By Cici
After long days of harvesting all our lovely root veggies and fall squash, we’ve been able to replace our ball caps with witch hats and plan little post-work activities to celebrate our shared love for Halloween. We kicked off the festivities last week by carving pumpkins and cooking weenies over a campfire. Then, over the weekend, we held our annual Farm-o-ween for the farm children, giving them a great chance to test-run their costumes and get their bellies primed with sugar for this coming Thursday.
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday to celebrate, but in recent years, I haven’t been able to celebrate fully, being distracted by school and lacking the community that makes it feel whole. So! This year, I’ve felt especially fulfilled and grateful to celebrate the seasonal change. As someone who struggles with the whole "be here now" mentality (I tried to listen to The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle; however, I did this at 2.5x speed and promptly gave up after he mentioned that he was intentionally narrating the book at a slower pace to further emphasize its message), I find that celebration and ritual are the best ways to bring myself into the present. So if you have found that your year has moved at breakneck speed like it has for me, I recommend finding little ways to mark the season with spooky movies, artfully placed gourds, or autumnal scents.
Or you could reread The Power of Now if that’s your MO—just avoid any rush, because Eckhart will tell you this is entirely not the point.
CSA Barn Hours:
Last week of Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 PM! Next week we start winter hours: 2:30-6PM
Pick List:
Eggs
Sangre Red, Harvest Moon Purple, La Ratte Fingerling, and Yellow Finn Potatoes
Yaya Carrots
Rhonda Beets
Purple Daikon and Watermelon Radish Radish
Rutabaga
Ailsa Craig Sweet, Monastrell Red, and Cortland Yellow Onions
Leeks
Fennel
Sweet Peppers
Cabbage
Kossack Kohlrabi
Covina Broccoli
Song Cauliflower
Lettuce
Dazzling and Rainbow Lacinato Blue Kale
Rhubarb Chard
Dill, Parsley, and Cilantro
Frisee, Radicchio, Chioggia, and Escarole
Hot Peppers, including Highlander Green Chile and Poblanos
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Nightshift Acorn, Candystick Delicata, Blue Kuri, and Spaghetti Winter Squash
Pick your own strawberries, raspberries, flowers, and herbs
Sonora Wheat Flour
Tea Blends (Please BYO jars!)
Beef Bone Broth for sale! (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstall Olive Oil for sale (Please BYO jars!)
Revolution Bread for sale on Tuesday and Friday
Pumpkin muffins have become a staple at Farm-o-ween. We covert this loaf recipe.
Pumpkin Bread, from nytimes.com
½ cup/120 milliliters vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
2¼cups/285 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
¾ cup/165 grams packed light or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup/60 milliliters full-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 8½- or 9-inch loaf pan; line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
Bake until the loaf is puffed and set, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 60 to 75 minutes. Transfer the bread, in the pan, to a rack to cool for 20 minutes.
Use a paring knife to cut the two exposed sides of bread away from the pan, then use the parchment to transfer the cake to the rack. Let cool completely.