This week we are harvesting cabbages and beets.  You can expect cauliflower, broccoli and kohl rabi in the upcoming weeks.  We were not familiar with the purple sweet potato variety that we grew this year and at first had mixed feelings about it.  They are sweeter than the white variety but seem drier.  This past week I brought both varieties to market for the first time and we had several costumers tell us that the purple variety is their favorite.  We met a vendor at the Marietta Square Market who used the purple sweet potatoes in her Jamaican sweet potato pudding and a customer that used this variety for juicing.  We are finding out that it's all in the way that you prepare them.   

This Week’s CSA:   
Bell Peppers

Beets

Cabbage

Lettuce

Collard Greens

Arugula

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes

Recipes:

Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds grated sweet potato

lb grated yellow yam (omit yam if not available and use lb more sweet potato)

1 cup brown sugar)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal ( you can omit the cornmeal and add 1/4 cup more flour)

2 cups canned coconut milk

2 cup raisins

2 teaspoons grated nutmeg

2 teaspoon mixed spice

3 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt (adjust as needed)

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon brandy or white rum (optional)

METHOD:

1.Peel, wash and chop potato into small cubes and using blender, blend on “grate” option until potato is almost smooth. Alternatively, you can grate the potato2.To get the coconut milk, you can grate the coconut, add water, and squeeze out the coconut milk that is formed. Alternatively, you can use canned or reconstituted coconut milk

3.Then once the ground work is done, mix all the dry ingredients, and then add coconut milk, vanilla, liquor and grated potato and mix well

4.Mix in raisins and pour into greased pan and dot with bits of the butter

5.Bake at 375 degrees F for about an hour until set and mixture lifts starts to shrink away from the side of the pan.

6.Cut into slices and enjoy

Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad:

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons shallots, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 medium beets, cooked and quartered

6 cups fresh arugula

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries

1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed

3 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Directions

Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the vinegar, shallots, and honey in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with salt and pepper. Toss the beets in a small bowl with enough dressing to coat. Place the beets on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the beets are slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Set aside and cool.

Toss the arugula, walnuts, and cranberries in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the salad atop 4 plates. Arrange the beets around the salad. Sprinkle with the avocado and goat cheese, and serve. 













***Last week's blog

 With the possibility of frost comes the possibility of losing the summer vegetables. We have covered the tomatoes and squash but are leaving it up to nature for the rest.  The broccoli and cauliflower are growing beautifully and the cabbages are heading, we will start harvesting those next week. The beets are growing more slowly than we had anticipated, so we are going to start harvesting some baby beets next week.  We hope that you are enjoying all of the wonderful greens that we have been sending your way.    There are lots of ways to prepare greens and most are really easy.  Last week at the Sandy Springs Market the chef demonstration (By Hal’s Kitchen in Sandy Springs) was on Swiss Chard.  I wasn’t able to get the exact recipe so I tried to mimic hers by sauteing the chard greens in some sesame oil, I added a little stock and simmered for a few minutes and served it with  a spicy chile sauce on the side…yummy!

This week’s CSA:

Okra

Lettuce (Butter Crunch, Grand Rapids, Devil’s Ear Deer Tongue)

Patty Pan Squash

Bell Peppers

Sweet Potatoes

Kale

Mustard greens

Swiss Chard

Tomatoes

Recipes:

Kale and Sausage Soup:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes

5 waxy potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 bunch kale (12 ounces), stemmed and shredded

12 ounces smoked chicken sausage, cut into 1/2-inch half moons

Directions

1.In a large pot (6 to 8 quarts), heat oil over medium. Add onion and cook until soft, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook unti fragrant, 1 minute. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2.In a blender, puree half the soup. Return to pot; add kale and sausage. Simmer until kale is wilted, 10 to 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Fritters:

Ingredients

Corn oil, for frying

1 cup mashed, roasted and peeled sweet potato

1 cup whole milk fresh ricotta

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting

Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

1/2 cup self-rising flour

Directions

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a deep heavy pot, fitted with a deep-frying thermometer, to 365 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine the potato, ricotta, sugar, salt and pepper, to taste, with a hand mixer until smooth. Fold in the flour, a little at a time, until just combined.

Working in batches to avoid crowing the pot, drop heaping teaspoons of the batter into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, turning as needed to brown evenly, about 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and dust with confectioners' sugar and a pinch of salt. Arrange them on a serving dish and enjoy!

Cook's Note: Be sure to let the oil return to 365 degrees F between batches.

agribon on tomatoes to protect from frost

  This week we are harvesting baby heads of lettuce.  These will be the most tender and sweetest head lettuce of the season.  We will include 3 different varieties this week so that you can try them all.  The Kohl Rabi is starting to bulb and the beets are almost ready.  The Broccoli and Cauliflower plants are growing beautifully and are starting to crown.  The 3 varieties of cabbage are also starting to make heads and the carrots are almost ready. 

This Week’s CSA:

Lettuce (Butter crunch, Devil’s Ear Deer Tongue, Grand Rapids)

Sweet Potatoes

Collard Greens

Asian Mustard Mix

Summer Squash (Patty Pan)

Bok Choy

Tomato

Arugula

Red Russian Kale



Savoy Cabbage



Butter Crunch Lettuce

Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

Ivy enjoying some fresh veggies

Broccoli

Devil's Ear Deer Tongue Lettuce



Recipes:

Spicy Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 slices bacon
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 pound fresh collard greens, cut into 2-inch pieces

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and return to the pan. Add onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until just fragrant. Add collard greens, and fry until they start to wilt.
2. Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender.

Starting to Turn

  With the change of seasons comes a change in vegetable varieties.  Right now we have the best of both worlds- summer AND fall varieties.  We have been patiently waiting for our third round of heirloom tomatoes to turn red and it is finally happening!  The third round consists of Rutgers, Maribolds and a few German Johnsons.  Along with tomatoes, we are harvesting summer squash, okra, peppers, basil and eggplants.   The fall varieties are doing awesome right now.  The kale, lettuces, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, mustards, collards, turnips, beets, carrots, radishes, Swiss chard, winter squash, kohl rabi and bok choy are coming right along.  Today we are digging 1,000 sweet potato plants.  We had planned on doing this by hand… however, after digging a few feet we came to our senses and recruited our dear friend Chandler and his New Holland for assistance-yippee!!!

Heirloom Tomatoes

Patty Pan Summer Squash



Butterhead and Butter Crunch Lettuce



Beautiful Bok Choy!

Beets

Red Express Cabbage

Winter Squash

This week’s CSA:

Heirloom tomatoes (German Johnson, Sungold, Black cherry)

Summer Squash (Patty Pan- yellow and white)

Okra

Peppers (Bell, Jalapeno, Serrano)

Basil

Oregano

Swiss Chard

Lacinato “Dinosaur“ Kale

Bok Choy

Sweet Potatoes (purple and white)

This week at the market:

Heirloom tomatoes

Okra

Basil

Summer Squash

Winter Squash (Butternut)

Scuppernong

Kale

Mustard greens

Arugula

Swiss Chard

Peppers (Bell, Jalapeno, Serrano)

Eggplant

Rosemary

Sweet Potatoes

Recipes:

Baked Kale Chips:

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Bok Choy with Ginger and Garlic:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 8 cups chopped fresh bok choy
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• Salt and ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add bok choy and soy sauce cook 3 to 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stalks are crisp-tender. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

  This week we are planting the last of our fall starts and seeding additional rounds of arugula, radishes, salad greens and other fall varieties.  The fall plants are coming along well.  This week you will be getting a mixture of summer and fall varieties. Enjoy!
This week's CSA:
Patty Pan squash
Garlic
Baby Joi Choi (Bok choi)- great in soups and stir-fry
Radish
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Okra
Basil
Peppers -Serrano, Jalapeno, Bell, Banana (limited)

Radish

Patty Pan Squash

Dinosaur Kale

Joi Choi

Recipes:

Stuffed PattyPan Squash

If you are not familiar with the pattypan squash, it is very similar to the yellow crooked neck summer squash.  The pattypan is sweet and you can cook it any way you would a more traditional summer squash.  My favorite way to prepare it is to stuff it.  There are many different ways to stuff a pattypan, if this recipe doesn't suit your tastebuds try the recipe from my previous blog (6/21/11 Stuffed pattypan squash with basil and orzo pasta)
Ingredients:
4 pattypan squash (stem and blossom removed or 3 larger) 

 4 slice  bacon (cooked crumbled) 

1 1/2 cup  onion (diced) 

1 1/2 cup  breadcrumbs (soft) 

 1  garlic clove (minced) 

3 cup  parmesan cheese (freshly grated) 

  salt (taste) 

  pepper 

1.Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2.Bring one inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the stem with little resistance.

