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Late Summer Event, Autumn Turkeys and Recipes

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Late Summer Event, Autumn Turkeys and Recipes
This Week's Vegetable Harvest:
  • Curly Green Kale
  • Carrots
  • Leeks
  • Summer Crisp Head Lettuces
  • Salad Mix
  • Cucumbers
  • Zucchini
  • White Kohlrabi
  • Colorful Bell Pepper
  • Eggplant*
  • Heirloom and Beefsteak Tomatoes
*Farm and Oak Park members will receive this week. Neighborhood site members will receive another week.

This Week's Fruit Harvest:
  • 'Castleton' Plums
  • Nectarines
  • 'Loring' Golden Peaches
  • 'Himrod' Seedless Grapes
What's New at the Prairie Wind Farm Stand
  • Frozen Chicken - We've always offered Jake's Country Meats whole chickens, and now we're offering half chickens, cuts (breast/wing and thigh/leg) and ground as well. Jake's specializes in raising heritage breed animals outdoors, on pasture. These pigs and chickens forage the grasslands of their family farm and are given non-gmo feed that they grind and grow themselves. Jake's Country Meats is are certified Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) and certified grass-fed yearly. 
  • Hours: Open daily, 7am-7pm. We restock two to three times per week.
Reserve Your Local, Pastured-Raised Thanksgiving Turkey 

Reserve a local, pasture-raised, organically-fed heritage turkey for Thanksgiving dinner from our friends at All Grass Farms.

Farmer Cliff raises Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys which are moved to pasture at 3 weeks of age.  They are free-range in and around portable shelters with their shelters being moved daily.  They are fed certified organic, non-GMO feed mixture from day one with no antibiotics or growth hormones.  They are processed at 17-19 weeks for maximum flavor and they are humanely processed at local, family-owned USDA-inspected facility.

Weights range from 12-25 lbs. We will do everything we can to provide you with a turkey in your desired weight range. Turkeys are frozen and packaged in a vacuum-sealed bag. Heart, liver, neck, and gizzard included inside each turkey.

Reservation: $35 deposit per turkey due at time of order.
Final Price: You will be invoiced with your total at $7.50/lb (less your deposit) due upon pickup.

Turkeys will be available for pickup from the Grayslake farm on Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13 from 7am to 7pm. 

Place your reservation here. Please contact Jen with any questions. Thank you for supporting local farmers!
We are hoping for beautiful September weather as we welcome you to the farm to enjoy the day!

When: Saturday, September 10th, 9am-12pm

Where: Prairie Wind Family Farm, 560 Harris Road in Grayslake. Directional details on our website. Parking signs will be posted. 

Who: All 2022 Farm Share members and guests are welcome.

Activities available:
  • U-Pick. We will offer family-friendly u-pick vegetables (exact crops for u-pick are TBD until closer to the date).
  • Farm Tour. Farmer Jeff will lead a walking tour at 10am to 11am.
  • Farm Stand. The farm stand will be open and available for shopping.
  • Refreshments. We will offer light refreshments.
  • Open House. We welcome you to visit the animals (small flock and goat, Twix), play farm GaGa ball, or take a peaceful stroll.
What to Bring: Please wear sturdy walking shoes. We encourage bug repellant and sun protection. 

RSVP: Please RSVP to give us a sense of the guests to expect. Thank you!

We look forward to seeing you!
Farm Journal
Good evening from the farm!
Did you know that we will lose 2.5 minutes of daylight per day over the next nine days? Wow!

Mother Nature seems to be telling us to work hard to bring in the last summer harvest. This transitional season gives us both a sense of energy from warm days and cool evenings and encourages additional rest and slowing down with the shortening of day lengths. We invite you to the farm this September to enjoy these subtle shifts in the late summer season and to pull in a harvest of your own.

In the meantime, please enjoy this week's late summer farm share from our home to yours!

Warmly,
~ Jeff, Jen, Owen, Gavin, Arlet, Cleto, David, Yamany
Notes from the Farm Kitchen

As we continue to take full advantage of a bountiful peach season, this week's shares include two other stone fruit, nectarines and Italian plums. Both of these crops were impacted by last spring's cold temperatures so the Klugs had limited availability this season. We're also warmly welcoming the start of the grape season with the 'himrod' variety which features loose clusters of oval, soft, flavorful berries with a honey-like flavor and a melting, juicy texture.
Members will receive kohlrabi in shares this week. Kohlrabi is a member of the broccoli and cabbage family. Kohlrabi forms when the stem swells to a bulb right about the soil. Some varieties are purple and others are light green or white. The bulb is delicious when simply peeled and eaten raw with dip. I've also used kohlrabi as a substitute for jicama in salads or combined with a tart apple for a delicious slaw. This storage variety is also perfect to go into a plastic bag and into the crisper for usage later, too.
We have grown kale for many years now, as evidenced by this early farmer picture! We strive to distribute kale to our farm share members regularly in the seasons when this brassica thrives (late summer through winter). That said, we also acknowledge that some members grow kale in their own gardens, so we strive not to overdo it! Luckily, there are plenty of uses for this superfood which provides powerful vitamins A, K, and plenty of antioxidants.
Seasonal Recipes in the Farm Kitchen

Roasted Peaches, Plums and Nectarines with Candied Walnuts

33 Delicious Kale Recipes

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Tomato Galette - pictured above. Note: I added mayo to the crust beneath the tomatoes to avoid a soggy crust.

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