Week 15

Two more to go!

Hi everyone,

Hope you all are having a good week so far.

Things are really feeling like fall at the farm. The hills are starting to color up, apples, pears and black walnuts are ready, and the summer birds are leaving as the winter birds start showing up.

This year I've been paying a lot more attention to all the butterflies we have around here. Lucky Moon is a great place to find them because they love all the flowers and the diversity of plant life on the farm. ​​Right now I've been watching all the monarch butterflies getting what nectar they can from the asters and zinnias before heading south on their epic journey. It's incredible that such a delicate insect could fly all the way to Mexico!​​

​​In other news, we got all the pumpkins in today. There are plenty of great pie pumpkins to distribute in the CSA and some nice Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins for sale at the farm, if you're interested. If you've never used a cooking pumpkin before, check out my post from last November titled "Late Fall and a Bountiful Harvest."

Also, there are some beautiful garlic braids as well as Lucky Moon Maple Syrup for sale. ​​They make great presents (especially for that person who already has everything... I have a few of those in my family) or are nice additions to your own pantry. The syrup comes in pints for $10 or quarts for $16 and the garlic comes in large braids (10 bulbs) for $17 or small braids (7 bulbs) for $10.50. If you're interested, let me know or feel free to stop by the farm.

Here's what's in the bags this week:

Spinach

Yellow Onion

Hot Peppers

Green & Yellow Beans

Potatoes (Keuka Gold)

Tomatoes

Acorn Squash

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Here's a quick spinach recipe:

1) Sautéed Spinach with Roasted Garlic, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Feta

Ingredients

spinach (about 10 oz)

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

½ cup onions, chopped

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes

¼ cup sherry (or substitute apple juice)

¼ cup lemon juice

5 Tbsp butter

½ cup feta

salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Over medium heat, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until golden brown, about 2 minutes.

2. Add sun dried tomatoes, then add sherry and lemon juice and reduce by a third (about 3 minutes).

3. Add butter, and toss until it melts, then add the spinach. Cover and stir occasionally until slightly wilted and warm (about 3 minutes).

4. Add feta and cook until slightly melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

And in case you still have that red cabbage from last week, here's a recipe that comes highly recommended from a fellow CSA member!

2) Autumn Salad

from Prevention, October 2010

serves 4

Ingredients

4 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tsp honey

¼ tsp salt

⅛ tsp pepper

3 medium sweet-tart apples (Braeburn, Empire), quartered and thinly sliced crosswise

1 ½ cup thinly sliced red cabbage

⅓ cup crumbled mild blue cheese

¼ cup thinly sliced red onion

¼ cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

Preparation

1. Whisk oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in large bowl.

2. Add remaining ingredients, tossing to combine.

All the best,

Sarah VanNorstrand

for Lucky Moon Farm

#pumpkin #garlicbraids #spinach #redcabbage #salad