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Week 25 of 28 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 25 of 28 from Valley Flora! Shallots! Celeriac! Giant Kohlrabi!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
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What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • The Big, The Bad, and the Ugly
  • Winter Shares are Sold Out
  • Heads up: SPECIAL Thanksgiving Delivery Schedule!
Jules and Uma astride Jack and Lily on a beautiful day for fall fieldwork.
 
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Shallots
  • Butterhead Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Green Cabbage
  • Celeriac
  • Mustard Greens
  • Kohlrabi
  • Spaghetti Squash
  • Shinko Asian Pears
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Cauliflower
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Leeks
  • Carrots
  • Chioggia Beets
  • Lettuce
  • Pea Shoots
  • Chioggia Radicchio
  • Radishes?
  • Delicata squash
  • Cauliflower

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The Big, the Bad, and the Ugly
I love this time of the year, when the totes start filling up with weird, freakish vegetables. It'd probably be bad for business to start the season off in June with the kind of produce you're getting this week, but I trust that after six months of eating with us you can handle the fright that a four-pound kohlrabi might give you today. It's a milestone tote: proof that you are officially a seasoned, adept locavore. You've got this.

So what's this week's challenge?

KOSSACK KOHLRABI and SHALLOTS (the "Big")!
You got some kohlrabi way back in June, but they paled in comparison to the behemoth this week. This is our storage kohlrabi and it gets huge. It's also the sweetest, most delicious kohlrabi I've tried. You can cook kohlrabi, and there are plenty of recipes to lead you down that road, but I strongly suggest using this in its raw form: peeled first, and then the raw kohlrabi world is your oyster. It makes great crudites if you want to keep it simple, but if you want it at the center of the plate, try this Kohlrabi Caesar Salad or Kohlrabi Pickles with Chile Oil. One sidenote: kohlrabi that's been cut up and then stored in the fridge tends to off-gas and it smells like a strong propane leak. Not very appetizing. If you're not going to use the whole thing at once, I suggest hacking off the amount you need and storing the other piece in the fridge in a plastic bag to reduce the amount of surface area exposed to air. When you go to use the leftover piece, you can simply shave off the cut edge and start fresh.

The shallots in your share are probably bigger than you're used to. For some reason we're able to grow mammoth sized shallots on the farm, by no special workings of our own. This variety stores exceptionally well in cool, dry conditions, up to a year!

SHINKO ASIAN PEARS (the "Bad," as in "Badass!")!
This is our latest and last variety of Asian pear. The first time they bore fruit I was disappointed: the flavor was insipid. We toyed with cutting the trees down and replacing them with something with more zing. We didn't, but the next season I was uninspired to pick them and left the fruit on the tree well into November. Passing through the orchard one day I noticed that none of the pears had dropped so I picked one and tried it. Vavavoom! Turns out they just needed some more ripening time! Now I wait until the birds start pecking at the upper fruit - always a sure sign that the sugars are up - and then we pick them, usually in early November. Crisp, juicy, sweet, refreshing. Glad we didn't take the chainsaw to them after all.

CELERIAC ("the Ugly")!
Celeriac, aka celery root, is one of those vegetables that tests your capacity to not judge a book by its cover. It's the beast of the vegetable world, with a very charming prince hidden inside. It takes either a really good veg peeler or some slick paring knife skills to reveal the creamy white heart within, but it's worth the small effort. It's a great cornerstone in soup, it roasts up fantastically, makes a yummy mash, and is also delicious shaved raw in salads. Little known and under-appreciated here in the States, it's an awesome winter staple because it keeps for a long time in cold storage.

Get inspired with this collection of celeriac recipes, ranging from soups to sides to main dishes.
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Winter Shares are Sold Out
It happened fast and we're so sorry if you missed the boat! Our winter production is more constrained than our main season, which makes it hard to accommodate the growing interest in winter shares. We might just have to rethink some of our crop planning in order to expand the winter CSA in the future!

Keep in mind that if you can make the trip to the farm in the winter, we will have a winter farmstand every other Wednesday from 10 am to 4 pm, starting January 8th, the same day as the CSA pickup. You can stock up on veggies of your choice, even if you aren't getting a CSA basket. We will probably also be supplying a few local outlets this winter, pending produce supply, including the Port Orford Community Coop, the Langlois Market, and possibly Mothers Natural Grocery.

Thanks so much for your support!
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Heads Up! Special Thanksgiving Delivery Schedule!
Hard to believe given this spate of summery weather, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner. If you are a Bandon or Port Orford member, please pay special attention because we alter our CSA delivery schedule for the week of Thanksgiving. ALL CSA totes get delivered on Wednesday, November 27th and there is no CSA delivery on Saturday, November 30th. Pick-up times will be unchanged for Farm and Coos Bay Members; I will post pick-up times for Port Orford and Bandon members next week in the newsletter.

If you will be out of town for Thanksgiving and unable to pick up your share, we're happy to hold your tote in our cooler at the farm for pick up when you return. To make arrangements, please email us your:
  • Name
  • Normal pick-up location
  • Phone number
  • Date you plan to pick up your tote from our cooler at the farm
We resume our normal delivery pattern (Wednesday and Saturday) the week of December 2nd for the 28th and final CSA distribution.
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November Farmstand Hours
 
Every Wednesday, Rain or Shine
10 am to 1 pm
(No more Saturdays until next June)

Fresh Produce
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
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