Oh my goodness it's cold. As many of you know we live in a giant 200+ year old farm house now as part of the move to Pepperell. It's historically impressive, charming, all the things people say who don't live in it. I promise I will learn to love this house, but as I've grown fond of saying: it's a decade project and I've already got a decade project getting this farm where I want it to be . . .

Almost all the vegetables are out of the field now and tucked away in their appropriate storage areas. Just a few extra cold hardy cabbages, some carrots, some leeks and some parsnips left out there under piles of row cover. We're picking the last of the field kale and collards for you this week. As much as I love farming all year round, there is something about winter farming that I just adore. It doesn't make much sense, but maybe I'm part squirrel and some deep part of me loves the hoarding and storing aspect of it. Our coolers and greenhouses are full of food, and that feels good.

For those of you who didn't realize that eating from a local farm in Massachusetts between November and May meant eating a large percentage of stored produce - here is your awakening. I often have people ask me if my potatoes are freshly dug in January . . . sorry, no, the ground is frozen and even if they had survived there would be very few opportunities for me to dig them. We try very hard to harvest and pack produce at peak health, at the optimal time for best quality in storage. The crops we grow for distribution in winter have been cultivated for thousands of years by generations of humans deliberately selecting vegetables that will last in storage into the depths of winter, providing important vitamins and minerals.

Plus, now we have more greenhouses and can grow spinach, kale and other cold-hardy greens all winter long without additional heat.

I know it's not sexy to talk about storage vegetables since most people buy local food because they want to get the freshest food possible, but I'm really into it.

I put celery in a greenhouse this fall and I'm loving the decision. I planted a lot, probably more than I should have. It didn't love the dips into the low 20's and teens last week, and we lost a little to cold damage, so yesterday, since the predicted low for this AM was 18, we cleared the tunnel and are sending the rest of it your way this week!

It's very sweet after all that cold and my aunt made a delicious celery salad with apples, celery and celeriac last week.

But if you aren't into fresh celery, or you just want to make an AWESOME easy soup, try this one I made last night:

Veggies you need:

1 shallot

1 lb leeks

1 lb celery

Plus:

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

veggie broth/water and boullion/meat broth

1/4 cup heavy cream (I tasted before I added cream and it was still delicious, so if you aren't into cream, just skip it)

Chop and sautee shallot and leeks until translucent (411 on chopping and cleaning leeks from our website).

While alliums are cooking, chop up celery, allowing some leaves into the mix, but mostly just stalks. (save the leaves and the leek tops to make a quick vegetable stock you can use for your next soup, if you aren't going to use it in 5 days you can freeze it in a mason jar).

Add celery and sautee for another 2-3 minutes then add 1.5 to 2 quarts of stock (I use "better than boullion" and water) and the herbs and bring to a boil. Once the soup has reached a boil, simmer for at least 15 minutes, but longer is fine. Once the veggies are tender use an immersion blender (if you don't have one, put it on your wish list . . . I tend to get kitchen supplies at Christmas, my immersion blender was probably a 2013 gift - one of my favs. I think this soup really wants to be blended.

Add the cream slowly, just before serving.

Let the eaters add salt and pepper to taste, I was really surprised that I didn't feel it needed any salt. It was really good. Like, surprisingly good for so few ingredients, so fast and so easy.

Like most soups, I bet this only gets better as a left-over. We ate ours with grilled cheese and a side of cooked beets/pea tendril salad.

We now have our own kimchi! It was a really great cabbage year, and I know you can only eat so much cabbage (but you should eat more, it's really good for you) so we sent 280 lbs of napa cabbage, 10 lbs of garlic, 20 lbs of leeks and 20 lbs of carrots and daikon radish to our friend Kenneth of Eastern Mass Provisions. The first batch came back last Monday and Kevin and I have already eaten a whole jar! Tomato sauce and hot sauce will also be available this week.

Speaking of cabbage, we had some guest help from our parents and siblings pulling a literal ton of cabbage out the field last week! It was a fun way to spend some time together.

The kids had fun biting holes in cabbage leaves to make masks, and putting cabbage leaves on their heads as hats. My sister got all those pics, I'll see if I can get her to send me one for you.

It's starting to get very cold and dark at the end of pick up - if temps drop below freezing we have to get the vegetables protected.

Our plan will be to box up shares for those who haven't come yet. We won't leave distribution until the planned ending time, but we might have to put most of the vegetables away to keep them from freezing. So far this week looks like we are cutting it close on Tuesday, but should be fine for Thursday.

We're working on a plan to make winter distribution work . . .

• kale

Mix and Match 4 pounds:

NEW RECIPE PAGES ON THE WEBSITE!!

We’ve added a new “RECIPES” link to our website where you can find recipes that highlight each of the vegetables that you receive in your share. Each veggie will eventually have its own page with a gorgeous photo courtesy of Bob Durling, a brief description of the veggie with storage and cooking tips, and a list of recipe links. You’ll find pages for most of your fall veggies here now and we’ll continue to add more each week, so check back regularly! Jess will continue to include recipe suggestions in the weekly newsletters, but we thought a one-stop-shop for all of the vegetables would be helpful too. Click here to visit the recipes page.

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/kohlrabi-frittersKohlrabi is something that I wasn’t familiar with until I started getting a CSA share but now I get it whenever there is a choice. Also called a German Turnip, kohlrabi is in the cabbage (Brassica) family and has a mild flavor like a cross between a cucumber and a turnip. The whole plant is edible and can be eaten raw but I typically strip off the stems and leaves and if the skin is feeling on the tough side I peel it with a veggie peeler. We love to make these fritters with them and I frequently mix half kohlrabi and half shredded carrots if we have them on hand. Scallions or scapes would be great in here too and I think this week I’ll add some shredded kale too.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/268750/sweet-potato-sausage-strata/With sweet potoatoes, onions, bell peppers and kale, this veggie-packed strata is a great one dish meal and the leftovers are brilliant for breakfast.

If you can't make it, please feel free to send someone else to pick up your share, or reach out to us and we can coordinate an alternate pick up plan.

CSA Pick Up Hours:

34 Rogers Rd, Holliston

Tuesday, 1pm-6pm

93 East Main St (but don't use the main entrance. At the light in front of the Nursery, turn uphill on Legacy Farm road and make your first right. It's a back entrance and you'll see the box truck!)

Thursday, 12pm-5pm

65 Brookline St, Pepperell (but really it's more like 60 Brookline st, just east of where the GPS will take you. There's a big sign and a parking lot.)

Thursday 3:30-6:30pm