Farm News, October 5, 2021
BRING YOUR MASK! Due to the everchanging pandemic conditions, we are requiring masks for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, while visiting in the barn. Masks are not required outside the barn. Thank you!
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We are full into squirrel mode here at the farm. Having an aberrantly (freakishly?) warm fall has made harvesting the frost sensitive storage crops like sweet potatoes and butternut squash decidedly drama-free. We continue to be amazed at how warm the nighttime temperatures have been, with no end in the 10-day forecast in sight. We’re now turning our attention to bringing in the remainder of the potato crop, while we wait for a bit of cool weather to put the finishing touches on our fall carrot, parsnip, and Brussels sprouts crops. If we don’t see a frost by the third week of October, we may have to apply that frost artificially inside the walk-in cooler….
Dahlia Gorgeousness!
Since vegetables hog most of the space in the farm news, we thought this week we would concentrate on a few of the other crops we have available that get less press. Over in the flower patch, we stepped up our production of dahlias this spring. Faye has been spending any bit of spare time she has, photographing each variety, noting their performance in flower and plant height, and carefully labeling the many new varieties we have acquired over the last few years. These flowers are planted as tubers, and they take their time growing up before putting on a big show in the fall. They are peaking right now, but the show only goes until frost. After the frost we will dig and divide the tubers, store them safe with the potatoes over winter, and bring them out next spring to repeat the cycle. It’s a great time to check out the dahlia patch and make a bouquet … and we are excited to offer a half price sale this week on ALL flower bouquets!
We grew them and pulled them out of the field, not it’s time to decorate, carve, and roast!
The other crop you’ll see in the barn this year are apples. We have a few fruit trees along Fort Hill Road that we give a minimum of attention to over the season, and this year we got enough to harvest. Organic apple production is downright difficult: there are four major disease and 3 insects that make it a real challenge to get quality fruit. Our apples, peaches, and pears are delicious, but decidedly not pretty. Most organic apple production is centered in arid places like western Washington, because growers there can avoid most of the disease issues. Although there are organic orchards in the Northeast, they are a bit rare.
We see an increase in praying mantises at this time of year.
So each fall we look to our conventional neighbors for fruit. Averill Orchard in Washington and Maple Bank Farm in Roxbury have supplied us with fruit from their orchards to sell at our farm stand for many years. They can offer us some amazing varieties like Empires and Jonagold from Averill, and Maple Bank’s Macoun and special Golden Delicious strain. Crisp and sweet apples, lots of dahlias, butternut squash galore, and the full glory of the pre-frost garden. Yep, fall is definitely here despite the mild weather.
We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,
Paul and Rebecca for the Fort Hill Farm Crew
Erika and Shell brave the jungle of ginger foliage. Nothing smells better!
Featured this week:
Koginut Winter Squash: We trialed this new variety last year, which was bred by chefs from a Kabocha and a Butternut, and we were glad we did! The flesh is sweet, creamy, and moist, but notably rich and meaty too. You won’t be disappointed. Get to know this beauty simply by cutting in half, scooping out the seeds, oiling the cut edges, and putting face down in a baking pan with a quarter inch of water in it (or skipping the water and using parchment paper instead). Bake at 375F until a fork slides in easily. Don't forget to salt and roast the seeds!
Eggplant: This crop is notably well behaved this year, neither inundating us nor leaving us empty handed. We used to grow just 3 varieties of eggplant; now we grow a full menagerie. There’s the classic, dark purple type you see in grocery stores; a beautiful round, white with lavender blush Italian heirloom called Rosa Bianca (our favorite, for its tender flesh); long, thin, magenta and shorter, dark-purple Asian varieties that are perfectly designed for stir fries or grilling; handsome and equally tasty Graffiti, and a handful of pure white-skinned eggplant. Give them all a try! All are great grilled (marinate for 10 minutes with tamari, olive oil, chopped garlic). See recipe below or www.forthillfarm.com for more recipe ideas.
