Lot's of other things going on at the farm besides farming too! We still have a few spots open for our Winter CSA that starts Jan 11. We also have some great gift basket options (custom and curated) that are available at the farm or can be shipped anywhere until December 17 as well as we are just now creating the menu for our farm fresh holiday sides (including pies) that can be picked up December 23 or 24. What else...oh! Kerri from the kitchen is teaching an edible gifts class this Saturday where she will lead hands-on demos for making bitters, flavored salts and more–this is a great class to get into making gifts for your loved ones. As usual we have Friday Happy Hour (and this Friday is going to be especially happy as the whole farm is going to be there for our holiday party!)
MISATO ROSE WATERMELON RADISHES: These radishes look unassuming from the outside but cut them open and you'll get the most gorgeous winter surprise. They are super tasty and can be served raw or cooked. They can be sliced super thin for a gratin or thrown on a salad, and can be roasted or pickled also (bonus: these radishes don't need to be peeled)! I like them raw because they do lose a bit of their beauty when cooked.
FENNEL: Baby fennel! It is so sweet, tender and just plain adorable. Shave into a salad or slice up and roast. Use the fronds as a garnish. Add to celeriac or parsnip dish.
CELERIAC (Mini Only): Mini gets celeriac this week! So I'll say much of the same that I said last week. I love celeriac. I call it the pineapple of the north. It may not be that popular, but it should be–in my opinion it is one of the most underrated vegetables. It's gorgeous and can be used in so many different ways. It is also known as turnip-rooted celery–if you try the stalks it most definitely tastes like celery with a hint of parsley. Apparently it was referred to as selinon in Homer's Odyssey. Karen is really obsessed with this Root Vegetable Gratin recipe from Smitten Kitchen right now (her recipes are always great because she includes how to deal with said vegetable also!)
PARSNIPS (Large Only): Parsnips!! Hurray! Parsnips are one of the hardest things to harvest (read: get out of the ground) but they are SOOOO worth it. Up there in my top two roots, parsnips are very versatile and can be used much like all the other winter roots. My absolute favorite thing to do with them is make a parsnip puree (much like mashed potatoes) but becasue they don't have as much starch as a potato the texture is more silky. Here is a recipe on Bon Apetit from Portland's own Naomi Pomeroy.
LUTZ BEET (Large Only): A big gorgeous red winter beet. Lutz is our winterkeeper and boy–what a beat! As you know you can use the greens as well! You can store this guy in your cooler for quite a while, and they get sweeter in storage also (just make sure you remove the greens).
BABY DELICATA (Large Only): Two cutie-pie baby delicatas. Great to just pop in the oven for a side-dish, or make some delicata boats.