Big Red Farm Share, FRIDAY September 25

HARVEST

Broccoli

Full Share:

• 1 head lettuce
• 1 head frisee endive
• 1 head escarole
• 1 bunch chard
• 2 heads broccoli
• 2 lbs potatoes
• 1/2 lb summer squash

Half Share:

• 1 head lettuce
• 1 head frisee endive OR 1 bunch chard
• 1 head escarole
• 1 head broccoli



Endive

• 1 lb potatoes

Extras:

• the last of the green beans
• assorted tomatoes of mixed types and qualities
• Jalapeno peppers
• pick-your-own herbs and flowers -- no limit, but please remember that others will be coming to pick after you!

RECIPES

This missive, appropriately enough, is coming to you on the Autumnal Equinox, a day which ushers in shorter days, longer nights, cooler temperatures, and my undoubted favorite time of year.  The contents of your farm share this week really reflect this seasonal shift; tomatoes and green beans are on their way out, and the diverse family of cool weather greens has arrived!

Curly endive, also called frisee, is a crunchy and pleasantly bitter member of the chicory family (lettuce, dandelions, and escarole are also chicories).  It can be used with lettuce and other greens in a salad mix, but its flavor and texture are particularly complimented by the richness of a runny egg, as in this Frisee Salad with Bacon and Poached Egg.  Though we no longer have our own farm eggs, I do encourage you to use a good quality pastured egg here -- and soft-boiled or over-easy works just as well as poached!

Escarole

Unlike endive, escarole, our other new chicory, isn't often used raw.  Sauteed or wilted into soups, it's a popular vegetable in Italian cuisine.   Spaghetti with Escarole is just one possibility, and a delicious addition to the pasta-with-greens canon.

Finally, not strictly a green in the leafy sense, but definitely green, and an autumnal staple, we have broccoli.  One of the relatively few crops doing reasonably well in our bone-dry field conditions, it's on the small side, but nutritionally dense!  Oven-Roasted Broccoli is my best, simplest broccoli preparation, and it adheres to a pretty solid philosophy for cooking vegetables: olive oil, sea salt, hot oven.  Optional squeeze of lemon.  Done.  Happy fall, everyone!



PICK-UP LOCATION AND DETAILS

Share pick-up takes place at the farm, on FRIDAYS between 3:00 and 6:00pm. Pull into the Lawrence Township community gardens and follow the gravel road uphill to the left. Please remember to return last week's bags and/or containers, and sign in when you take your share. Any payment can be placed in the envelope next to the sign-in sheet. See you at the farm!