Also available:
Salad mix, arugula, head lettuce, pea shoots, French Breakfast and red radishes, limited salad turnips, Red cabbage, savoy cabbage, red, Chioggia, and gold beets, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, parsley, chives, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, radicchio, Dark Red Norland, Satina Gold, Blue Gold, Magic Molly, Kennebec and Fingerling potatoes, German Extra Hardy garlic, Heirloom, beefsteak, plum, and green tomatoes, limited Sungold and red cherry tomatoes, escarole, fennel, assorted sweet peppers, mixed Italian and Asian eggplant, hot peppers, leeks, celeriac, collards, Brussels sp. Greens, butternut squash, fresh young ginger, limited apples from our certified organic, no-spray orchard
Coming Soon:
Sweet potatoes, parsnips
Pick Your Own:
Flowers: * SALE! BOUQUETS are HALF PRICE THIS WEEK! please get a flower ring from the barn for bouquet size.
Don’t miss the Dahlias, which come into their own this time of year! There are still some nice flowers out there, despite the deluges of rain.
Perennial Herbs: * please get an herb ring from the barn for bunch size.
Chives, Oregano, Thyme, and Sage for all of those fall recipes
PYO Hours: 1:30 - 7PM. (PYO begins 30 minutes before and goes 30 minutes beyond barn hours.)
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Roasted Eggplant With Tahini, Pine Nuts, and Lentils Recipe
From SeriousEats
Ingredients
For the Lentils:
2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup; 170g)
2 small stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 1 cup; 115g)
1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup; 225g)
6 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
12 ounces (340g) brown or de Puy lentils
2 bay leaves
4 cups homemade vegetable stock or water (about 1L) (see note)
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons (10ml) red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or sherry vinegar Freshly ground black pepper
For the Eggplant:
2 large Italian or small globe eggplants, about 1 pound (450g) each
4 tablespoons (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large sprigs fresh rosemary
To Serve:
2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup pine nuts (about 2 1/2 ounces; 70g)
1 recipe Tahini Sauce With Garlic and Lemon (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Directions
1. For the Lentils: Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°F to prepare for roasting eggplant. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add lentils, bay leaves, stock or water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover with the lid partially ajar, and cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. (Top up with water if lentils are at any point not fully submerged.) Remove lid, stir in vinegar, and reduce until lentils are moist but not soupy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and keep warm until ready to serve.
2. For the Eggplant: While lentils cook, cut each eggplant in half. Score flesh with the tip of a paring knife in a cross-hatch pattern at 1-inch intervals. Transfer to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, cut side up, and brush each eggplant half with 1 tablespoon oil, letting each brushstroke be fully absorbed before brushing with more. Season with salt and pepper. Place a rosemary sprig on top of each one. Transfer to oven and roast until completely tender and well charred, 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and discard rosemary.
3. To Serve: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and pine nuts in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Cook, tossing nuts frequently, until golden brown and aromatic, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to halt cooking. Stir half of parsley and rosemary into lentils and transfer to a serving platter. Arrange eggplant halves on top. Spread a few tablespoons of tahini sauce over each eggplant half and sprinkle with pine nuts. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and rosemary, drizzle with additional olive oil, and serve. Serves 4.
Tahini Sauce With Garlic and Lemon Recipe
From SeriousEats
Ingredients
1 whole head garlic, broken into individual unpeeled cloves (about 20 cloves) 2/3 cup fresh juice from 3 to 4 lemons (160ml)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (2g)
1 generous cup tahini paste (about 10 ounces; 300g by weight)
Cold water Kosher salt
Directions
1. Combine garlic and lemon juice in a blender. Pulse until a pulpy puree is formed, about 15 short pulses. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer set over a large bowl. Press out as much liquid as you can with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula, then discard solids.
2. Add cumin and tahini paste to lemon/garlic juice and whisk to combine. The mixture will seize up and turn pasty. Add water a few tablespoons at a time, whisking in between each addition, until a smooth, light sauce is formed. The tahini sauce should very slowly lose its shape if you let ribbons of it drop from the whisk into the bowl. Season to taste with salt. Refrigerate for up to 1 1/2 weeks. Makes 2 cups.