Circle M Farm

I had the great privilege this weekend of seeing Wendell Berry read and speak at the Overture Center. One of my absolutely favorite and most important authors, Berry was invited to Madison by the Wisconsin Book Festival and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He read a short story from one of his collections, and then answered questions from the audience. I’m seldom tempted to take notes these days, but I certainly wish I had brought a pen to the event. The story Berry read, “Making It Home,” brought me to tears years ago when I first read it in my own bed, and again when Berry read it aloud Sunday night. But the biggest impact of the evening for me, the thing that kept me up for a while that night when I got home, was a rather rambling statement he made in response to a question I have no recollection of. I don’t even know the exact statement, but there was some talk about a local economy, about community and about farming. And Berry said something about the community that happens when farmers and customers in a local setting realize they are interdependent.

In my farming occupation, I mostly feel my dependence on the weather and God himself. But as Berry spoke, I was suddenly struck by the great privilege I have to be living and working inter-dependently with our CSA and homestead meat customers, folks who share our values on food and scale and living carefully on the earth. These are the very values I admire so much in the life and work of Wendell Berry. Sitting beside me in the audience was Gretchen, a CSA Work Share member who had not only told me about the event, but procured a ticket for me in Madison while I was getting the harvest gathered here in Blanchardville. I feel very grateful for her friendship and for the relationship I have with all of you in our pursuit of good food grown with good practices for our families. It’s been a great year, and I look forward to continuing to walk with you into the next! Here’s what’s in the final box:

New England Long Pie Pumpkins – These are great keepers and will in fact be best in a few months when they turn a more uniform shade of orange. A garage or basement is a good place to store them. For years, these were the eating pumpkin of choice in New England, and most heirloom catalogues attest that they are terrific for flavor and texture. Bake or steam for pies, soups, curries.
Potatoes - These tasty storage potatoes will be great now, with leeks in soup, or saved for a chilly day in the winter.
Leeks - We thought these would beef up and be bigger, but the summer just wasn’t warm enough. These are delicious, though, and will cook up faster than the baseball bats we anticipated.
Brussels Sprouts - You love ‘em or you hate ‘em. We sure hope you love ‘em! We do! I am always so excited for the first frost as we cut the brussels sprouts stalks immediately after. The freeze turns more of their cell structures to sugar, and the taste improves. You’ve each received a whole plant! I had to cut most of them in half, and some in thirds to fit in the boxes. If you can fit the whole stalk in the fridge, go ahead and store it in there until you are ready to eat it. Otherwise, pop or cut each little cabbage off and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge. We rinse, peel and blanch these for a few minutes in boiling water, and then saute in garlic and butter. Sublime!
Hon Tsai Tai - This Asian cooking green is meant to be sauteed whole, with it’s pretty yellow flowers and lovely purple stalks. But the end of summer was too cold to produce many flowers, so we’ve been chopping these and eating them like collards, or other cooking greens. Which is nice, since the collards and kale we saved to put in the last box were killed by the hard frost!
Salad Turnips – Yummm! Nice raw, or in a soup.
Radishes – You’ve got red French Breakfast and big Chinese White Winter. The white ones are stronger, and could grow to be nearly nine inches long! Shred them into a salad, or enjoy in generous slices.
Celery
Celeriac - This is a relative of celery, selected for the knobby roots it produces. Peel and use in soups, just like celery. Also delicious in cheesy au-gratin with potatoes.
Kohlrabi - Just one each, a nice addition to a soup, if you don’t eat it raw.
Peppers – Large sweet bell peppers, and the little peppers are a selection of hot ones we nabbed just before the frost.
Broom Corn – For our finale bouquet, we grew this lovely broom corn for you. If you look close, you’ll recognize the stalks that make up an old fashioned corn broom! But we like them for the pretty seeds heads that would be dried and shaken off before trhe brooms were made. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups of fresh cooked pumpkin
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup raisons (also optional)
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and sugar. Add the eggs, water, oil and pumpkin. Stir until blended and add raisins and pecans if desired. Pour into two greased and floured 9 by 5 loaf pans. Bake approximately 1 hour at 350 F. Bread is finished when a clean knife can be stuck in and removed cleanly. Let cool on racks before cutting. This bread is even better if wrapped and left for a day before eating.

Try this Peanut Marinated Flank Steak with Hon Tsai Tai from Harmony Valley CSA. Delicious!