Minnesota Waldorf Eighth Grade Trip

Eighth graders from the Minnesota Waldorf School participated in service-learning projects at the farm. They gathered kindling for starting the winter's wood-burning stove, mucked the chicken coop, applied compost to the flower beds, stacked hay in the barn, de-seeded and sorted the remaining pumpkins, and fed the inner pumpkin pulp to the chickens, of course. They left with a few de-seeded pumpkins and ambitions of making homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, etc! Thank you!

Jane Addams School for Democracy

Families, children, and adults attended the annual Jane Addams Farm Trip to share fun and work experiences together across the generations. They helped save seeds from our pumpkins, raked the farmhouse yard, and transported firewood to the porch for winter use. We celebrated with a potluck lunch and a beautiful autumn hike. Warm hugs were exchanged, many languages spoken, and good times were had by all. Thank you!

Celery Root and Wild Rice Chowder

Deborah Madison must have had Philadelphia Community Farm in mind with this recipe because it features many of our fall vegetables. It is rich, hearty, and grounding.

Yield: About 4-6

Ingredients
1/2 cup wild rice
2 celery roots (about 3 cups chopped)
2 large leeks
2 tablespoons butter
1 celery rib, diced
1 cup thinly sliced russet potato
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish
1 bay leaf
1 large thyme sprig
sea salt and pepper
2 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water
2 cups half and half or milk
truffle oil (optional)

Procedure

1. Cover the wild rice with 5 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until tender.
2. Thickly cut away the celery root skins, then quarter and chop the root into bite-sized pieces. You should have about 3 cups. Chop and wash the leeks.
3. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the vegetables, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, and 1 1/2 half teaspoons salt. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the half and half and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Taste for salt and season with pepper. To give the soup a creamy background, puree a cup of the vegetables and return them to the pot. If the soup is too thick, thin it with some of the rice water or additional stock.
4. Divide the soup among 4 to 6 bowls then add a mound of wild rice to each. Garnish each bowl with parsley and a drop of truffle oil, if using, and serve.
   

Carrot Salad with Parsley, Lovage, and Mint

Carrot salad is a winter staple at the farm, a breath of freshness during the cold months. Deborah Madison's recipe from her Local Flavors cookbook is simple and tasty. Lovage is a little like celery. It's leaves look like celery leaves and share a clean pungent taste. Celery can be substituted for lovage in the recipe, the substitution possibilities are endless.


Yield: About 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 pound carrots
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped lovage
2 tablespoons chopped mint
sea salt and pepper
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Procedure
Peel, then grate the carrots. Toss with the chopped herbs and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, the zest, and just enough oil to coat the carrots lightly. Season with pepper and chill before serving if time allows.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

This recipe is my all-time easy favorite for brussel sprouts. The sprouts that you will receive in your fall shares are especially sweet because we harvested them after the frost. Try one raw while preparing them, they're much sweeter than the typical brussel sprout.

Ingredients
Brussel Sprouts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
   
2. To prepare the brussel sprouts, pour them into a large bowl of water and gently swish them around. Drain. For the larger sprouts, peel off the outer layer, chop the base of their stems off, and cut in half. For the smaller sprouts, leave whole.
3. Toss in a bowl with a generous amount of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Roast until the sprouts are tender, bright green, and have a few carmelized, brown edges, probably not more than 25 minutes. Take care not to over cook as they will turn drab green and mushy.
   

Youth Farm and Market Fall Trip

Youth Farm joined us after their fall trip to the log cabin. They continued the everlasting pumpkin seed-saving project and finished the brussel sprout harvest. In the photo above, two students demonstrated their no-frills approach to removing the leaves from the plant so the sprouts could be easily harvested.

Northwest Passage High School

Northwest Passage's Food in America Class spent a day at the farm learning about our approach to food and getting a taste of farm life. They arrived on brussel sprout harvest day and started the long process of harvesting the remaining sprouts, helped separate and clean pumpkin seeds for our seed-saving project, transported compost to the hoop house, and spent time with the animals, and enjoyed a walk to the waterfall.