(CSA Newsletter: Fall Week 2)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
(* indicates items included in this week’s Linfield student mini-CSA … this is our last week of the Linfield CSA — thanks for joining us this fall!)
I know we talk about fall a lot, but there’s really so much to say. Fall is, not surprisingly, a very different season from summer. We’re continually surprised by how distinct the rhythm feels from other seasons.
One thing that I think will become a regular part of our fall routine is speaking engagements. In the last few weeks we’ve already spoken four times to different groups around McMinnville, and last fall/winter we spoke several times as well: to students, other farmers, church groups, and service clubs.
When we were first invited to share our story with a group, I think we were a little surprised. Certainly we value our experience, but we’re also incredibly close to it. Farming is such a part of our life now that we’ve lost touch with how truly rare our lifestyle has become. We’re glad to share that experience with others, especially in the hope of igniting interest and/or passion in others for agriculture. While it takes some work on our part to put together a relevant presentation for each group, we’ve enjoyed every opportunity we’ve had to discuss these issues with the wider community.
Another part of fall that’s vastly different from summer? We’re going on vacation!!!!!! Hoorah! This week we’re going on a quick, but much needed, trip to Palm Springs, CA with Casey’s family. In fact, we’re already packed and planning our relaxation time carefully: sit by the pool, read, sleep, eat, repeat.
Although we hope to completely forget about the farm for a few days, don’t worry: we’ll be back in time to harvest for you next week as usual. Plus, we’ll be harvesting again on Wednesday for Thanksgiving: see our sidebar for info about our special ‘holiday harvest.’
As usual, have a great week and enjoy the vegetables!
Your farmers,
Katie & Casey Kulla
Oakhill Organics
Another great cookbook
We stopped by 3rd Street Books this weekend and picked up a copy of Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution. We’re already fans of Alice Waters and her Chez Panisse cookbooks, so we were eager to add this new book to our collection.
While it lacks some of the depth of her other books, The Art of Simple Food is a great ingredient-focused primer-style cookbook. It’s like a condensed, farmers’ market biased version of The Joy of Cooking. I think it would be especially useful to people who are new to using whole ingredients. She makes a great case for buying quality ingredients and then backs it up with easy to follow recipes. Her attention to method and technique will be especially useful to newer cooks. We look forward to honing our skills with it over this winter. We’ll share some recipes from it next week, but for now we wanted to share some of Waters’s philosophy about food …
Alice Waters says: “When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.”
And: “By choosing to buy food grown locally and sustainably, in ways that are humane and healthy, I had woven myself into a community that cares about the same things. As a community, we share not only a commitment to protect our natural resources, but an appreciation for the value of food itself, a love for its taste and beauty and the deep pleasure it can bring by connecting us to time and place, the seasons, and the cycle of nature.”
And I think you’ll all appreciate Alice Waters’ simple propositions for cooking good food:
“Eat locally and sustainably. Eat seasonally. Shop at farmers’ markets. Plant a garden. Conserve, compost, and recycle. Cook simply, engaging all your senses. Cook together. Eat together. Remember food is precious.”
Planning your Thanksgiving meal?
In case it affects your meal planning, here’s a sneak peek of next week’s share (some items might change slightly): pie pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, celeriac, leeks, collard greens, shallots, and onions.
Because not everyone will be cooking a big Thanksgiving meal at their house, we will be giving out normal amounts of each item.
If you would like to order extra veggies for your holiday meals, you are invited to participate in our ‘holiday harvest’ next week. We’ll be taking orders for vegetables on Monday and Tuesday, then special harvesting on Wednesday and delivering the veggies to a convenient downtown location (TBA). See the link on our blog sidebar for more info.
