2023 CSA Farm Update: Week 17
Hello Everyone and welcome to week 17 of the Katchkie Farm CSA. Rain seems to be our weather pattern as of late. We heard about the torrential rains that fell in NYC on Friday. We hope that everyone was able to weather out the storm. Much of a farmer’s work is dictated by the weather, and sometimes it can be unrelenting, and it makes us cherish those pristine moments even more.
As I have been checking on the progress of our fall crops, I have been noticing some deer damage on our beets and radicchio. Deer can be very problematic on a small vegetable farm. A few of them can easily create thousands of dollars in damage in a very short time. We do have a deer fence that surrounds over 30 acres of Katchkie Farm, but somehow they have been occasionally getting inside to eat some of our vegetables.
The other night I had the inking to go out and do a search for them. My two-year-old daughter who was also up would not let me out of her sight, so I took her along for an adventure. My daughter is very afraid of animals larger than her, and rightly so. She got very scared on the way to the farm when she heard we were looking for deer, but she held on to my hand and we went into the night.
The first area we looked in was where the beets are growing. I shined the headlights in the beds and lo and behold, I saw eight eyes shining back at us. I told my daughter that we needed to go scare the deer away. I picked her up and off we went into beets beds to go and chase them away. She got very scared, but I let her know that the deer were even more scared of us. As we got closer, all four of them ran away, white tails up in the air.
There was success in getting them to stop eating the beets, but the job would not be complete without getting them out of the farm. We got back into the car and slowly followed them into the night. Following a herd of deer, at night, in a minivan is not exactly comforting to a two-year-old. I took a moment to show her all of the bright stars in the sky. Her gaze went upward, and she was lost in the twinkling night. Then I “pulled” a star down from the sky and told her to hold on to it to help her be brave. The bright shining light pulled out of the sky by her daddy seemed to put her at ease. Very slowly, we watched as the deer made their way through the farm and out of the gates. I am not sure if my daughter will remember this moment, but I never felt so lucky to be chasing deer out of the farm fields.
This week’s share brings us many new vegetables. Firstly, being the koginut winter squash. This is a visually stunning squash that is just as delicious. Secondly, our crop of mini white daikon radish matured a week earlier than expected. Grated, these make a wonderful fresh salad. Lastly, celeriac and golden beets will also make their first appearances of the year. These wonderful earthy vegetables bring the flavor of fall into your kitchen.
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.
recipe: CRANBERRY BRAISED RED CABBAGE RECIPE
This tender braised red cabbage is the perfect accompaniment to duck or pork or just about any kind of sausages. I have even spread it on a ham sandwich on toasted rye bread. Be sure to use unsweetened cranberry juice, not cranberry “cocktail” or the result will be far too sweet. This is a great make-ahead winter side dish and can be stored refrigerated for several days.
Ingredients:
4 cardamom pods, finely ground
1 tsp coriander seeds, finely ground
½ cup honey
4 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
4 oz bacon sliced and cut in 1“ pieces
2 medium white onions, peeled, thinly sliced
1 head red cabbage, quartered, cored, thinly sliced
1 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 300°.
In a small saucepan, over low heat, bring honey to a boil. Add ground cardamom and coriander and cranberry juice. Simmer until reduced by about half.
In a large cast iron pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook bacon until translucent, about five minutes. Add onions and cook stirring occasionally another five minutes. Add cabbage and apple and cook stirring until softened, an additional 15 minutes. Add reduced cranberry juice and spice mixture and toss to coat. Cover and transfer to oven
Braise approximately two hours until cabbage is tender.