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

The first round of carrots has been officially seeded in the high tunnel! Since we direct-seed carrots densely, it’s the perfect opportunity to use our Jang push seeder to make quick work of the task. Using this tool, we’re able to sow several rows of carrots seeds in just a couple of minutes! This varietal of carrot is called Ya-Ya and takes about 60 days from germination to harvest. We hope to be able to harvest them for you in time for Christmas!

Remember the high velocity farming system that we mentioned last week? We’ve already harvested radishes and arugula using this system and within the next week, we’ll be making our first harvest of baby bok choy! This variety of bok choy is called “Shanghai”. Just like our arugula, it grows exceptionally fast and has more of a heat tolerance than other fall leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard. We should have the first baby bok choy of the season ready for you just in time for our next Farm Tour on Saturday, October 21st!

Did you know that a lot of the crops we grow during the cooler seasons belong to the brassica family? Brassicas prefer cooler temperatures and can tolerate reduced daylight hours thus they’re grown during the fall, winter, and early spring months. Members of this extensive family include broccoli, kale, radishes, and turnips.. We just transplanted a succession of brassicas including cauliflower, curly kale (pictured below), and Brussels sprouts. While the Brussels sprouts won’t be ready for a couple of months, we should have the first kale available in early November!

In Season at the Farm Stand: Arugula, Radishes, Eggplant, Long Beans, Okra, Malabar Spinach, and Korean Melons.

Coming Soon: Baby Bok Choy, Bush Beans, Swiss Chard, and Kale.

December 22nd, 2021

The high tunnel is yielding two beautiful new veggies: Li Ren Choi and Black Summer. Li Ren Choi (pictured above) is a variety of baby Bok Choy with tender leaves and crunchy stems. Due to its smaller stature, it requires minimal prep in the kitchen and can be simply halved or quartered before cooking. Black Summer is a variety of Bok Choy with dark green leaves and light green stems. Both the stems and leaves are edible and are perfect for stir-fries and soups.

We absolutely love Swiss chard, from the crunchy rainbow-colored stems to the tender leaves. We’ve noticed that this leafy green doesn’t seem to be a popular choice at the farm stand so we figured it deserved some time in the spotlight! Chard leaves (pictured above) are a great swap for spinach in recipes but they’re also equally delicious as a stand-alone side dish. Try sautéeing them with olive oil, garlic, and a pinch of red chili flakes. As for the stems, pickling them is a great option to add interest to winter salads (recipe here!). If you’re a smoothie drinker, try tossing a few leaves into your next batch for a dose of vitamins A, C, and K.

As we approach the holidays, we wanted to let you know that our farm stand will be self-serve for the remainder of the year. The coolers will be stocked and ready to supply all of your holiday meals! Simply pick up what you need and check yourself out with your credit card on the I-pad adjacent to the coolers. You can stop by anytime that is convenient for you throughout the week. If you’re curious what we have available, check out our list below.

Currently In Season: Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach, Li Ren Choi (Baby Bok Choy), Arugula, Salad Mix, Tatsoi, Lettuce Heads, Kale, Swiss Chard, Napa Cabbage, Hakurei Turnips, Fennel, and Slicer Tomatoes

October 7th, 2021

The beds on the far end of the farm are being planted with another round of cover crops this week in order to get them ready for spring planting. Over the summer we noticed that these beds weren't quite as productive as the others. We did a little investigating and noticed that these beds have a higher clay content which means they aren’t draining as well as the others and are a little more compacted. Cover crops to the rescue! We’re seeding these beds with a mix of buckwheat (to mow down and use as green manure), clover (to fix beneficial nitrogen to the soil), and purple top turnips (to help with breaking up compaction).

We’ll have another new leafy green for you at the farm stand this Saturday: baby bok choy! These miniature versions of bok choy have tender leaves with a flavor sweeter than their mature counterparts. Baby bok choy can be stir-fried whole (like in this recipe) or chopped and added to salads. Bok choy is a member of the vast Brassica family that makes up a large portion of the crops we’ll be growing this fall and winter. Other delicious members of the Brassica family include broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and cabbage.

Our most recent succession of Tsuyataro cucumbers is incredibly productive. They’re so productive in fact that we were able to harvest over sixty pounds of them this week! To celebrate this cucumber bounty, we’ll be running a special at the farm stand on Saturday: buy one pound of cucumbers and get one free. Here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy cucumbers:

• Cucumber Basil Soda
• Japanese Pickled Cucumbers
• Cucumber Soup with Bacon Gremolata
• Roasted Cucumbers with Cream and Horseradish