3.Drain, and slice off the top stem of the squash.  Carefully scoop out the centers of the squash. Reserve all of the bits of squash. (I used larger squash so discarded the seeds - warning the squash is very liquidy in the center so I drained it a bit after scooping.

4.Mince the reserved squash.

5.Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl with the minced squash, mixing well.

6.Stuff each squash to overflowing with the mixture, and place them in a baking dish. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil.

7.Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until squash are heated through. Ingredients

Radish Dip

4 cloves garlic, peeled

6 radishes, quartered

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

Directions

1.Place garlic in the container of a food processor, and pulse until finely minced. Add radishes, and mince. Add cream cheese, and mix until well blended. Transfer to a serving dish, and chill until serving.

 * This week we will only deliver to the Rome drop site due to the Sandy Springs Market being closed.

  The final plant starts will be arriving on Thursday.  We are hoping to have everything planted by next Tuesday.  Everything that has been planted is looking good.  The first few summer squash on the last round were harvested yesterday, I believe that next week there will be enough to include in the CSA.  The last round of tomatoes are really doing well, you can look forward to those in the upcoming weeks.  Turtle Bend Farm has some early Turnip greens that I am including in this week's CSA as well as some beautiful ginger gold apples from Beech Creek Farm. Enjoy!

This weeks CSA:
Apples
Arugula
Sweet potatoes
Okra
Tomatoes
Turnip Greens

Tomato rows

German Johnson and Sungold Tomatoes

Ivy and her best buddy Dixon after a hard days work

  Thanks to the recent rain the fall plants are looking great!  Chris has been busy planting this week (even in the rain).  The lettuce varieties will be planted next week to complete our fall planting. The last round of summer squash is almost ready to harvest. The ground is too saturated to dig the sweet potatoes this week, so you can look forward to those in the upcoming weeks.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SANDY SPRINGS FARMERS MARKET WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17.  YOUR CSA DELIVERY WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING WEEK.

Sunburst Patty Pan squash

Fall Planting

This week's CSA:
Apples
Arugula
Muscadines
Okra
Butternut squash
Tomatoes
Lemon Thyme
Rosemary


Recipes:
*This recipe was sent to me by a customer at the Sandy Springs Farmers market and it is awesome!  You can use Bleu Cheese in this recipe and I recommend the Bleu Cheese from Greendale Farms (located next to our tent at the Sandy Springs Farmers Market)-YUMMY!

Butternut Squash, Apple and Onion with Stilton

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch salt
• 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced (1 stick)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling:

• 1 large baking apple, such as Rome Beauty or Cortland
• 1 small or 1/2 medium butternut squash (about 3/4 pound), halved, seeded, and skin on
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled, root end trimmed but intact
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 1⁄3 cup crumbled Stilton or other blue cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)

Directions

For the dough: Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few bean-size bits of butter in it. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times more; don't let the dough form a mass around the blade. If the dough seems very dry, add up to 1 tablespoon of cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time, pulsing briefly. Remove the blade and bring the dough together by hand. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

For the filling: Halve and core the apple. Cut each half into 8 wedges and put them in a large bowl. Slice the squash and cut the onion into wedges so that both are as thick as the apple wedges and add them to the apples. Add the butter, rosemary, and thyme and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch disk. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and brush with mustard. Starting 2 inches from the edge, casually alternate pieces of apple, squash, and onion in overlapping circles--if you have extra pieces of one or another, tuck them in where you can or double them up to use all the filling. Fold and pleat the dough over the edge of the filling. Bake until the crust is brown and the apple, squash, and onions are tender and caramelized, about 55 minutes. Scatter the cheese over the filling and bake until melted, about 5 minutes more. Cool the galette briefly on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve.
Know-How: Don't be afraid to cook this galette--or any of your pies or tarts, for that matter--until the crust is a rich golden brown. A pastry's buttery taste and flaky crispness really come through when it is fully cooked.