I hope you’re all staying healthy! I’m recovering from several different bugs. Now I’m well:) Cold and wet! For the first time this fall, the soil was goopy and muddy. We scraped off the precious topsoil that came up with the roots while harvesting for the CSA. I loved seeing earthworms and red wigglers busy at work, seen in abundance in every turn of the soil. I really felt winter coming yesterday on the farm, as the leaves had fallen and the farm was starting to look “naked.” Sleepytime is coming! However we were busy harvesting, the ducks and sheep moved about munching and preening and different birds flew about catching perhaps their last eat before heading south. It was exciting to pull rutabaga and the baby leeks for the first time this season, having waiting 4-5 months since planting. We also harvested some medicine, dandelion root, while weeding the remaining patch of the garlic bed before planting. This is a great time to dig up roots or move roots as the energy has moved into that part of the plant. Developing larger medicinal beds is one of our upcoming projects. We’ll be moving medicinals like elecampagne, valerian, and motherwort from friends’ gardens and farms in coming weeks to expand much needed medicine propagation to heal our communities and the earth.
This week’s box:
Leeks – If you are fighting sickness or need to warm up, make a brothy leek soup! Mushrooms are great immune boosters to add too.
Rutabaga – The large root with purple and yellow, unlike the turnip in the box which is deeper purple and white. They were bred as a cross between a cabbage and turnip. Like turnip in taste, with a starchier texture, they are a great addition to root roasts. They are also super hardy to cold temperatures and can overwinter.
Turnip
Baby Beets
Radish
Chard
Spicy Mustard – (SE and Sellwood, next week Farm)
Recipes
This time of year I love to warm up with a hearty bowl of soup. It’s a great way to use the roots and green and squashes too.
Hearty Rutabaga, Turnip, Leek and Carrot Soup
Adapted from epicurious.com
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped leek (white and pale green parts only)
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled turnips
- 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled rutabagas
- 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled russet potatoes
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
- 4 14 1/2-ounce cans vegetable broth or low-salt chicken broth
preparation
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Add leek, celery and garlic and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes with juices and 2 cans broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 45 minutes.
Transfer 4 cups soup to processor. Puree until almost smooth. Return puree to pot. Add remaining 2 cans broth; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve.
Radish Top Soup
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 medium potatoes, sliced
- 4 cups raw radish greens
- 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 5 radishes, sliced
Directions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and saute until tender. Mix in the potatoes and radish greens, coating them with the butter. Pour in chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
- Allow the soup mixture to cool slightly, and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Return the mixture to the saucepan. Mix in the heavy cream. Cook and stir until well blended. Serve with radish slices.
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