Fall Update + Recipes

21 hours ago

3 min read

Wowee! It's been awhile since we shared an update! July and August are always a busy time but with our fencing project and the abundance of weeds from all the rain, we've had our hands extra full. Since we last checked in, we've entered and passed peak summer - the zucchinis are done, cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes are winding down, and the flowers are but a shadow of their former selves. Despite the cool start to the season, we still enjoyed an abundant August!

As we shift gears into the end of the season, we're already starting to think about next season. We do our best to prep what we can now to save our backs in the busy spring time. For us, that looks like moving all of our caterpillar tunnels. The aforementioned August abundance grows primarily in our tunnels - peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers all appreciate the extra heat and the controlled environment. These structures are also great for extending the season, so we will move them in October and place them on top of crops that are already in the ground, but that we won't harvest until November or December. Even a thin plastic layer works wonders for keeping frost off of crops. We plan to be at the Lunenburg market until Christmas and have our extended fall CSA to look forward to in November. We'll shift our two big tunnels over these planted areas - this means removing the tomato trellis, taking down the plastic and dismantling the hoops. We then pull up the rebar and pound it back into it's new location. Moving 4 tunnels means removing and re-pounding 160 rebar! It's a big job, but we're always happy to have it done now rather than in the late winter. In the late winter, we typically start planting into our tunnels in March. This year, we still had several feet of snow at that time, so it was amazing having the structures in place. We still had to dig to access the carabiners to string up the plastic, but that was a welcome job on a sunny winter day. We're still pulling in big harvests, so we're not winter ready yet, but farming is a constant puzzle of figuring out what goes where in the short term and long term, so we're thinking ahead!

With temperatures dropping, we're shifting now towards cooler weather crops and we wanted to share some recipes with you for some of the veg you may be less familiar with. If there's anything you'd like to have more info about or have a favourite recipe to share - let us know!

Fennel ~ This licorice flavoured bulb has beautiful fronds and a generous bulb that's great for roasting or slicing into any salad. I treat like an herb for a generous addition of flavour.

Radicchio ~ These beautiful burgundy heads are super cold hearty and add a delightful bitterness to any dish. I love to make warm winter salads with radicchio. Fat, starch and sugar helps to cut the bitterness, so picture salads with roasted squash or carrots, caramelized onions, thick mustard maple sauces, bacon, etc.

Kohlrabi ~ The most alien crop we grow! It's name translates to cabbage root and it's exactly that. Perfect a crunchy, sweet broccoli stem. It's a lovely snack when raw or can be sliced/ shredded into any salad. They can be steamed or cooked, but I prefer them raw.

Salad Turnips ~ These crunchy, sweet, earthy turnips are great raw or roasted.

Radish ~ Spicy and crunchy, a welcome bit of texture and kick as the seasonal foods lend more mushy and beige. They're also great roasted.

Recipes: