SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Eugene’s 6th Annual Fill Your Pantry Event
Sunday, November 13th 1-5pm
Lane Events Center, Expo Hall #1-2
796 West 13th Ave, Eugene
Credit, Debit, and SNAP accepted at event
You can also view the product list and prices at the same url: http://wffc.localfoodmarketplace.com.
Online pre-ordering closes at midnight November 4th.
New! Free printable storage primer to help you prepare to stock up!
Don’t miss your chance to stock up! The upcoming Fill Your Pantry event offers locally grown staple and storage crops at bulk prices. OSU Master Food Preservers will be on hand to answer your questions about food storage. If you order online, your order will be aggregated and ready for pickup when you arrive. There is a drive-up lane and volunteers on hand to help load.
Staple crops
Dried beans, wheat berries, rye berries, triticale, rolled oats, quinoa, whole wheat pastry and bread flours, buckwheat flour, barley flour, rye flour, cornflour, polenta, popcorn.
Storage crops
Onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, winter squash, pumpkins, potatoes, cabbages, yacon, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, radishes, sunchokes, celeriac, dried peppers, apples, Asian pears, honey.
Frozen Foods
Blueberries, strawberries, beef, pork, lamb, duck, chicken, and bones for making broth.
WHAT WILL BE IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:
- Celeriac
- Curly Kale
- Kuri Squash
- Butternut Squash
- Romanesco
- Carrots
- Collard greens
- Strawberry Jam
RECIPES:
Romanesco Pakora w/Tamarind-Raisin Chocolate Sauce
French Lentils w/Caramelized Celery Root & Parsley
Butternut Squash Risotto w/Parmesan
Welcome to week 3 of the Late Season! We have all been feeling blessed with the dry, warmish weather of late…..gives the fields a chance to dry out, as well as our rain gear! Hand harvesting root crops is still possible, although a bit sloppy, but harvesting with any mechanical implements, such as tractors, is fairly impossible with the ground as wet and soft as it is now. We have been harvesting our wholesale carrots by hand (not ideal!) and will need to do the same with our burdock root next week. Sure makes us appreciate machines at times like these.
It’s amusing how much a little bit of sunshine can change attitudes as well….even though our crew is amazing in that they just keep on trucking, no matter the weather, I did see more smiles today than in the last few weeks. We all got together last Sunday to celebrate Halloween at Jeremy and Ashley’s house in Deadwood, and a good time was had by all! We shared a delicious potluck, good company and then music in the barn. Some of us went home, and some stayed the night….here are some of the costumes!
Terah as Cleopatra, Emma as a Galactic Princess, Andrea as a Rain Cloud/Rainbow and Brandon as Willy Wonka
Jeremy as Ramen Noodles, daughter Mia as a Ladybug and friend Mandala as Alice in Wonderland….parents Bear and Amy were the Mad Hatter & White Rabbit.
There will be a vegetable in your box this week that some of you will recognize, but some of you will be wondering what the heck it is and how in the world to cook it!
It’s called Romanesco! Romanesco is a member of the species Brassica oleracea L., which includes cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens, kohlrabi, and numerous other “cultivars” (cultivated variations). This strangely beautiful vegetable goes by many names….The French name, chou Romanesco literally translates to “Romanesco cabbage”, placing it in the cabbage family even though it doesn’t much resemble any cabbage you’ve ever seen. In German, it’s Pyramidenblumenkohl: “pyramid cauliflower”; in Italy, where it was first described in the sixteenth century, it’s called broccolo romanesco: “Romanesco broccoli”, but sometimes cavolo romanesco: “Romanesco cabbage”. Finally, in English it’s usually called “Romanesco broccoli”, but you’ll also see it referred to as “Romanesco cauliflower”. It does taste like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, but you’ll have to admit, it seems more fun to eat!
What’s even more fascinating than the visual treat of just looking at Romanesco is realizing that it takes the form of a fractal – a complex geometrical shape that looks almost the same at every scale factor. So each segment is made up of smaller florets that mimic the fractal shape to perfection, which in turn are made of even smaller florets of similar shape… and this goes on and on to the tiniest florets.
If you break off a floret from the main head, it looks like a mini-version of the Romanesco, with its own mini florets. No matter which part of the fractal you zoom into, it will look like an identical version of the bigger picture. It’s fascinating to think that something like this naturally occurs in nature, let alone on a vegetable. A detailed pattern that goes on repeating itself is rare and certainly a thing of beauty.
The Romanesco is nothing short of a mathematical marvel, reminiscent of the Fibonacci series – a sequence of consecutive numbers that add up to the next number. Like: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and so on. So how can a Romanesco imitate a series of numbers? Simple. On closer inspection, the Romanesco is revealed to have a spiral starting from the center point. All the smaller florets are arranged around this spiral. In essence, this is the Fibonacci spiral – a series of arcs with radii that follow the Fibonacci sequence. If you count the number of spirals in each direction, they will always be consecutive Fibonacci numbers. A math lesson on a vegetable – isn’t that amazing?
Of course, a head of Romanesco can’t go on forever, the fractal has to have a termination point. So math purists might call it an approximate fractal. Whatever it might be, its perfect geometrical structure makes the Romanesco so visually stunning, that it might actually pain you to boil it. But it tastes great. so please do!. It can be eaten raw, goes well with a dip, or you could cook it just like you would cauliflower or regular broccoli.
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and of course, enjoy your veggies!
Linda and all of your Winter Green farmers
Winter Green Farm 