Crop Talk: Week 20

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.

Week 20 CSA Shares Include:

Kale

Turnips

Neck Pumpkins

Pop Corn

Apples

Potatoes

Season Bonus: Jack-o-lantern pumpkin

Pick-your-own bonus: 6 apples, #4 bag of beans

Bonus value this week: $7.00

Year-to-date bonus value: $133.00

Help us cut costs: Please return your empty bins!

Pumpkin Chunkin'

November 5-8

Bring your spent Jack-o-lantern to the farm and enjoy one of our exciting smashing opportunities!

We are again selling Lucky Ducks as a fund-raising effort for Boulder Crest Retreat. The Lucky Ducks are numbered and will be placed in our pond for the giant pumpkin drop at 2:00 on Sunday, November 6. The pumpkin will splash the duckies out of the water and onto Prize Spots, which will feature prizes from businesses and groups supporting this fund raising effort. Duckies are available for purchase online or at the farm for $5.00 each. Buy as many as you like!

Whiskey Pumpkin Pie

From Bloom, Bake, and Create

"Whiskey for my pie, beer for my horses! I don’t know if Toby Keith would have liked my lyrics, but I think he’d like my pie. I was raised on pumpkin pie with whiskey. My grandma, Mayo, baked it for as long as I can remember. When she was too old to bake, mom took over the task. After mom died, I carried on the tradition."

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.