Chestnuts, Winter squashes and Goats in Boston!

Elspeth doing a goat milking demo at the Boston Local Food Festival!

We have been taking advantage of the few cooler days to harvest and pack up our winter squashes. They are tantalizing as they cure in their boxes on the tables in the barn. We are doling them out- never fear, but each of the seven varieties that we have each have their season! Unlike the grocery stores who have the entire US and beyond to choose from in terms of seasons for vegetables, we only have the one here at Chestnut Hill. We can't harvest our butternut (still mostly green coming from the fields) and give it out to you now without curing properly or it will taste like slightly sweet cardboard and most likely would just rot. Most of them need to sit for a few weeks and let their skins harden and their flesh sweeten up and concentrate their sugars.

We've given out the delicatas- that small, single serving, gold and green striped beauty that is delicately nutty and very sweet. And we gave out Spagetti's last week and this week again- they are best when perfectly golden yellow- otherwise they are blah. They are perfect for our GF and Celiac shareholders and everyone else- bake them up soft and then scrape and serve with your favorite Marinara (we like Ooma Tesoro's for a canned sauce, made by our friends, Michael and Robin, in Western Mass-  it is a little extra, but worth every freakin penny and you can find it at Wegman's.) Or pesto with goat cheese. YUM!
Up next is acorn, which you can eat now or wait for a couple more weeks. Just please eat it before
January- it is best in November and December! So if you aren't ready for oven baking quite yet yo can put them on top of your fridge where they will be quite happy for months.
The last half of October we will give out the butternuts and buttercups, which should, stored properly (i.e. the top of your fridge!!!!!) should last well into February and March. We aren't kidding.
There are some pumpkins. Not a lot. The two big bins of pumpkins are from Howes Farm and Garden in Paxton and we are storing them for an event at the Children's Museum in Boston for the Trustees. We have a big truck and they don't, so we picked them up for them. They aren't ours and we didn't buy them and we can't sell them. We also bought some for our Harvest Festival *(OCTOBER 11TH- NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!!!)* and we have some in the fields that we grew here. BUT! Drought and pumpkin growing equals, mighty small pumpkins and so we don't have the jack-o-lanterns that I usually love to give out to our CSA and all the kids. So. We will be giving out some pie pumpkins at the end of CSA, but there won't be jacks. I will have more irrigation next season and hopefully, more pumpkins.

*We are looking for more volunteers for the Festival- if you have a couple of hours that day, we would love to have you- please sign up here.

CSA:

In your Share this week (maybe):
A reminder that you should use your BASKET when picking up and transfer into bags when you are done. Your bag is your share limit! That is what you bought when you bought your share- 1 basket every week, comfortably filled.
Arugula
Salad greens
Lettuce
Acorn & Spagetti Squash (choice, out of basket)
Sweet peppers (bell and italian fryers)
Eggplant
Baby bok choi
Broccoli
Potatoes
Kale
Pac Choi
Salad Turnips
Carrots
CHESTNUTS!!!
PYO:
The pick-your-own is thinning out as the last of the cherry tomatoes goes down. The flowers are still going strong though and there is a lot of dill and cilantro as well. There are some VERY hot peppers. Sorry that the second planting of basil went down to the downy mildew fungus before it got to be four inches tall. You might find a few sprigs left, but it won't be much. There is parsley in two places, sage, oregano and thyme.

Animal News:

baby bunnies for sale

Baby bunnies are available if you are interested in pets or breeders (no papers and not registered, sorry). They are $25/each. Organically raised. Well handled and friendly. Black, silver and creamy to choose from. Creme D'argent x Cinnamon & Belgian Blue. They are not minis and can be trained to litter box for in-house pets.

EVENTS:

Blessing of the Animals on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, October 3rd! Bring your pet for a special blessing! Enjoy the colorful chaos of animals and kids.

This is in lieu of our usual 'Meet the Farmer event' because this just seems so much more awesome.

Vegetable & Recipes of the week!

Chestnuts have been raining down on us for the last week- at first it was one here and there and now it is a torrent. While we have no idea (beyond that they are most definitely not American chestnuts) if our trees are Chinese or European Chestnuts, they are certainly impressive and the nuts are sweet and creamy, especially when roasted.
Chestnuts are usually only eaten at special holiday times in the US, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, however, globally they once were the main carbohydrate in much of the world. They have a high amount of vitamin C (the only tree nut with such), little fat and a fresh chestnut is 52% water. Fresh, they only have a 3 week shelf life if stored cold. They dry quickly at room temperature if laid out properly or using a food dryer they can then be ground to flour which is an excellent substitute for wheat and other grains. My favorite way to eat them is roasted- you simply cut an 'X' through the rounded top of the shell and then roast in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. The double shell (which is the fard outer layer combined with a furrythin skin) then removes easily and the nut is pleasantly warm and creamy. After roasting you can also take them further by incorporating them into delectable recipes such as Chestnut dessert purees or mousse.
CHESTNUT PUREE
To prepare chestnut puree for use in other recipes, boil pre-cooked, peeled chestnuts in either water, broth, or milk until tender. Drain and either press through a sieve, process in a food processor, or grind in a blender. Whip in 2 T butter per cup of pulp. Add salt and pepper to taste for vegetable dishes, or sweeten with vanilla, spices or honey for use in dessert dishes. Puree can be stored in the refrigerator, frozen or canned for future recipes.

Torta Morbida di Castagne e Cioccolato Chocolate Chestnut Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup roasted, shelled and skinned chestnuts (1/2 pound in shell)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
pinch of salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Directions
Place chestnuts, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean, and salt in a large saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let chestnuts cool in syrup, then drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-1/2-inch deep fluted tart pan with a removable bottom or a spring form pan.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl set on top of a pot of simmering water. Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and whisk mixture until cooled to lukewarm. Whisk in egg yolks and flour.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into batter in two additions.
Pour batter into greased pan. Gently lay chestnuts on top of batter. Bake until top of cake has formed a thin crust, about 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then release from pan and let it cool completely.


This Italian cake is rich but not too rich, sweet but not too sweet. It is delightfully moist and the chestnuts and chocolate go wonderfully well together.

PALEO ALMOND-CHESTNUT CRUSTY BREAD

Found on pinterest/thesaffrongirl.com


Because the dough must be kneaded and is dry, it could be shaped and made to look like a baguette or a traditional bread. However, I made it in a loaf pan (8×4). For a higher bread, I recommend a slightly small pan.
Ingredients

• 150g (1 3/4 cups) chestnut flour
• 200g (2 cups) ground almonds
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon raw honey (optional)

Process
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
2. Grease and line with parchment paper a loaf pan.
3. Mix the chestnut flour, ground almonds, sea salt and soda. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the eggs until fluffy. Add the olive oil and honey and mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. With your hands, knead the dough about 3-4 minutes, until completely combined.
6. Spoon and flatten into the prepared loaf pan and drizzle with some olive oil over top.
7. Bake for 10 minutes at 180C.
8. Reduce oven temperature to 150C and bake an additional 20 minutes.
9. Allow to completely cool before cutting.