Harvesting Hakurei Turnips and Baby Bok Choy

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We’re harvesting two new veggies this week for the Farm Stand: Hakurei turnips and baby bok choy! Both of these crops are members of the Brassica family. Hakurei turnips (above) have a crunchy texture like a radish but with a sweet and slightly fruity flavor. They can be eaten raw in salads or slaws or roasted. Baby bok choy (below) has a tight compact head with thick stems. The stems are crunchy with a mild sweetness while the leaves are tender and soft. Baby bok choy makes a wonderful addition to soups or you can give it a quick sauté with some Thai peanut sauce.

If you’ve popped by the Farm Stand recently you’ve probably noticed that we have two different kinds of kale. “Black Magic” is our dinosaur or Toscano kale variety, an heirloom from the Tuscany region of Italy. It has a striking bluish green leaf and is typically less bitter and more delicate in texture than curly kale. This variety (below left) lends itself better to salads after a quick massage and cooks faster than curly kale. “Darkibor” is our curly kale variety. It is exceptionally hardy and tends to survive frosts better than our dinosaur kale. It has green leaves that are frilly on the outer edges (below right) with an almost peppery flavor. This sturdy kale variety works well in braises, soups, and stews.

The warm and drier conditions we’ve experienced this month have led to what we believe will be a decent fall tomato crop. Since we shared our last update at the end of September, almost all of our plants have green tomatoes on them! If the weather cooperates, we should be able to start harvesting our cherry varieties within the next 2-3 weeks with our slicing varieties following suit shortly after. We’ll update you again once we start harvesting our tomatoes! 

In Season at the Farm Stand: French Breakfast Radishes, Beets, Hakurei Turnips, Roselle Pods, Baby Bok Choy, Komatsuna, Curly Kale, Dinosaur Kale, Mustard Greens, Roselle Greens, Collard Greens, Korean Melons, Okra, and Long Beans