farmersmarket365

The warmth of the sun seems to be waning as September arrives. The days of shoppers filling their baskets, sitting to enjoy the music with a coffee and sweet pastry seem to be lessening as our busy lives take over.  Taking time to shop the market for weekly food is harder and yet there is no more important time to support the vendors, especially the farmers then now. *

The harvest doesn’t stop because it is Sept. 1- the seeds planted in March, tended to and planted in May, cultivated and cared for through the summer and finally harvested and prepared for you at the market, are pouring in and need to be sold. The blossoms on the fruit trees in the spring now are bear fruit that has to be harvested at just the right time to give you the ultimate taste.

The truth is September and October pose challenges for most of us to get to market but there is no more important time to do it.  The harvest has to be sold before the winter arrives, and though root vegetables can be stored, farmers know that with each passing week a little bit of the amazing taste dwindles.

Shoppers who come to the market each week, no matter the weather or time of year are much appreciated and your effort to do so is really a gift to each vendor.  A gift acknowledging the hard work and effort to bring you top quality food for you to enjoy.

*I am using farmers, but all of this applies to all the vendors who work hard to bring the best product to market.

Labor day brings with it the rude awakening that the warm red tomatoes, juicy cucumbers and savory dishes of summer squash are being replaced with the harder but no less delicious vegetables of autumn.  It is abundantly clear at each farm stand just where this is going.  So besides enjoying the squashes, peppers, potatoes and onions now, I get busy preparing them for meals later on.  It isn’t necessary to purchase huge amounts to prepare but rather purchase just a few extra each week. You’ll see how this works.

Peppers:

• The sweet bell pepper, green, red, yellow and purple all have a bit different level of sweetness. I buy two or three extra each week and while preparing dinner, cut them up into small pieces and freeze.  Later I can add them to soups or roasted vegetables or stir fry.  I try to get a gallon bag full which lasts the winter.
• Roasted red peppers and pablano: You don’t need a lot of either of these as they go a long way. I get maybe 10 of each and when we grill meat I place them on the grill, char the skin, peel and place in freezer bags. Both are great added to sauces.
• Banana peppers: Though I might freeze some of these, generally I pickle a few pints for dressing, pizza or when I want some heat but not too much.
• Red pepper relish is the only bulk purchase of peppers, and as soon as there are enough I gather up what I need and prepare this relish that brings back memories of returning home from school to a line of red jars on the kitchen counter.

Potatoes:  When you can, try to find a farmer who will sell you unwashed and dried potatoes.

• Save them in a dark (paper bag works) dry cool place. I use my makeshift root cellar in the basement.  If they are unwashed and have been cured they will last the full winter.
• Sometimes when the celery root is out I will cook them both together, mash and put in the freezer.

Shallots and onions:  Same as potatoes, you want unwashed of both of these and preferably with lots of dried layers on the outside.  Make sure they are firm, soft spots means they are too old.  I have seen where you can put the onions in a leg of a panty hose, tie a knot, then add another. – way too much work for me.

• I usually just add them to a mesh bag and hang them in the root cellar.
• If I am caramelizing onions for a meal, I’ll double or triple and then freeze the extra.

Garlic:  There are lots of ways to “keep” garlic, I haven’t had much luck so my process is to roast  a few bulbs with olive oil, salt and pepper.  The “meat” squeezes out into a jar that stays in the refrigerator and lasts the whole winter.  The taste is milder but still good.

Ok, now for the mother lode: The squashes.  With the exception of spaghetti squash, you can treat each squash pretty much the same.  So here are the processes I use.

• Roasting: cut in half, take out seeds (don’t forget they roast up nicely as well) and roast face down with a bit of water until you can easily insert a knife through the skin. When cooled dig out the flesh and freeze in bags.   I also freeze some in muffin tins and then transfer to a baggie to be used to add to oatmeal or soups.
• Butters: Most of the squashes can be made into a fruit butter- it’s really just the flesh cooked down with sugar. I put these in jars and process for use later. You can use it as a glaze, in sauces, or again in oatmeal.
• Save whole: Buy an extra squash and just save in a cool dark place.  This could be a plastic tub, a wooden crate or I have an old set of wire drawers (the kind you get in organization stores). Be sure they don’t have any blemishes and I would buy early in the season as the later ones might go bad quicker.  You will need to regularly check on them and when you detect a soft spot, make it part of dinner.  Note: butternut tends to be the one that lasts the longest. Last year I bought pumpkins too late and they fell apart within a week- lesson learned.
• Spaghetti squash- that just gets roasted and frozen.

The nice thing about the fall crops is that they are usually the ones that are most hardy and stand up to storage the best.  So if you don’t have time have someone else store them for you.  We are lucky enough to have a winter market and these are the foods that arrive at least through the start of Dec.  Farmers have humidity and temperature-controlled storage that allows you to just stop by and pick some up.  In a sense you are helping the farmer extend the harvest.