Crop Talk, October 17: Week 20

Thanks for a Great Season!   

   This is the last week of the 2016 CSA season -- hard to believe time passes so quickly! We want to thank you for choosing us as your farmers this year, and we hope you'll choose us again in 2017. To that end, we'd be grateful if you'd take a minute to tell us what you liked about the program this year and what you hope we'll improve in the future. If you could drop us a quick email, that would be great.

Neck Pumpkins and Turnips

   The last shares of the season include two items with which you may not be familiar: turnips and neck pumpkins. There are lots of things you can do with turnips, but the simplest thing is to cut the bulbs into medallions, sautee them with some onion for about 5 minutes, and then add the chopped greens and cover until the greens wilt -- two or three minutes more.

   Neck pumpkins are basically big butternut squashes with thicker skins. If you peel them, you can roast them, steam them, or sautee them, and you can also roast them without peeling first. They make great pies and great soups, and they're delicious with Brussels sprouts and bacon.

   About the popcorn in this week's shares: we suggest you leave it on the cob and use it as table decoration until Thanksgiving. Then shuck it and pop it in a sauce pan with a touch of corn oil.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

From The Lemon Bowl, by Liz DellaCroce

   Soup season has officially arrived and the timing couldn’t be more perfect: I am 39 weeks pregnant and ready to welcome in the cooler temps, legging-centered outfits, and cozy evenings under a blanket. Of course being 9 1/2 months pregnant also means exhaustion levels are starting to reach new heights. People always say pregnancy is harder the second time around when you’re also home chasing around busy toddler all day. Those people were not lying.

Read More here.

Fall Pumpkin Harvest Festival

   Our pumpkin celebration continues this weekend, with pig races, P-Rex feedings, marshmallow roasting, pumpkin picking, apple picking, and visits with the Pumpkin Princess.

   This weekend we also welcome Tony M Music to the Barnyard Stage Sunday from noon to 4:00.  

An Urban Rooftop Garden with a Twist

By Dan Nosowitz; From Modern Farmer

   With a limited amount of space and difficulty using heavy machinery, most rooftop farms tend to grow high-value and easy-to-harvest crops, especially fruits and vegetables. But one rooftop farm in Chicago is finding that rooftop gardening can go beyond lettuce and tomatoes.  

   When design firm Studio Gang moved into its new Chicago offices, a hefty 5,000-square-foot rooftop practically begged for some kind of garden. Originally, according to DNAInfo, the plan called for native wildflowers—milkweed, black-eyed susan. But with a late start on the sowing, and dirt already in place, Omni Ecosystems (the group doing the farming) decided to grow some winter wheat as an attempt to keep the soil healthy and in place through the winter.

Read more here.   

Great Country Farms | 540-554-2073 | CSA@GreatCountryFarms.com | www.GreatCountryFarms.com