Winter Distribution #2, December 16th

The News from Windflower Farm

Your second box of the “winter” season will arrive this Saturday, December 16^th. Please see below for the distribution timeframe for your pickup site.

What you’ll get this month

• Red and yellow onions
• ‘Ed’s Red’ Dutch shallots
• Purple (‘Peter Wilcox’) and yellow potatoes
• Red cabbage
• Covington sweet potatoes
• Bolero carrots (from Denison Farm)
• Lettuces
• Lacinato or Red Russian kale
• ‘Honey Crisp’ apples (and a couple of ‘Empires’ or ‘Ruby Frost’) from Borden Farm
• Honey from Harry’s Honey Shack
• Plus a small butternut squash from the Denison’s 
• All the vegetables in your winter share come from Windflower Farm’s certified organic fields except where otherwise noted.

Because we produce your winter share greens in unheated greenhouses, we don’t usually attempt to produce lettuces for the share – they are not especially cold hardy. But this year’s mild fall has meant that several beds have fared just fine. Please note that we don’t wash your greens during the winter – a quick rinse will make any soil particles and bugs disappear.

It’s easy to run out of ideas for dealing with crops like kale in the kitchen. But the Brassicas – and, like broccoli, kale is a Brassica – are superfoods, and finding ways to enjoy them is truly worthwhile. Here are two simple ideas. First, wilt kale into your eggs for breakfast. Or sauté kale with an onion, then add eggs, stir, and cook until they are the way you like them. Second, add kale to soup near the end of the cooking cycle. Kale (and spinach) can be added to virtually any soup. For lunch today, we added chopped kale to a carrot-lentil soup when we were reheating it. Kale adds color, flavor, vitamins, and nutrients, and contributes cancer-fighting compounds.  

Next month’s share will include red and yellow onions, shallots, miscellaneous potatoes, beets, sweet potatoes, greenhouse kale and spinach, celeriac, ‘Tendersweet’ cabbage, the Borden’s apples, and jam from the certified kitchen of our neighbor Deb.

Happy Holidays from the entire Windflower Farm Team!

Best wishes, Ted

PS. Here is a note and recipe from Kristoffer Ross about this month’s grain share. 

Hello Folks,

Kristoffer here from Hickory Wind Farm. For grain share subscribers, your items this week are a bag each of whole grain Rye and Red Fife Wheat flours, please remember to take both bags. I’ve included a recipe for rye bread below, should you wish to try it out, your share should be sufficient to make two batches. It was adapted from Our Beloved Sweden, a cookbook and folklore collection from Swedish-American families in the upper midwest about 30 years ago. The main alteration I’ve made is to replace the white flour with whole wheat, but if you desire a lighter loaf feel free to reverse this choice. Note that if using all whole grains note that the dough may not quite double in the course of either rising.

Regrettably, this month’s share will be the final one to include Red Fife wheat until autumn of 2024, due to a crop failure in the wet summer this year. I’ve saved back enough seed to replant in the spring, and we will hope for a slightly dryer July this time around.

Swedish Rye Bread

Makes 2 rectangular loaves, or one large boule.

• 1 Cup warm water
• 1 Cup skim milk
• 1½ tablespoons yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 3 ½-4 cups Rye Flour
• 3 ½-4 cups Whole Wheat Flour (or all-purpose white flour for a lighter loaf)
• (Optional: rolled oats to sprinkle on top)

1. Add the warm water, milk, yeast, and a single teaspoon of sugar to a large mixing bowl, stir and let stand 10-15 minutes.
2. Add the molasses, remaining sugar, salt, oil, 3 ½ cups of rye, and 3 ½ cups of wheat flour.
3. Begin kneading the dough, add ½-1 cup of flour gradually until the dough is stiff and no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands.
4. Add to a greased bowl (flipping it to grease the top), cover, and let rise in a warm location for 1 hour.
5. After an hour (dough may not have fully doubled) place on a floured surface, divide in half form into two loaves, and add to greased pans. Let the two loaves rise for 1 hour.
6. Add to oven preheated to 375F, and after 10 minutes reduce heat to 350F. Bake a further 35 minutes. The bread is done when the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove and cool on wire racks.

Thanks to the Windflower staff and my family for enthusiastic taste-testing. As Ted has pointed out, it is best served with real organic butter. 

Wishing you warm, peaceful, and merry holidays,

~Kristoffer Ross

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!