Farm News September 20, 2022
This week’s Farm News is brought to you by Faye Barry. Faye’s history runs deep at Fort Hill Farm. After working on field crew in 2010, she apprenticed for the 2011 season before heading out to LA for 7 years with her husband, Michael Sziklai (also a former Fort Hill apprentice, in 2003). We are thrilled that after returning to CT (with two babes in tow!), she decided to rejoin the Fort Hill team to help take on bigger farming challenges. Among other things, Faye helps Dana with harvest management and was the main force behind the Dahlia tuber program. She has devoted a ton of attention and care to their curation in the flower patch, and her call to Pick Your Own speaks to her devotion to these beauties. Along with September being “Pepper Month,” it is also “Dahlia Month,” so bouquet while the sun shines! Faye writes:
This week marks the official start of peak season in our dahlia patch! Every day the harvest crew zips around the farm, checking tasks off our list, like bringing the pumpkins and winter squash in from the field to cure, or hauling a truckload of freshly picked radishes to the wash station. When I’m the one driving the truck, I can never resist the urge to slow down as we drive past the dahlias, to gaze at all the beauties coming into bloom. There are tons of new varieties this year, and the familiar favorites from seasons past continue to impress.
Faye is delighted by the abundant herbs here.
We hope you won’t resist the urge to slow down a bit either, and spend some time in the flower patch. If you just need a quiet moment in a busy week, meander down the rows for a calming and beautiful experience. Or better yet, grab a ring and scissors from the barn and pick a bouquet to bring home or give to a friend.
The dahlias haven’t bloomed in earnest in this photo, but the sky sure has.
CSA members get one PYO bouquet FREE every week (perennial herbs too)! The dahlia plants will continue to bloom all the way until frost, and I for one am hoping that’s still a long way away. Hints of fall are in the air now and it’s a great time to get out there and enjoy the flower bounty bursting forth!
We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,
Faye, for Paul, Rebecca and the Fort Hill Farm crew
Calin finds some peaceful Speckled Swan Gourds - they are bountiful this year!
Featured veg:
Magic Molly potatoes: Really, what more could one ask for in a potato? Deep indigo color (“blue-all-the-way-through”), moist flesh, rich potato flavor ... all in a plumpish fingerling shape. It’s a winner all around, and is easily one of our favorites. Store spuds a room temperature, in the dark, for several weeks.
Celeriac: This rooty cousin to celery may not win any popularity contests, but there’s nothing quite like it for fall. Peel and cube the root for a yummy addition to soups and stews, roast with other root vegetables, or mix with spuds for a great gratin. The root should be washed, peeled, and then cubed. Store root for months in the fridge crisper.
Also available:
Head lettuce (limited at farmstand), arugula, salad mix, pea shoots, carrots, red and French Breakfast radishes, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, escarole, cilantro, basil, parsley, dill, chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, radicchio, red, Chioggia, and gold beets, scallions, Ailsa Craig and Red Torpedo onions, red cabbage and Chinese cabbage, garlic, jalapeño, poblano, & shishito peppers, green bell peppers, limited eggplant (slow to come in this year!), Lunchbox, red, yellow Italian, and orange snacking peppers, heirloom (limited), beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Kennebec, Red Gold, Blue Gold, Dark Red Norland, and Satina Gold, & gold fingerling potatoes, Carnival and Starry Night winter squash (at farmstand), leeks, sweet corn (early in the week for sure), fresh ginger
Coming Soon:
winter squash
Pick Your Own:
~Sunflowers:
just about over now. It was a good run!
~Perennial Herbs:
chives, oregano, sage, and thyme
~Flowers:
Flowers are in still going, and the dahlias are stealing the show!
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Celery Root-Potato Purée
By David Tanis from the New York Times
Ingredients
Yield: About 6 cups
1 pound celery root, peeled and sliced .5 inch thick
3 pounds potatoes, preferably Yellow Finn or russet, peeled, in 1-inch cubes
4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
1cup milk or half-and-half, more if necessary
1 stick unsalted butter (¼ pound), cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
Preparation
Step 1
Put the celery root, potatoes and garlic cloves in a soup pot. Cover with cold water and salt generously, then boil over medium-high heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and press through a ricer or the large holes of a food mill, then return to the pot. (If you prefer a rough-textured purée, mash with an electric beater or a hand-held potato-masher.)
Step 2
Over medium-low heat, whisk in the milk or half-and-half until the thickness of the purée is to your liking. It shouldn’t be too stiff. Whisk in the butter and incorporate. Taste for salt and adjust. Make sure the purée is heated through. May be made up to 2 hours in advance, held at room temperature, and reheated in a double boiler.