Root Vegetables shine in Ohio Farm Share Week 17

Root Vegetables and squash speak Autumn to me. I try to deny that winter is coming but the crisp fall weather is creeping in every night. I might wear shorts or Capri’s during the day, but I take jeans and a jacket along if I’ll be out at night the same day. The temperature dips and the moisture in the air is chilling in NE Ohio, especially by the lake when the wind can kick up fast. Of course, a little bit of wind didn’t stop us from eating Salted Caramel homemade ice cream at Granny Joe’s in Vermilion this week. Weeooo, I can still taste that awesome goodness. I still say it’s best on a Waffle-cone!

This week’s NE Ohio Farm Share from Fresh Fork Market is very typical of what is coming in from our gardens at this time of year. Even the tiny cherry tomatoes, some picked not fully ripe, are typical of what I’m doing in my own garden. With the cooler night temperatures, we pick what we have daily to keep the plants producing as long as possible. We think we’re fooling mother nature but she’ll have the last word!

I can’t wait to try the Butternut Squash and Sage Linguine in this week’s share – doesn’t that sound delicious?

This week our small Vegetarian farm share included (top featured photo)…

Kohlrabi – 1
Pasta – Butternut Squash and Sage Linguine
Beets – 1 bunch of 6 small
Peppers – 2 Bell
Zucchini – 2
Tomatoes – Cherry – 1 pint
Potatoes – Yukon Gold – 2 lbs
Butternut Squash – 1
Onion – 1
Carrots – 1 bunch

My half of the Vegetarian small share this week (above photo) and what’s left since Thursday, September 25…

Kohlrabi – 1 – I gave this to my dad because he really loves it fresh
Pasta – 1/2 Butternut Squash and Sage Linguine – this looks amazing, will try it soon.
Beets – 1 bunch of 3 small –  I kept all the greens from the 6 beets – so beautiful.
Peppers – 1 Bell
Zucchini – 1
Tomatoes – Cherry – 1/2 pint
Potatoes – Yukon Gold – 1 lb
Butternut Squash – 1 – I got the squash, mom got the onion
Onion – 1 – I got the squash, mom got the onion
Carrots – 1/2 bunch

Added – 1 dozen eggs

RESULTS…

We haven’t used any of our farm share this weekend since we were eating everywhere but at home. I have plans for crockpot experiments and soup making this week. This means it will be an eating and storing week because I fix large pots and then freeze leftovers in increments for two people. I only have a couple of these frozen treats left, so I invested in several types of meat to make some combinations for freezing.

Mom picked up our vegetables on Friday this time since we were traveling on Thursday. She made us a wonderful Potato, Green Beans and Ham meal in the crock-pot from some of our farm share items of weeks past and we played cards afterward, which is something the four of us love to do. It was so nice having a meal ready when we got done sorting through our farm share. I felt so spoiled! I need to plan better for fall and winter. We don’t use the crock-pot in summer very much, so I forget how convenient and tasty a meal can be when prepared that way.

It takes a while to develop recipes for the blog. I don’t copy from others out of respect for their creativity. If I use a recipe online, or in a book that someone else created, then I want to give them credit by doing a recipe review and listing the changes I made for my own taste. Right now I’m working on several recipes I created or adapted from another source to share here at the blog. I like to fix that recipe several times for my family or friends before I share it here, so it’s as good as it can be. That takes time since I don’t always have the same ingredients every week. Plus, I don’t measure, so I’ve had to get in the habit of measuring my tosses and pinches so you know what they mean. hahaha

There are three that are in the final stages of writing and photographing, coming very soon…

Roasted Tomatoes for eating and freezing
Summer Vegetables Pasta and Corn on the Cob
Zesty Salsa Bean Salad

Sneak Peek at what I do with Roasted Tomatoes! (above photo – yum!)

So if you’re wondering where did that recipe disappear to that I talked about months ago, that’s where it’s at, in the recesses of the blog, still in the experimentation stage. The WORST thing that can happen is that I forget to take a photograph of the finished product! Ugh. Yes, we’ve been so frenzied to eat the masterpiece that we’ve forgotten to photograph it. Oh, and picture me with a wooden spoon ready to whack Mr. Carnivore’s fingers when he’s wanting to eat before photographs. hahaha Living with me is definitely an adventure in patience!

And, the news of the week is that I finally tried beets! Mom made them and I was brave enough to taste them. See, beets and I are not good friends, so I look at them, think about fixing them, then walk away. HA. Of course, mom’s beets were delicious. They were from the farm share and very earthy with some sweet mixed in. Not a strong sweet like I expected and the earthiness was kind of nice. The beets we got in this week’s farm share are a beautiful deep red and the leaves were perfect. I may actually get brave enough to try Beet Greens this time, so I’m washing those to put up in the fridge for an ambitious day.

So what does a city dweller do with all those root vegetables that should go into winter storage? Dream of a root cellar. I keep threatening to dig one in the back garden. I’ve experimented over the years because root vegetables are my favorites for long term storage and deliciousness in soups and stews. Potatoes go into a very small cabinet that I have by my fridge in a basket that allows some airflow, with another basket stacked on top that holds onions and garlic. I know “they” say not to store these together but I always do that with no difficulty. I place a paper towel in the bottom of each basket that seems to help keep these items fresher longer. Once anything is cut, such as an onion, it has to be bagged and put in the refrigerator. Mr. Carnivore found out this week what happens to a potato when you cut it and bag it and put it back into the cabinet. Needless to say, I was horrified to find it. Ewww! See what happens when I come to your house, Mel, and leave Mr. Carnivore home alone. HA!

As for squash like Butternut… I just leave them on one of my counters that doesn’t get direct sunlight. Most of my kitchen gets the morning sun so ripening tomatoes or fruit inside happens quite quickly. The Butternut do quite well hidden behind a wall that keeps them from direct light but they’re still in my view so I can make sure they’re not growing anything abnormal. 😀

Carrots and beets get the leaves cut off and then are stored in a baggie in the humidity drawer in the refrigerator. I’ve stored them unwrapped before but they last longer if I keep them bagged. Same with Zucchini — it will last the longest if I wipe off the soil and moisture, then put it in a baggie. It seems like we’d use a lot of baggies over time, but we recycle by washing them in hot water and letting them drain, then wiping dry with a clean towel. I don’t like to clutter the earth with plastic so I try to be responsible when I use it, but baggies can seal tighter and smaller than a storage container so it’s the best way to fit volume and keep it fresh in our cabinet-depth refrigerator, which is smaller than most households have these days. I don’t take anything out of the refrigerator to eat without giving it a good scrub before we eat it, so I don’t worry about reusing the baggies. Anything that’s ready to eat will go into a dish or container that has been sterilized.

How’s the eating at your house? Are you stockpiling like a squirrel for winter?

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