Week 19--The Blessing of Fall

October 13 and 16th
Quack! Quack! Dora says, "Eat turkey, not duck!"

I've been washing hundreds of pounds of carrots this last week for storage and Dora has been in duck heaven! She stands under the screen and gets showered by wash water. And buries her bill into the puddles looking for slugs, while Simon sits in the driveway and watches the cows. These past few weeks have been beautiful, and even though I am soooo busy, I must say I am blessed!

Speaking of washing...I really do wash your greens before your get them. But be ware that you need to wash them again. I find most things easiest to chop first, then rinse. The pine needles have made a blanket over all my fields, (it's quite pretty actually). I have tried to pick them out of your produce, but there may be a rouge one...or two left!

Well the weather has quickly changed and I have been in "full tilt boogie", as my friend Jill would say, harvesting. I am hoping for a few more nice days to gets next year's garlic in the ground. I usually plant it mid October and then mulch it with straw. It waits in the ground until the longer days of April and then slowly little green garlic tops emerge. This week you may see me "popping" the garlic cloves, or removing them from the bulb. I pick the biggest and most perfect looking cloves to plant so that the new bulbs will be free of disease and as big as possible; the clove size you plant dictates the size of the bulb to come. Maybe this year I will be planting the garlic through a layer of snow? That would be a first : )

This Week's Loot: Lettuce, Kale, Kohlrabi, Peppers, Tomatilloes, Spaghetti Squash, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions, Cabbage

Next Week's Loot: Lettuce mix, spinach, pac choi, carrots, onions, potatoes, chard, pumpkins
Kohlrabi--This fun "swollen stem" can be eaten raw or cooked. Try it both ways and see which way you like best! If you find the skin tough, you may peel it, although if you are cooking it,you may not need to.

Kohl-Slaw

3 kholrabi, peeled and chopped

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

1 small onion

1 apple, diced

1/2 c currents or raisins

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl. Toss in oil and cider. Cover and refrigerate a few hours to let flavors blend.

Kale Pie

10 inch pie crust

4 cups chopped kale leaves

1 Tbs olive oil

2 small onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs

1 cup feta cheese

1/2 c half and half

1/2 tsp salt

Boil kale for about 3 minutes (wilted but still bright green). Allow to drip dry.

Saute onions, garlic until onions are turning golden.

Lightly beat eggs. Add feta half and half, kale, onions and salt. Stir and then pour into crust. Bake until center of pie is firm, 40 minutes at 375.