Greetings CSA Members,

*** Denison Farm CSA Potluck September 27th from 3:00-6:00***

This week you are in for a real treat from Jeannine Laverty – her piece entitled: End of Season Work Has Begun. Enjoy!

End of season work has begun. We hurled ourselves at our first celeriac on September 4. The bulbs will grow for at least another month, so they will get significantly larger. Today they smell and look wonderful but almost as if they come from another farm, they are so far from traditional Denison oversize. To a new crew member we happily explain the many ways celeriac is delicious. He has never seen such an ugly, gnarly vegetable, but we envision for him a grated fresh salad with a remoulade sauce, as side dish mashed with potatoes, a rich Basque stew with tomatoes. We caution him that OUR celeriac is so large that even now, in its early incarnation, only half to a third of the number of heads that any recipe calls for should be used.

Later the same day we said a fond farewell to the melons. The melon season always seems shorter than we wish it to be, and this year the excess rain took a toll on them, as it did on almost everything. Many rotted before they could ripen. The fond farewell consists of both, “Oh, no the last ones already?” and “Finally, an end to working in that terrible smell!” The melons are grown on plastic to decrease their contact with wet earth and give them extra heat for growth and ripening. Much of the plastic used to cover beds on the Denison Farm is biodegradable, but the melon plastic is not, so we pull it up and make great efforts to get every little eternally lasting piece out of the field.

In spring, a machine lays the plastic neat and tight before the baby plants are transplanted into it from the greenhouse, but plastic removal is full of the rot and decay that accompany many end-of-season jobs. There’s something strangely satisfying about this task, once you give in to it. It seems such a short time ago that we were covering the young melon transplants with row cover against the spring’s cold nights and mornings. Everything was clean, fresh, full of hope and faith in the season’s blossoming. When it was finally reliably warm enough, we had taken off the row cover and exclaimed over the flowers already appearing in the vines, happy for the work of the pollinators as they found sweetness. Now we rescue the few fruits that were weed-hidden in the last picking. Full of customer concern and late morning thirst, we hack our way into the smallest ones to determine if they are good enough for market. Some sure are, some definitely aren’t, but the sweet flavors and dripping juices banish our more disreputable coatings.

After we pull and wrap the irrigation tape—more mud and dirt on arms and shirts—Brian can go over this field with the flail mower and till in the wretched remains. Once in the ground, they are transformed into rich fertilizer for the cover crop to be sown that same afternoon, which will in turn give its nourishment to next year’s planting, whatever it will be. We head into lunch looking back on another field ready for winter, appreciating its rich production, knowing the soil has been replenished as it waits to hold whatever food will rotate into that spot for you next spring. So life gives way to death gives way to life. I am so grateful for this work.

This week in your share, you will most likely receive: Tomatoes, Lettuce, Rose Gold Potatoes or Laratte Fingerlings, Yellow Cooking Onions, Spinach or Tat Soi, Green Beans, Cilantro, and then some configuration of the following: Broccoli, Summer Squash/ Zucchini. Sweet Peppers, or Cucumbers. Check the white board at your site for the accurate list.

Say good-bye to some of the summer vegetables, for this may be the last week for receiving eggplant, cucumbers, or zucchini. Autumn is a-comin’ in.

Take care - Justine

Pickled Dilly Beans

2 lbs. fresh green snap beans

4 sm. garlic cloves

4 heads dill or 4 tsp. dry dill seeds

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 1/2 c. white vinegar

2 1/2 c. water

2 tbsp. kosher salt

Wash beans and break off stem ends. Peel garlic. In 4 sterilized jars (pint size) put 1 clove garlic, 1 head or 1 tsp. dill seeds and a pinch of red pepper. Fit beans in jar, allowing 1/2 inch head room at top of each jar. (Trim beans if necessary).

Bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Pour over beans, filling to within 1/4 inch of rim. Fasten jar tops according to manufacturer's directions and place in a boiling water bath, covering lids with 2 inches of water. Process at a hard boil for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

Spinach and Broccoli Enchiladas with Spanish Rice

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 t. olive oil

¾- 1 lb. Spinach

1 c. finely chopped Broccoli

1 cup picante sauce, divided (Use thick, spicy, chunky salsa or picante sauce)

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. ground cumin

1 c. (8 oz.) cottage cheese

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided

8 flour tortillas (8-inch)

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook and stir onion in oil until tender. Add the spinach, broccoli, 1/3 c. picante sauce, garlic powder and cumin; heat through.

Remove from the heat; stir in cottage cheese and half of cheddar cheese. Right in the skillet, divide the mixture into 8 parts. Spoon each part onto a tortilla, fold, and lay seam down in a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon remaining picante sauce over the top.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees or until heated through. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Child-approved Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

2-1/2 lbs. potatoes (Yukon or Rose Gold works great)

1 bunch broccoli

1/3 cup butter

1/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a large, heavy saucepan or pot. Cover with water by two inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Let potatoes boil for 6-7 minutes.

Add broccoli to the pot. Let broccoli and potatoes boil until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 5-8 minutes. Drain vegetables. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mash. Serve immediately.