A letter from Ted about what’s up at the farm:
Frigid temperatures and the season’s first snowfall have arrived at Windflower Farm just in time for the winter solstice. There isn’t quite enough snow for sledding, Jan’s favorite winter pastime, but the local ski area has been open for a week, and my boys and I are excited to be heading out soon. But not before we finish work on your second share of the winter season, which is scheduled to arrive on Saturday, December 18th.
We will be sending an item that is new for us, although it’s one you are no doubt very familiar with: popcorn. We grew about a quarter acre of popcorn last year, and the ears have just become dry enough to pop. Popped kernels from half an ear fill out a 2-quart sauce pan pretty well. Coat the bottom of the pan with 1 tbs. olive oil, preheat on high, add the kernels, place a lid on the pan, and start shaking. Shake evenly for 3 to five minutes, or until the popping, once started, has slowed to just one every few seconds. Do not keep it on the stove too long or it will burn. Our sample ears have popped very well here at home, producing big, white, fluffy kernels. I don’t add salt or butter, just a large handful of my favorite topping, nutritional yeast. Parmesan is good, too. Remove the kernels from the ear by holding the ear over a bowl, gripping it with two fists, and twisting it in opposite directions, allowing the kernels to fall into the bowl.
You’ll also get two sweet dumpling squashes, a bunch of leeks, a 3-lb bag of potatoes, a bag of red onions, a bag of carrots and either daikons or turnips, a bag of mixed greens (yukina savoy, vitamin green, purple bok choy and red komatsuna), and a big bag of Yonder Farm’s Empire and Macintosh apples. Recall that we wash your greens minimally this time of year because it’s so cold outside; so please wash them again. These greens may all be made into fresh salads, and they are also suitable for cooking, in which case you would prepare them as you might prepare kale or choy. As always, your share will come pre-packaged in a 1-bu box (which we’d love to get back at some point during the winter months).
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