Blue Schoolhouse -- What's coming to the Thanksgiving Market? LOTS! Hello! No worries – this is not a desperate cry for harvest help! I am just going to tell you about the luscious vegetables that Bill is bringing to the Thanksgiving Market this Saturday, Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Because we have such a diverse offering, I can’t really go into the details of every vegetable, provide recipes, or recommend complex storage tips. You’d never make it through such an email. I do try to hit the highlights. Here’s what we’ll have … An outrageous selection of potatoes! Because we had such an amazing potato harvest, Bill is bringing varieties that he would typically save just for us. We hosted a potato tasting party at our house this week to supplement the seed catalog descriptions of each variety. It was a great way to spend time with friends! You should try it some time! Carola – Satiny gold skin, buttery yellow flesh. Carola is to potatoes as Brandywine is to tomatoes, with an exquisite flavor and moist creamy texture. Desiree – Red skin, yellow flesh. A European variety released in 1962, Desiree has satiny rose-red skin and creamy yellow firm flesh. Desiree has a distinct flavor and is excellent boiled for use in potato salad. Satina – Yellow skin, yellow flesh. Mashed, these spuds are smooth and very creamy. The dark yellow flesh looks like butter, and the smooth yellow skin is indeed like satin. German Butterball – Yellow skin, yellow flesh. A truly golden heirloom passed down for generations. So good that it’s become a favorite. Deep yellow flesh and a texture just dry enough for the best scalloped potatoes, soups, home fries, mashed, or any recipe calling for potatoes. Our friends described it as velvety and smooth. Austrian Crescent – Tan skin, yellow flesh. A superb waxy potato, absolutely perfect for potato salad or roasting. This fingerling potato is a sure crowd pleaser. Russet Burbank – Russet skin, white flesh. Most widely grown potato in the world, especially in Idaho, so it’s knows as the Idaho Potato. Released in 1874, a sport of Burbank, which Luther Burbank selected from a seedball of Early Rose. The russet has a very dry and mealy texture that makes it excellent for baking and for French fries. Makes amazing mashed potatoes. French Fingerling – Dark rose-red skin, yellow flesh. The creamy taste and firm texture make this a classic fingerling variety. Use this in potato salad, and you’ll never go back to a store-bought variety. POTATO STORAGE: Potatoes will store well in a cool, dark place for months. We literally eat our potatoes well into the spring every year. Sweet potatoes – We’ll have BOATLOAD of sweet potatoes for you! This is a major improvement over last year, when we had almost none. STORAGE: Sweet potatoes need to be in the dark, but they do not like being cold. We just keep them in a cupboard in our kitchen, and we eat them until SUMMER of the following year!! Seriously, they’re awesome. Bill has cured them for you so that they will store this long. Greens – Some people are so surprised that we’ll have greens, but it’s perfectly reasonable given our climate and recent weather conditions. No hard freezing yet, healthy soil, and an outstanding farmer add up to Greens Central. In fact, the extended cool fall weather has resulted in very high quality greens of all sorts. Bill is bringing so many of your favorites … Head lettuces – Bill has several varieties of big, beautiful head lettuces. He’s also bringing his favorite type – Rouge d’Hiver – which is an exceptionally delicious, red Romaine. Arugula Collard greens (they’re sweeter as the weather gets cooler – buy them and learn why so many Southerners love it!) Kale (sweeter and milder in the cool weather) Swiss chard Radicchio Fennel (not exactly a green, but it is green in color!) And from the brassica family, we bring you Brussels sprouts! We’ll sell them as logs. If you pick off the sprouts, they will keep in a Ziploc in the fridge for weeks. Many people who think they don’t like Brussels sprouts find that they love Bill’s Brussels sprouts. The secret is buying them very fresh and not overcooking them. Just steam for a few minutes – you don’t want them to get mushy. Roots Carrots – We spent all of Wednesday out in the mud prying carrots from the earth. And boy was it worth it! These carrots are unbelievable. This is the first year that Bill has planted them so late, so they matured during the cool, damp early fall. For the first time, the yellow carrots are JUST AS GOOD as the orange variety when eaten raw. Check that out for sure. Carrots store for MONTHS in your fridge or root cellar Japanese Turnips Radishes (rose hearts) Beets – traditional red, Chioggia, and golden Parsnips And of course, we’ll be bringing GARLIC! It stores well for months, so stock up! Although the weather this season has been difficult for humans, it has been absolutely perfect for most of the fall crops. Thus, at the Thanksgiving Market you will be getting THE BEST food that Bill has ever grown. We can’t wait to see you there! Best, Mercy