Ps11farmmkt’s Weblog

This week will be a special week at the PS 11 Farm Market. Speaker Christine Quinn is scheduled to visit our market on Wednesday, November 5th at 9 a.m. We will also have visitors from the Chelsea CSA as well as from the Sylvia Center.
The Sylvia Center is a non-profit that teaches children about healthy eating through hands-on cooking and nutrition programs. Children from the PS 11 Afterschool program, in partnership with NY Cares, began cooking classes at the Sylvia Center in Soho last year. These cookings classes inspired us to begin our farm market which lead to our partnership with the Chelsea CSA and Stoneledge Farm.
Stop by the market on Wednesday from 8:00-10:00 – we’ve been selling out early. The produce available this week is:

Carrots • Purple Top Turnips • Sweet Potatoes • Red Russian Kale • Shallots • Sage • Baby Bear Pie Pumpkins • Romanesco • Butternut Winter Squash • Apples • Bosc Pears

Letter from Stoneledge Farm,

Each year many of the CSA sites have members complete a member survey to gather their opinions, suggestions and input. One of the items on the survey is a suggestion list of vegetables that members would like to see in their share. We take the suggestions very seriously and consider how they would fit into our growing conditions, the amount of
land we have available, cultivars that are available to us under Organic Certification requirements and how the vegetable would fit into our harvest plan. After careful consideration and investigation if we feel the vegetable would work, we give it an experimental try. To make the experiment useful, we need to plant enough to see what
production levels will be, what the vegetables needs will be, how the
vegetable will fit into the plan.

This week you will receive Sweet Potatoes in your share. Sweet
Potatoes are a vegetable that we have been interested in producing and
also has shown up on many member surveys. We did a lot of research
into organic production methods, and this year planted two 600’
rows. As many members that attended the farm visit days may
remember, the plants were beautiful but the proof would be in the
digging. The Sweet Potatoes produced very nice tubers and we will
have enough for everyone this week. Next year we hope to expand our
plantings of Sweet Potatoes. It is a great feeling of accomplishment
when an experiment has such positive results.

Enjoy the vegetables-Deb

RECIPES & TIPS
(courtesy of Deborah Donnenfeld)

You can take any combination of any 3-5 vegetables on the above list and roast them together with chopped sage, rock salt, and pepper. Cook at 400 for 30-40 minutes, shaking the pan every 10 minutes or so. Chop up some kale and toss it in with the rest for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking time. I’ve never roasted romanesco, but I imagine you can toss it in with the other vegetables for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time.

Otherwise… romanesco is DELICIOUS just steamed for 2 minutes and tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Butternut Squash Soup
Trim the top and bottom off a 2-pound Butternut squash, then cut the squash into 1 1/2-2 inch rounds (makes it easier to peel). Scoop out the seeds, and peel the skin off with a paring knife (using a cutting board – not holding it as you would to pare an apple). Cut each round into 4-6 pieces.
Chop 2 large onions coarsely and sauté in 2 tablespoons of butter on a medium flame in your soup pot, until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add your chopped butternut squash, + 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add 1 quart of vegetable broth, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until you can mash the squash against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Use a hand blender, or a regular blender (in batches), to purée. Stir in 1/2 cup milk or cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with chopped parsley, if you feel like it.