New England is turning more grey and brown, typical of November.  Our rainbow palette of fresh food will surely brighten the day, though.  Giving thanks to the hard work of all the farms this year–it’s been an amazing harvest!

The hyperlinks on the vegetable names take you to a lot of recipes and information about those vegetables.  If you’ve never had popcorn from the farm, please check out the tips at the end of this post and Enjoy!

 

 

See also Jackie Starr’s Fabulous menu suggestions customized to this Saturday’s share contents.

Use these within a week or so (or blanch or make a dish for freezing):

Brussels Sprouts, 2 stalks, from Riverland (pop off stalks and roast, steam, braise, or blanch for the freezer), from Riverland
Lettuce-1 head, from Picadilly
Bok Choy—1 bunch, from Riverland
Kale—1 bunch, from Riverland—great in soups, grated and marinated for a salad, or kale chips!

These will keep for a couple of weeks in your fridge crisper drawer:
Leeks—keep whole or chop for soup and freeze (no need to blanch) from Picadilly
Kohlrabi – a bunch (cut off the greens and use them first), from Riverland

 

These will keep for many weeks in cold storage (keep moist in bag, with some ventilation):

Apples–storage variety, 5#, from Cider Hill.  Most sources recommend storing apples separately from other cold storage items as they have a ripening agent which may hasten other items past their prime.
Carrots – 5#, from Picadilly
Cabbage (red or green), from Riverland— sauerkraut or kimchi ideally is made asap

Celeriac (celery root) from Picadilly–this groovy (okay, gnarly-looking) root in your box is full of flavor.  Peel and grate into salads or steam or roast to add to root mashes or soups. Will store for a long time, even if you use just half at first and store the rest in your fridge drawer.

Red radishes

Potatoes – 5.5#, white from Picadilly

Gilfeather Turnips, from Picadilly, delicious mashed like potatoes or french fried, these are milder and sweeter than turnips, are more like a rutebaga but with white flesh.  Listed as an heirloom by Slow Food.  Try them out–there are some champions–have fun playing “guess the weight” with the kids.  There is a whole festival celebrating Gilfeather Turnips in Vermont!

 

These will keep for many weeks in cool, dry conditions (40-55 degrees), like a shelf in your basement or unheated room as long as it doesn’t freeze; store in paper bags:
Garlic ½ #(can also be stored in a tightly closed jar in the refrigerator), from Riverland
Onions, yellow, 2#, from Harlow Farm in VT

 

These will keep for a several weeks in your kitchen or in a cool dry cellar:

Butternut Squash, 3 pieces, from Picadilly

These will keep for months at 50-70 degrees—NOT COLD STORAGE:
Sweet potatoes 4#’s, from Riverland

Popcorn Cellar, cool, damp, or room temperature if using within a couple of months
Once a week, shell a few kernels and try popping them. When the test kernels are popping well and tasting good, shell and store the rest of the kernels in sealed, airtight containers. If stored popcorn fails to pop, it may be too dry. Add 1 tablespoon of water to a quart of popcorn. Cover and shake at frequent intervals until the popcorn has absorbed the water. After 3 or 4 days, test pop a few kernels to see if it is ready. A number of winter shareholders have had good luck putting the cob of popcorn directly into a microwave.