CSA Share: Week 20

13 Oct CSA Share: Week 20

Thanks to all the volunteers who split garlic bulbs at the fall fest, we planted 17 beds of garlic yesterday (that’s over 20,000 cloves!) before this next little round of rain. The share this week introduced the first sweet potatoes of the season (overall yields are down, but the ones we have are delicious!!), as well as a choice of delicata or butternut squash.

October 11, 2011

For those wondering what the heck is up with the gold cauliflower, it is a variety aptly named “cheddar” that holds up well in the field and becomes even brighter orange when lightly cooked. For those who don’t know- to get a classic white cauliflower, growers band the leaves around the head of the plant, which keeps the sun off of it, and gives it that snowy white appearance. Needless to say, we do not go to that trouble, and thought it would be fun to try the gold variety. Here’s the story behind it, as noted in Territorial Seed catalog: “An orange cauliflower! First discovered in the Bradford Marsh in Canada in 1970, Cheddar was smaller and less tasty than white cauliflower, but the color was alluring. Over the years, using conventional breeding techniques, it was crossed with a white variety to create a delicious, high vitamin content cauliflower. The curds contain approximately 25 times more beta carotene than white cauliflower. Excellent flavor and color whether eaten raw or cooked. ” The other choice in the share with the Cheddar cauliflower is Romanesco cauliflower, the small green spirals. It has a delicious nutty flavor.

The Fall Fest was a wonderful event…from potato sack races to contra dancing, scarecrow making and pie tasting, everyone seemed to enjoy the unusually warm sunny day. We will be featuring a few of the pie recipes in a separate blog post, starting with the top 3 winners. If there are any other recipes that people would like, just let me know! Between the pies and the potluck, I’d say we have some of the best “amateur” chefs and bakers in any community!

Fall Fest 2011

Photos and text by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.