Week 23: Thanksgiving and the final share!

Hi all, Alli here.

It’s finally time for my all-time favorite holiday! I love Thanksgiving not only for all of the amazing food, but for the great company of my family and friends and for the time to truly reflect on the past year and all that has happened. I hope you all enjoy this holiday as well, because it’s time for you to pick up your last share of the season! Alison and I are so excited to see you all again. We saved up a lot of roots and other goodies for this share, so we hope it will help to make your Thanksgiving dinners special. Whether you are having a simple meal at home or attending a giant get-together with family or friends, the addition of some fresh vegetables at this time of year will be welcomed by all!

Harvesting lots of parsnips isn't easy…especially when it starts snowing! — Harvesting lots of parsnips isn’t easy…especially when it starts snowing!

We’ve definitely had some really cold days and nights since we saw you last (even a tiny bit of snow!), meaning we had somewhat of a race against the weather to get all of the roots harvested and into our root cellar before the ground froze. We are happy to report that they all made it, and we have since been spending our time pulling out all of the more cold-sensitive plants that died when the frosts started coming along. While there’s still a bit more to be done, the farm looks like a completely different place now. It reminds of when we first started planting seeds in the greenhouse. The fields were empty (except for tons of snow!) and we were almost unable to imagine what the farm would look like bursting with color. But now we can vividly remember the fields bursting with food for all of you, and that makes planning for next season an even more exciting and reflective process. It’s an amazing feeling to have seen the full circle of a season on this farm, and we are so thankful to have shared this great experience with all of you!

The tomatoes finally made their way into the compost. I had no idea cows liked tomato leaves so much, but honestly, these are some happy cows!

Actually, Alison and I feel that we have so much to be thankful for this year. We are so thankful to Jay and Polly for allowing us to farm on their incredible piece of land and for providing so much of the infrastructure and knowledge that made it possible for us to run Second Wind. We love that Bryn and Wes chose us to succeed them and were there to help us whenever we needed. We are so grateful to each and every one of our incredible CSA members and market customers for supporting us this season. We appreciate your patience with us and your excitement for organic, no-till, local vegetables as we spent our first season learning the ropes at Four Winds and gaining a ton of knowledge and experience. We truly love the interactions we have with all of you, whether you’re telling us about some amazing recipe you whipped up with the vegetables or simply updating us on how your day went. We thank all of you who filled out our survey or gave us opinions throughout the season, as feedback from you is what helps to make the CSA better for you and everyone else. And that is just what we plan to do for next season!

Okay, before I start getting all emotional and weepy over here, I’m just going to give you the share list for this week!

*Butternut Squash

*Pie Pumpkin

*Parsnips

*Carrots

*Beets

*Turnips

*Rutabagas

*Potatoes

*Celeriac (these are smaller than usual, due to some hungry deer enjoying the leaves a lot throughout the season!)

*Onions

*Garlic

*Kale

And here are a few recipe ideas:

PUMPKIN PIE

Of course pumpkin is delicious as part of a root roast or turned into soup, but these pumpkins were made for pie! I chose this website mostly because it has detailed info on preparing your pumpkin for use in pie, but feel free to use the pumpkin puree in your favorite pie recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pumpkin-pie-recipe.html

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND PEAR SOUP

I’ve had butternut squash and pear soups a few times, and they are definitely high up on my list of favorite fall dishes! Try the recipe below or google search for tons of variations.

http://ediblehudsonvalley.com/recipes/soup/roasted-butternut-squash-and-pear-soup-vegan/

PARSNIP AND CELERIAC

These two somewhat unusual roots are becoming more common these days, so why not try a delicious dish combining the two?! (Sorry about the measurements on this one!)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3061/parsnip-and-celeriac-bake

CARROTS AND TURNIPS

You’ll be getting lots of carrots and can probably put them to several uses, but here’s a tasty one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/glazed-carrots-and-turnips-recipe.html

And of course, feel free to post any of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes in the comments!

We’ll see Garrison members on MONDAY from 4-7 and Gardiner members on TUESDAY from 2:30-7. Please let us know if you can’t make it for any reason, and bring reusable bags–you have some heavy things to carry!

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! Thank you for an absolutely incredible season!!