CSA List for the first week of Fall
Carrots
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Lettuce Mix
Arugula
Butternut Squash
Kale / Swiss Chard
Onions
Sweet Potatoes
A couple of interesting items this week…
First story I have is about the onions. I was up on the tractor mowing some weeds and old crops down when I noticed something in the ground below me… Onions. Whoops! I suddenly remembered leaving one bed row of onions in the ground because the tops hadn’t died back like the rest of them. I fully intended to come back in a week or two to harvest them, but soon the foxtails were taller then the onions and they had slipped my mind. Our “surprise discovery” is the rossa di Milano onion. A red, moderately hot onion that chefs love. I had a good laugh when I just now read in the seed catalog that the tops of the onions are slow to go down and should be encouraged by pushing them over. I need to make a note to myself to take better notes!! We did lose a few in the field but still did harvest about a bushel for the CSA.
Next little gem we have for the CSA is Martin’s Carrot hot pepper. We obtained the seeds for this from the Seed Savers Exchange. Here is the story from their catalog:
Donated to SSE in 1996 by Dr. William Woys Weaver of Pennsylvania. Dr. Weaver included this variety in his 1997 book Heirloom Vegetable Gardening and wrote, “This rare and very old heirloom is believed to have been introduced or developed in the nineteenth century by Mennonite horticulturist Jacob B. Garber (1800-1886) of Lancaster County. It was preserved for many years by the Martin family of Ephrata, Pennsylvania.” Dr. Weaver acquired the variety directly from the Martin family in 1971. In his book, Dr. Weaver suggests an interesting way to consume this pepper: “I have often been tempted to call this the Pennsylvania Dutch jalapeño, since it can be used like a jalapeño in cookery. The Pennsylvania Dutch who pickle it whole often serve it stuffed with peanut butter; which makes an interesting hors d’oeuvre, especially when eaten with salt pretzels and beer.”
So if any CSA members decide to pickle these and stuff them with peanut butter, please call me. I will be right over with the pretzels and beer!
Have a great week,
Greg