Farm News October 31, 2023
Please note our Fall Farmstand Hours:
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Tuesday & Thursday: 2 - 5:30 PM (closing an hour earlier)
Saturday: 9 am - 12:30 pm (opening 1 hour later)
Reminder: We are now closed on Fridays!
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Last week found us sweating it out in the fields in mid 80’s heat, which sure felt like an odd temperature for late-October in Connecticut. This week we are experiencing weather whiplash as we go from shorts to long johns in the space of 3 days’ time. We will likely get a killing frost, and more likely a freeze, by the end of the week, which will mark the end of the season for the peppers and flowers.
Another classically moody fall farm photo – good moods, for the most part.
But fear not, the fields are still supplying plenty of lettuce and salad mix, tons of fennel, radicchio in purple profusion, and even a few last crates of arugula for your salad needs. We have a good pile of potatoes and garlic, plenty of celeriac, carrots, beets, and the cold tolerant veggies like kale, collards, cabbage, and Brussels Sprouts are coming in strong from the field. We even have parsnips this week! The winter squash and sweet potatoes are extra yummy this time of year, as they have sweetened up in the warm greenhouse. Our orchard partners (Averill, Maple Bank, and Hidden Gem) have been able to share a great selection of conventional apples to boot.
Fall projects accomplished in summer weather: Kolade seals the box truck chassis, and Paul patches the barn roof.
Some of our zannier photos here… Above, humor prevails, despite a rather meager parsnip crop. Below, the gang gathers round for “Bagel Time!” on Saturday morning (Tom, Brendan, Luca, CJ, Paul, Kolade, Mozammel, and Matt).
The crew has been super busy planting spinach, bok choy, lettuce, and salad mix in the greenhouses, which will take us into the early part of the winter. When it gets this frosty, folks start wondering how long we will have produce. Our plan is to keep the walk-in farmstand running through November 21 (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving). After that produce will be available for order through our website, with one pickup day during the week (details coming soon!). The New Milford Farmers’ Market runs through November 18, and we will be at the Westport market at the Imperial Ave location through Nov. 9, switching to Gilbertie’s indoors (yay!) starting November 16.
Hope everyone had a fun Halloween and that you can get out and experience the last of the fall colors.
We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,
Paul, Rebecca, and the Fort Hill Farm Crew
Featured veg:
Parsnips: This crop and white member of the carrot family has a candy-like sweetness when roasted. Also yummy shredded raw into slaws or cubed into soups. It’s not widely grown because it is a tough one: it takes nearly a month to germinate, giving the weeds a big head start, needs exacting thinning to produce a nice root (crawling on hands and knees), and also has phototoxic leaves! This means a full body suit is required for harvest, notably on cloudy day. Stores for over a month in fridge crisper drawer.
Sweet Winter Spinach: It’s been a hard-fought harvest this fall, but spinach is coming in from behind. The cold temps make fall spinach sweet like no other. Despite a delayed appearance (and fingers crossed), we should have plenty of this sweet stuff through January. Great cooked or fresh for salads - wash the greens and then spin dry in a salad spinner, and either store them in the spinner or move to a clean, dry, covered bowl in the fridge. Do not store salad or spinach for more than three days in the vented greens bag.
Also available:
Head lettuce; salad mix; pea shoots; curly and lacinato kale; rainbow chard (farmstand); Collards; radicchio; baby bok choy; red and French Breakfast radish; leeks; celeriac; parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme; fennel; escarole; green cabbage; German Extra Hardy garlic; red, gold, and Chioggia beets; carrots; jalapeño, poblano, cayenne, and shishito peppers; Dark Red Norland potatoes; La Ratte gold fingerlings; Pinto Gold fingerlings, Kennebec all-purpose potatoes; Satina Gold potatoes; eggplant (farmstand only); mixed sweet peppers; green bell peppers; fresh, young ginger, fresh turmeric, sweet potatoes, Butternut squash, Koginut squash, Honeynut squash, Brussels sprouts
Coming Soon:
Murasaki Japanese sweet potatoes
Pick Your Own:
FLOWERS:
So far so good… We will continue to frost irrigate the flower patch to keep dahlias and friends going through frost.
PERENNIAL HERBS:
chives, oregano, sage, and thyme
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
The Best Spinach Lasagna Recipe
Recipe from SeriousEats
It’s that time of year for recipes like this one!
8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
For the Spinach:
● 2 tablespoons butter, divided
● 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
● 1 shallot, finely minced (about 1/2 cup)
● 6 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
● Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
● 2 pounds fresh flat or curly spinach leaves, washed and dried
For the Ricotta:
2 pounds fresh ricotta cheese(see notes)
2 large eggs
4 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
For the White Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 quart (4 cups) whole milk
12 ounces grated low moisture mozzarella cheese
12 ounces grated Comté, Gruyère, or Emmentaler cheese
For Assembly:
● 1 1/2 pounds (enough sheets to make 12 layers) fresh lasagna noodles
Directions
For the Spinach: Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add a few large handfuls of spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. Continue adding spinach a handful at a time until it is all in the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until spinach expels its moisture and most of that moisture evaporates, leaving a dry bottom as you stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer spinach to a fine mesh strainer set over the sink and press out excess moisture with a rubber spatula. Let spinach continue to drain as you prepare the ricotta mixture.
For the Ricotta: Transfer half of the ricotta, both eggs, the Parmesan, and the nutmeg to the bowl of a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl but do not wipe out food processor. Transfer spinach to food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 10 to 12 short pulses. Add spinach and remaining ricotta to the ricotta mixture and fold gently to combine.
For the White Sauce: Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add flour and increase heat to medium high. Cook, stirring butter and flour with a whisk until paled golden blond, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in milk. Continue to cook, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and add 3/4 of mozzarella and Comté, Gruyère, or Emmenthale cheese. Whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To Assemble: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta sheets a few at a time and cook until barely tender, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer and run under cool water until well chilled. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel in a single layer. Continue until all pasta is par-cooked and dried.
Drizzle a small amount of white sauce over the bottom of a lasagna pan or large casserole. Add a layer of noodles. Top with 1/12th of spinach mixture and 1/12th of remaining white sauce. Continue layering pasta, spinach, and white sauce until you lay down the top sheet of pasta.
Spread remaining spinach mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Comté or Emmentaler cheese and drizzle with remaining white sauce. Spread into an even layer with a rubber spatula.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until bubble and lightly browned, about 20 minutes longer. Let rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
Most store-bought ricotta is terrible. Look for a brand like Calabro, which contains nothing more than milk, salt, and either an acid or starter. If quality ricotta is unavailable, substitute cottage cheese instead.
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Fort Hill Farm Schedule:
FARMERS' MARKETS:
New Milford Farmers' Market
Saturdays from 9 - Noon
-through Nov. 18
Westport Farmers' Market
Thursdays from 10 AM - 2 PM
-through Nov. 9, then Thursdays at Gilbertie's starting Nov. 16
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NEW FALL FARMSTAND HOURS:
Tuesday & Thursday
(closed Friday)
2:00 - 5:30PM
Saturday 9:00 AM- 12:30 PM