maturity. Cabbages, cauliflower, and radicchio are making heads. Fall radishes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets are all steadily growing. Our winter squash patch is also showing mature fruit, which we plan to harvest this coming week. Fall garlic beds are being prepared as well as seeding the next round of cover crops which will bring life and cover to the soil during the winter months.
This past week on the farm brought a visit from Mark Epstein of FlowFarm in North Carolina. He and his wife operate a small market garden with an approach to farm fertility known as Veganic which does not use any fertility sources that were derived from animals. Which I have to say is not an easy accomplishment on an organic farm as animal manures and fish emulsions are mainstays on most of them. As we toured the farm Mark noticed the abundance of rocks in our soils, which in his sandy soil he was not accustomed to. He wanted to know if they were problematic. Farming in Columbia County for 17 years, I have come to view rocks as part of the family. I might be at a loss if at least a few were not there!
One aspect of Mark that really shined through was his sense of wonder for agriculture. He has been farming many years, but still had lots of questions about how crops grew in the Northeast, what tools did we use at a slightly larger scale farm, and how we go about bringing life to the soils on this farm. I look forward to talking to Mark again in the near future.
Last week also brought me to the Row 7 Seed Company trials and breeding farm in Montgomery, NY. Row 7 breeds vegetable varieties that have very unique traits for culinary use. It was very exciting to see a farm that was producing crops for seeds. As a produce farm, we generally harvest crops while they are in a tender and edible stage of growth. Lettuce on a seed farm has a very different life cycle. It initially starts the same as a seed being planted in the soil, and allowed to form a head, but from there it is allowed to go further. It is allowed to bolt, sending up a flower stalk, which will eventually flower and produce seed. All along the way it is being selected for color, vigor, taste, leaf shape, and disease resistance, all of which will show up in the next generation. It is the farmers’ version of sculpture.
This week’s share will bring pinto gold potatoes which have a unique red with splashes of yellow skin and a delectable yellow interior that stands out roasted, steamed, or fried. This is variety that is bred for its eating quality, not its shipping quality, which is one of those jewels that can only be found when you know your farmer! Dazzling Blue lacinato kale is also a new addition to this week’s share. It is a type of lacinato kale that has been bred for its variation of color as well as being more tender than traditional lacinato kale. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Farmer Jon
WEEKLY HARVEST INCLUDES*
*We try our best to provide the most accurate CSA list in the newsletter! However, there’s always a chance of last minute substitutions in some bags if we don’t harvest enough of a vegetable.
DELICIOUS RECIPES TO TRY
Liz's Family's Favorite Potatoes
Ingredients
2 lbs small potatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 springs of rosemary, remove leaves from stem and discard stem
3 sprigs of thyme
6 unpeeled garlic cloves
Coarse salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and place a baking sheet or large cast-iron skillet inside so that it is hot when the potatoes hit it.
Toss potatoes in a bowl with olive oil, rosemary, time, garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. Put everything in the hot pan, reduce the heat to 425 degrees, and roast for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are crisp outside and tender within; toss once or twice. The garlic flesh will be soft and can be pushed out of the cloves and served with the potatoes.
Note: In place of the whole unpeeled garlic, you can use peeled and roughly chopped garlic, but wait to add it until about halfway through the roasting time or it will burn and become bitter. Sage can be included in the herb mix or substituted for one or the other, and chopped parsley can be tossed on when the potatoes emerge from the oven.