At the Food Farm, we love our carrots, and our carrots love each other.
We are moving towards fall with seasonal favorites like leeks and acorn squash. We also have Noreaster beans, a very distinctive green bean and a favorite of the farm crew because of its great flavor.
In your share this week:
Noreaster Beans – Beets – Cabbage – Carrots – Cucumber – Leeks – Lettuce – Onion – Sweet Red Peppers (not hot!!!) – Green Bell Peppers – Russet Potatoes – Acorn Squash – Tomatoes
How we harvest our carrots
You probably love Food Farm carrots as much as we do. Our carrots go into your CSA boxes, go to several wholesale accounts including the Whole Foods Co-ops in Duluth, and are part of the our winter CSA shares. Long story short, we grow A LOT of carrots, and harvesting those carrots is quite a production!
We need three different pieces of equipment and a farm crew of at least five to harvest carrots mechanically. First in the harvest train is the tractor, which pulls and powers everything mechanical. Next is the carrot harvester. The carrot harvester digs up the carrots, pulls them up a conveyor by their tops (leaves), and then slices off the tops so they fall into a collection bucket. One person drives the tractor while another person (always Janaki) steers the carrot harvester making sure it is perfectly lined up with the rows, digging to the appropriate depth and generally running properly. Lastly, is the trailer with the collection buckets and farm crew. Carrots come down the chute FAST. One person kneels down swapping out new buckets as they fill, approximately a new bucket every eight seconds. The first crew member sets full buckets aside, and a 2nd crew member moves that bucket from the front to the back of the trailer and gets a new empty bucket ready for the first person to grab. The third and final person arranges full buckets in the back of the trailer or dumps buckets into a pallet box so we can fit as many carrots on the trailer as possible! It’s cardio, weight-bearing, and teamwork so let us know if you’d like to add it to your workout routine this fall.
Gado Gado (from The Moosewood Cookbook)
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice
- ½ tsp turmeric
- broccoli or cauliflower
- green beans
- green or red cabbage, finely shredded
- carrots, sliced thinly
- cucumber
- peppers
- squash
- tomato
- lettuce
Instructions
- Make yellow rice by cooking 2 cups of rice in 3 cups of simmering water with 1/2 tsp of turmeric until tender.
- Cut all vegetables into small bite-sized pieces. Exact measurement are not necessary, just use what you like! Lightly steam the cauliflower/broccoli, green beans, and squash.
- Tear the lettuce or greens mix and place on a platter or plate. Top the greens with the yellow rice. Arrange the chopped vegetables on top of the rice. Top with hard boiled eggs and/or tofu. Dress with the peanut sauce.
Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 heaping tablespoon grated ginger (fresh)
- 1 heaping tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1.5 cups hot water
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- crushed red pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Put everything in a blender and puree until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little extra water. Drizzle over Gado Gado.
The Gado Gado can also be topped with sauteed ginger and garlic (very thin slices), crispy fried onions, shredded coconut, and slices of oranges.
Looking for past recipes?
You can search all past newsletters using the search box in the upper right hand corner of your screen. If you remember the title or unique keywords in a previously posted recipe, this can be helpful way to find old recipes.
If you’re looking more generally for a recipe to use something in your box check out the tag cloud below:
Arugula Basil Beet Bell Pepper Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Carrot Carrot Leaf Cauliflower Celery Chard Chives Cilantro Cucumber Delicata Squash Dill Dressing/Sauce Egg Garlic Garlic Scape Green Bean Green Onion Kale Leek Mint Napa Cabbage Onion Parsley Parsnip Pepper Potato Radish Red Onion Red Potato Rutabaga Scallion Shallot Spinach Thyme Tomato Turnip Winter Squash Yellow Onion Zucchini
The larger the word above the more posts with a recipe that features that vegetable. Click the vegetable you’re seeking a recipe for, and our website will return a list of all the newsletters that feature that vegetable!
For the farm crew,
Starr
Food Farm 