September 29 baskets and farm notes

The picture on this note is a picture of a Sept 29 basket deconstructed...baskets today contained potatoes, cabbage, onions, garlic, carrots, soup celery,tomatillos, jerusalem artichokes, chard or collards,white currant tomatoes and Fordhook Acorn squash. Also the smaller Lantern fruit are Cape Gooseberries, not ground cherries. These fruit are a true challenge to grow here, as they are actually native to Peru. I begin the seed for these fruits inside in March to give them the long growing season that they require. I would say that these are my favourite fruit that I grow, I love the tropical tang they contain. Baskets also contain peppers, generally more hot than sweet.
Next week is the last week of veggie deliveries, completing 20 weeks of food I have grown for CSA members. Although it has been a difficult growing season because of the weather there has been a fair bit of food produced here. Please accept my thanks for your involvement and support this year. I appreciate all the positive feedback and comments and it has been wonderful meeting some of you that are new this year,
I think the veggies in your arsenal today could create a wonderful soup. A recipe follows. Pair this with a wonderful homemade bread ( see Eating Niagara blog for my no-knead recipe) and you should be cozy and content.

Hearty Potato and Vegetable Soup

Recipe By : Taste of Home, Premier Issue/Roberta Banghart
Serving Size : 8

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 medium potatoes -- peeled and sliced
2 carrots -- diced
6 stalks celery -- diced
2 quarts water
1 onion -- chopped
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups milk

In a large kettle, cook potatoes, carrots and celery in water until tender,
about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid and setting vegetables aside. In
the same kettle, saute onion in butter until soft. Stir in flour, salt and
pepper. gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Gently
stir in cooked vegetables. Add 1 cup or more of reserved cooking liquid
until soup is desired consistency.
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We are up to about 6 eggs a day from my young hens which is very exciting, With 22 laying hens, I should soon be up to 22 eggs a day!
And the eggs are fantastic, no pale yellow yolks, but brilliant orange yolks which sit high. Once you eat eggs from happy chickens, it is very difficult to go back to factory farm eggs, even if they are organic.
Both greenhouses are being planted for the winter now and I continue to dig out the remaining roots still in the ground, such as potatoes, carrots,sweet potatoes and jerusalem artichokes.It is pretty much time to plant the garlic for 2010 too, once the ground dries up a little bit again. Fall is a pretty busy time,with clearing out the garden, and preparing for winter.
Till next time...