Welcome to the New Year!

As soon as the last few roofs are clear of snow we’ll be turning our energy to signups for the 2023 season! We hope to be ready for folks to sign up beginning around January 20th.

Mark your calendars for our annual Farmers Come to Town/Rutabaga Giveaway (and curling) event on February 15th at Wild State Cider. We will be there from 4pm to 7pm introducing one and all to the exciting sport of rutabaga curling, and enjoying the company of farm members.

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In your share this month:

Red Beets – Carrots – Onions – Parsnips – Baby Red & Baby Russet Potatoes – Yellow Potatoes – Rutabagas – Delicata & Winter Sweet Squash

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Happy animals on the farm. Our baby polar bear, Chester, is in his element with winter in full swing. He’s a white dog and in white world and we’ve never seen him so clean! Our laying chickens are warm in their greenhouse home and enjoying reject produce so nothing goes to waste. We even have song birds on our bird feeders!

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Baby Russet Hash Browns!

Our simplest recipe yet! Tested and approved by numerous Food Farm staff and volunteers. Small russet potatoes make delicious easy hash browns because they have a low moisture content and a high ratio of skin to flesh, so no draining or precooking is required.

Ingredients

• Baby russet potatoes (grated, as many as desired)
• Oil
• Season to taste with salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Grate baby russet potatoes
2. Heat a skillet or pan to medium heat and add a generous amount of oil
3. Spread grated potatoes in a layer no thicker than one inch in the pan. Do not stir or agitate. Cover with a lid until the bottom appears toasted and crispy, then flip the hash browns. (This will likely need to be done in sections around the pan unless you’re just doing a small amount.)
4. Add a little more oil after flipping (I usually use canola oil at first when the pan is hot and olive oil after flipping)
5. Once the 2nd side is toasted as well, season and serve!

Want to get experimental? Janaki’s favorite is to add some grated beets to the mix–even kids who normally don’t like beets don’t argue! Or you could try rutabagas, parsnips, or onions, too.

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Some folks are unsure what to do with rutabagas and parsnips, but we’re here to help! If the ideas below don’t get you interested, try emailing our Veggie Hotline–fellow farm members who love to help people figure out what to do with produce: veggiehotline@foodfarm.us

How do I use parsnips???

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How do I use rutabaga???

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For the farm crew,

Starr

Happy New Year, food lovers!

2022 will be the 29th season of community supported agriculture here at the farm. That is over 500 weeks of delivering summer shares to thousands of local community members. We have seen a great deal of veggies come and go over the years, and we are still just as excited to grow through another year. Personally, I am excited to experience another season of organic farming because there is so much to learn. My favorite part of the growing season happens to be the very beginning. Greenhouse work is so interesting and requires great attention to detail in order to ensure success throughout the whole season. I am also excited to hang around the critters at the Food Farm. Organic farming really seems to bring out the best in our garter snakes, birds, bugs, and Chester.

I realize it is January and dreaming of spring and summer seems unfair. Especially when we still have literally tons of food in the root cellar. Rutabagas and parsnips have made their debut in your winter shares this month. They’ve been patiently waiting in the root cellar since the end of the growing season (they’re the last few vegetables we harvest every year). One fun (and slightly embarrassing) fact about myself is before working at the Food Farm, I had never tried either of these vegetables. It seems that even as a farm worker, there may still be crops I have yet to try for the first time. Nonetheless, they’re amazing vegetables and one of our amazing CSA members has provided us with the perfect recipes for them.

Hopefully your holiday season was full of amazing food, crafted from either newly discovered recipes or the traditional ones that hold a special place in your celebrations. Appreciating and considering where your food is grown makes it more fun to be a home chef. I hope that you all love having the produce we grow in your homes as much as I do.

Until next time,

Emily

In your shares this month

Chioggia Beets, Carrots, Onions, Parsnips, Red and Yellow Potatoes, Rutabagas, Winter Sweet and Delicata Squash

Oven Baked Rutabaga Fries

• 2 lbs rutabaga, cut into 1-inch wedges
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (optional, but encouraged)
• 1/4 tsp. paprika (opt.)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin (opt.) 
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (opt.)
• Preheat oven to 450F.  Grease a large rimmed baking sheet and set aside. 
• In a large bowl, toss the rutabagas with oil until thoroughly coated. 
• In a small bowl, combine the salt and spices. 
• Sprinkle the spices over the rutabagas and toss to coat. Spread the rutabagas over the prepared sheet in a single layer and bake for 30-35 minutes until browned and crispy. 

Quick-Pickled Rutabagas (*pickling fluid from New York Times)

• 1/4-1/2 lbs rutabaga
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 5 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tsp salt (optional additions (to your taste): peppercorns, coriander seeds, chili pepper, star anise)

• Bring water to a boil and pour into a bowl containing the vinegars, sugar, salt, and optional flavors.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• Scrub the rutabaga and slice thinly. 
• Pour the vinegar mixture over the rutabaga and let them sit at room temp until the liquid is slightly cooled. 
• Transfer to the refrigerator for at least one hour before eating.  Eat within the week! 

Parsnip Flan (Wall Street Journal)

• 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and finely chopped
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 ramekins (for baking the flan)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a couple quarts of water to a boil.
• Place parsnips in a medium saucepan and cover with 1/2″ water. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook parsnips until very tender, 5-6 minutes. Reserve 2 tbsp of cooking water, then drain parsnips. 
• Heat 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons reserved cooking water in a 10″ skillet over high heat until the sugar liquifies. Continue cooking over high heat, swirling pan occasionally until sugar caramelizes to a dark amber. Immediately divide caramel among ramekins.
• In a blender, puree parsnips with half and half, eggs, vanilla, salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Pour mixture through a mesh sieve into a bowl and divide among ramekins.
• Place ramekins in a roasting pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan (avoid splashing!) until it reaches halfway up the ramekins.  Bake until the flans are set but slightly wobbly in the center (approx. 15-20 minutes). Transfer ramekins to frig and chill completely.  
• To serve, run the tip of a knife around the interior edge of the ramekins and invert the flan with their caramel onto dessert plates.