This week your basket contains: cucumber, rainbow carrots, onions, tomatoes (half shares), eggplant, sweet peppers, beans, Swiss chard, BROCCOLI (full shares).

PUMPKIN PICK-UP WEEKEND  is planned for October 23^rd and 24^th 11:00 to 4:00.  Come on out to pick up your jack-o-lantern, decorative gourds and corn stalks.  We’ll be making individual pizzas for each family/group (including pumpkin pie pizza) and giving tours of the farm.  We will also be conducting a guess-the-weight-win-the-pumpkin contest each day.  We are happy to say that we have a couple of very nice pumpkins for the contest this year including this beauty!

Wouldn’t that look great on your porch!

(The pumpkin; not James)

Looking at the contents of your basket, you can see that fall is here for real.  This is the last hurrah for tomatoes, and the summer squash has given up the ghost.  We have store winter squash and are pleased with the harvest.  We are also pleased that the broccoli has come on right on schedule.  We are also seeing the first cauliflower heads.  While the plants are good sized, these first heads are small (a phenomenon called “buttoning up”).   A long time ago we heard someone say that “cauliflower will button up in response to any insult, real or imagined.”  Unfortunately, we can think of a real insult.  These earliest cauliflowers were ready to transplant just before the record heat this summer.  We chose to keep them in their flats in the greenhouse where it would be easier to keep them alive.  They languished a bit, and after transplanting were hit by a second heatwave.  On the optimistic side, the first heads are often small and we have hopes for the plants that are taking their time to mature.  We also have a second seeding that looks really good and didn’t suffer the same  insults as the early planting.

SWISS CHARD WITH PEANUTS AND CHILES

10 leaves Swiss chard, thick stems removed

2 TBS olive oil

½ onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno or other hot pepper, minced

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

½ cup roasted, salted peanuts, finely chopped

Boil chard in a large pot of water for 10 minutes.  Drain, press out excess water and pat dry.  Puree in food processor.  Add oil to skillet and sauté onion, tomatoes, garlic, chile, salt and pepper for ten minutes over medium heat.  Add pureed chard and chopped peanuts and stir to blend, continue cooking for two minutes then serve.  From Foodday.  Makes 4 servings.

CURRIED CREAM OF CARROT SOUP

2 Tbs. butter

2 med. onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp. dry thyme

1 lb. carrots, pared and diced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tsp. curry powder

1 cup milk or cream

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add onion, garlic and thyme.  Sauté until onion is soft.  Add carrots and cook 10 minutes.  Add chicken broth and curry powder.  Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.  Puree in a blender; return to pan and add milk or cream until the soup reaches desired consistency.  Heat for 5 minutes and serve garnished with yougurt or sour cream and chives.