Now that we have passed the first hard frost we will start to see a decline in the amount of produce that is available from our farmers—but not yet! First frost is an inevitable event each year where many of our farmers harvest the remainder of their summer crops, and some fall crops, in a flurry of activity to get you your seasonal favorites before they become damaged by the cold temperatures. Here in Northwest Arkansas, it was down to 19-20 degrees last Friday night, temperatures far too cold for many crops to endure on their own here.
The main crop harvested that you have the opportunity to enjoy before they become unavailable for the winter is fresh from our local, small farmers until next June/July – peppers! While Andrew and Madeline Scherwin of Sycamore Bend will have some red and green bells available for a few more weeks from their warm high tunnel growing area, this is your last chance to enjoy Poblano, jalapeno, cayenne, serrano, Anaheim, chile, banana, habanero, and Bhut Jolokia peppers. The other thing to keep in mind is that if you enjoy the flavors of hot peppers during the cold winter months, you might want to stock up on a few extras, and can or dehydrate them at home as all these wonderful varieties, with the exception of jalapenos and serranos, are unavailable until late next spring.
The next big news in produce grown by our P6 farmers right here in NWA, is that fall greens are abundantly available for a limited time. The majority of our farmers grow the bulk of their crops outside, and provide some frost protection in the form of row cover. This means that while we have a good harvest in stock now, once the truly beautiful warm fall days and moderate nights pass into regular frosts, we will see a decline in these crops. Right now you can enjoy an amazing selection that includes black, green, and red kale; turnip, mustard, tender, and Asian greens; baby spring mix in bulk and bags, and even arugula, baby spinach, bok choi and nappa cabbage. Remember to look for kales and mustards that have a different appearance than what you typically see. Some of these varieties have a broader, flatter leaf like the Siberian Green Kale and Red Russian Kale.
Next we have a selection of things you might also expect at this time of year including china rose red and daikon radishes, purple and Japanese turnips, fresh ginger, scallions, leeks, and herbs like cilantro, parsley, lemongrass, rosemary, and sage. The fresh ginger is a new crop for us and comes from Dripping Springs Garden and Sycamore Bend. The lemongrass, cilantro, leeks, and fresh, young ginger in particular lend such amazing flavor to curried dishes that feature our seasonal pumpkins and squash.
We also of course have a great selection of seasonal favorites from our P6 farmers that are all located within 100 miles of our store. These include butternut and acorn squashes, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and soon—pie pumpkins! Right now we are so excited to be offering new crop Sweet Potatoes from Sycamore Bend, Acorn Squash from the Villines Family Farm, and Chestnuts from Post Winery and sourced for us by Bur Oak farm. Within 10 days (or hopefully earlier), we will be getting a full harvest of butternut squash, pie pumpkins, and Cinderella pumpkins from Villines Family Farm! Finally, if you want to get some great ideas for preparing winter squashes, the produce department will have recipe cards up for the dishes Heather – our Outreach Coordinator, has prepared in her Winter Squash Wonderland cooking class, that was Thursday from 5-6 here at ONF!
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