In your box:

• Basil
• Bok choy
• Garlic, “Music”
• Head Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Radishes, “Nero Tondo”
• Red onion
• Rutabaga
• Sweet Pepper
• Tomatoes

Farm News

Thanks to everyone who braved a rather chilly day to attend our harvest dinner last Saturday!

We’ll have our first killing frost this week, and the harvest season will continue for just three more weeks after today. Our last Tuesday boxes will go out on October 18th. Our last Thursday falls on MEA break, and our family will be up on the North Shore celebrating the end of the season. So for that week only, we’ll bump up the delivery day to Wednesday and make that last box available on the 19th. That will only affect the Thursday sites, and I’ll send a reminder as that last box gets closer.

We had our annual squash picking day last weekend, and the haul was very impressive. Look for winter squash in each of the last three boxes this season.

This week’s box

Today’s veggie box is probably the most unusual that we’ll offer this season. We have our last basil, tomatoes, and peppers of the season as we close the door on summer, and jump right into fall with some great root crops.

Rutabagas are the oversized, purple and white roots on the bottom of your box. We had to remove the tops to fit them in the boxes, so to use them you’ll just need to peel the outside. Chop the root into chunks and enjoy in soups, roasted, or mixed into mashed potatoes. Rutabagas keep very well, so if you only use part of the root in a meal you can put the rest in the fridge for up to a month. Just peel back the exposed flesh and the rest will still be ready.

This week we’re trying a new variety of radish called “Nero Tondo” (Italian for “Black Round”). I’ve never grown these before, and I welcome your feedback on these striking-looking roots. Nero Tondos keep their flavor even when oversized, so don’t worry about them being larger than usual radishes.

Harvest Lentil and Vegetable Casserole

From Vegetarian, by Linda Fraser

• 1 TB sunflower or olive oil
• 2 leeks, sliced (or 1 yellow onion)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 parsnips, diced
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 8 oz rutabaga, diced
• 6 oz whole brown or green lentils
• 1 lb. tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 15 oz can diced tomato)
• 1 TB thyme
• 1 TB marjoram
• 3 ¾ c. vegetable stock
• 1 TB cornstarch
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish over moderate heat.  Add the leeks/onions, garlic and celery and cook gently for 3 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, rutabaga, lentils, tomatoes, herbs, stock and seasoning.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Cover and bake for about 50 minutes, until the vegetables and lentils are cooked and tender.  While it is cooking, remove the casserole from the oven and stir the vegetable mixture once or twice so that it is evenly cooked.
4. Remove the casserole from the oven.  Blend the cornstarch with 3 TB cold water in a bowl.  Stir into the casserole and heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.  Simmer gently for 2 minutes.
5. Spoon the vegetable mixture into bowls and serve garnished with thyme.

Serves 6

The specific vegetables mentioned here are less important than their spirit.  Use what you have!

Coming up

Next week, we are expecting lettuce, shallots, celery, salad mix, fennel, acorn squash, carrots, radishes and aronia berries.