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This is Local Food!

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This is Local Food!
This Week's Vegetable Share Harvest:
  • Spinach
  • Carrots
  • Parsley
  • Salad Turnips with greens
  • Beautyheart Radishes
  • Scallions
  • Acorn Squash - Big Patch Farm's Amish Community Growers, Platteville, WI
  • Sweet Potatoes - Big Patch Farm's Amish Community Growers, Platteville, WI
  • Celery Root
  • Garlic
What's New at the Farm Stand
  • Prairie Wind Family Farm Goods. Tshirts, reusable bags, mugs and (soon, hats, too) are now available at the farmstand. Support your farm and share with friends!
  • Masks: We ask that you please wear a mask while inside the farmstand. Thank you!
  • Hours: Open daily, 7am-7pm 
Farm Journal
Good evening from the farm!

Also, welcome to the fall season for those picking up for the first time this week. 
The end to our outdoor season is quickly approaching, as we move the remainder of our growing inside to hoophouses. In the farm fields, we continue to harvest, plant garlic, remove irrigation, plant cover crop and mulch as we soak up every bit of sunshine, daylight and warmth.
Here, Katie and Ben prepare for the parsley harvest as Abbey drives the harvest wagon to the field. Today's sunshine made the harvest warm enough to shed jackets and work without gloves.
Although we strive to keep our team as dry as possible, sometimes we need to bring in thousands of pounds of carrots in the rain! Here, our wet team hands 40 pound crates of carrots from person-to-person. Pictured from the harvest wagon to the cooler, Katie, Laura, Arlet and Peggy transfer carrots to Abbey and Ben, as they strategically arrange the harvest in our storage cooler. The team's strength and good spirit makes this heavy load lighter.
When we're not pulling in the final field harvests, we're transitioning from summer crops to cover crops. Our trellised hoophouse tomato plants took more than a full day to remove fully, as the team meticulously removed each clamp, trellis wire and irrigation from each tomato plant. Here, Abbey and Peggy handle the messy job of removing a portion of the plant material (two huge cherry tomato plants) that head to future compost.
As our team works together, they discuss future plans with each other and determine their next steps after the farming season wraps up. Some will return to farm together with us throughout the winter and into the next farming season. Some will move to other parts of the country to farm. Some will start a farm themselves. Some will build on their farming experience to choose a new career path. We will support our team members in whatever pathway they choose. In the meantime, we celebrate a season working with a passionate, kind, hardworking team to bring you local food.

Enjoy this week's fall shares, from all of us!

Warmly,
~ Jeff, Jen, Abbey, Ben, Arlet, Peggy, Katie, Laura
Notes from the Farm Kitchen
Last week and again this week, we transition into our storage radish season with one of our favorite roots, the beautyheart radish. Also known as Watermelon Radishes, these radishes are unsuspecting on the outside but a brilliant, beautiful pink on the inside. These radishes are known as storage radishes as they are meant to grow to a much larger size than an average radish. Beautyhearts are a little sweeter and less spicy than traditional radishes, and we use them similarly as a delicious addition to sandwiches, salads or on a vegetable platter. They will store for months when stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Parsley, both curly and flat leaf, is an extremely versatile, nutrient-rich herb. As a source of vitamin C, vitamin, here are some of our favorite uses:
  • use to add flavor to a potato salad
  • add to pasta sauces to bring a bright, fresh flavor
  • make a salad of chopped parsley, chopped tomatoes, fresh shallots, lemon juice olive oil & salt
  • make parsley butter by adding minced parsley to softened butter.
  • use on broiled fish or steamed vegetables.
Seasonal Recipes in the Farm Kitchen

Roasted Hakurei Turnips with Israeli Couscous Salad

Vegetarian Stuffed Acorn Squash

Celery Root Gratin with Thyme and Parmesan
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups heavy cream
2 large celery roots 
2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup finely grated Parmessan cheese
 
In a large pot, bring vegetable broth and cream to a simmer. Trim the ends of your celeriac and use a sharp knife to peel the bulb. When the bulbs are peeled, quarter each bulb, lengthwise. Add celeriac to the pot of simmering liquid. Cover and cook, turning occasionally, until the celeriac is tender (about 30 min).
 
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove pot from heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer celeriac pieces to a large cutting board. When cool enough to handle, slice the celeriac into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
 
Layer the sliced celeriac in the bottom of an ungreased baking dish. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Bring the liquid remaining in the pot to a boil. As the liquid thickens, add mustard, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture over the layered celeriac, covering completely. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top, covering completely. Garnish with a sprig or two of thyme and bake for from 35 to 40 minutes, until the liquid is burbling and the cheese has turned richly golden-brown. Serve warm.

Radish Salad with Toasted Walnuts
 
4 medium beautyheart radishes, thinly sliced 
1/4 cup scallion, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
 
Dressing
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1.5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1.5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
1.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
 
Thinly slice (or shave with a mandolin) radishes and scallion. In sauce pan on medium heat, lightly toast walnuts for 5-10 minutes until you can begin to smell them. Allow to cool and then, add to vegetables.
 
Mix dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables. Toss to coat, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2-3 as a side.

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