• Watercress Box
• Baby Kale Box
• Baby Tatsoi Box
• Chervil
• Poultry Herbs
• Dill
• 2 Acorn Squash
• 1 Butternut
• Orange Sweet Potatoes
• Papaya ripe

Papaya pie! Yeah, a little different, but I wanted to share my results: skinned, deseeded and chopped papaya was tossed with juice from 2 limes, !approximately ¾ cup of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey, 1 ½ tbs of cornstarch, plus healthy dashes of cinnamon and vanilla. This was poured into a prepared pie shell and baked on a jelly roll pan at 350F for 30 minutes. I thought it looked a little runny at end time so I dusted the top with some more cornstarch, used a spoon to gently fold that into the papaya filling and baked it for at least another 20 minutes. See the results in the photos and please overlook the tell-tale dusting trail…we thought it turned out very yummy! Maybe you will try it?

• Baby Ginger
• Green Papaya
• Butternut Squash
• Green Tomatoes
• Potato Medley
• Sweet Potatoes
• Sage
• Chervil
• Field Arugula
• Field Tatsoi

Papaya: A very rare and special treat this week: papayas! This tropical fruit is grown in one of our greenhouses and is one of the first of papayas grown in Virginia. Papayas are known for being a healthy food and for containing unique digestive enzymes that help the body process proteins. Papayas contain vitamins C, A, E, K, several of the B vitamins and many minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium. As an excellent source of these nutrients, papaya can be helpful to our health in prevention of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease. Being a good source of fiber, papaya can help lower high cholesterol levels and may be beneficial in prevention of colon cancer. Immune support and anti-inflammatory effects can assist in cases of asthma and arthritis.  Stephanie, pictured above by her Dad, Bob Jones, explained from her experiences in Africa that green papaya is used for special occasions as a desert where the peel is removed, the body shaved into strands resembling pasta and then cooked with coconut milk and cardamom. I can’t wait to try it like that! Many thanks and gratitude to our two newest additions to the farm art, Dan and Stephanie, for their hard work and dedication to producing the finest quality, best tasting and nutritious food. We are so grateful to have you aboard! Have a great week everybody
  

• Roasted Pepper Paste
• Kale Bunch
• Beet Top Bunch
• Red, White and Blue Potatoes
• Orange and Purple Sweet Potatoes
• Whole Ginger
• Butternut Squash
• Specialty Cucumber
• Patty Pan Squash
• Field Arugula 10×10*
• Tatsoi Heads
• Poultry Herb Blend
• Chervil
• Green Tomatoes

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours this week! Mike was digging potatoes until dark tonight, determined to get you all some of the freshest flavor and rare purple sweet potatoes. He was digging up the ginger as i went to write this. Well, it sure is worth it to be able to share the gifts of the earth. He ground fire roasted peppers for you early this morning, a great way to add nuance to your meals. Roll cubed potatoes in a tablespoon or two before roasting or making home fries. I like to use leftover boiled potatoes for breakfast by making a “smash and dash”…just smash them in an oiled cast iron, add a dash (or two!) of the pepper paste and roast in the oven until they have a good crisp on them. For a really southern flair, chop in some of your green tomatoes. Or try a different take on a holiday favorite side dish: macaroni and cheese. Just mix in a dollop of the pepper paste and top with thin slices of the green tomatoes before baking. The poultry herbs can be left whole and inserted into your bird before cooking to infuse the whole pan, including drippings for gravy. Hold back a few bits and chop finely if you want the herbs to feature in your stuffing (with the exception of the bay). To the right is a sweet potato pie made from the purple sweet potatoes. The lighting in the picture doesn’t do it justice as it was much more purple than shown. Ginger and orange zest really sent it over the top! Hope you have a delicious and fun holiday…Leslie and Mike.

• Gourmet Cucumber
• Sweet Potatoes
• Hatch peppers
• Padron peppers
• Bell Peppers
• Eggplant
• Butternut Squash
• Baby Ginger
• Tatsoi Greens
• Patty Pan Squash
• Baby Arugula

First Digging of sweet potatoes. High Moisture variations this year create the Cracking and splitting – but they are tasty!

Oct 21_2016 sweet potatoes

Pictured at right is a view of the baby arugula growing on the bench in the greenhouse. And below, Mike is out in the lower field working in the raised beds. Being the engineer, he specially welded his own implement to lay and shape the compost enriched soil.

To answer a question posed by one of our members, “What do i do with this patty pan squash?” here are a few suggestions: roast slices in the oven, using olive oil or butter, for about 30 minutes until tender. It can also be grilled, stuffed, or  made into a soup. We rarely have the opportunity to spend a lot of time on dinner, so often it is either cut into slices and sautéed in the cast iron or it ends up in the crock pot. Be sure to use a wide, sharp knife when cutting for the best results; a dull knife can be dangerous.

In the microcosm of the farm, there is evidence of the great biodiversity that is the Blue Ridge. With the touch of rain yesterday, it is the perfect time to catch a peek of the most prolific time of year for fungi in these parts. Hope you get an opportunity to get a walk-about to perchance encounter a mycorrhizal relationship or other fungi. Some take longer to mature but most are growing in the first half of the day, reaching peak around noon. Often specimens encountered late in the day have already been decimated by bugs or other critters. These cooler overcast days are ideal for discovery! J At right, is a type of amanita.