the switch

For the first time since last winter, I ate soup for lunch last week. It must have been the Harvest Moon that made me think it was time to start eating cold weather foods - or maybe it was the fact that I was wearing wool socks. After a summer of long hot sunny days, I welcome the nip in the air, the migrating geese, and the pumpkin pies now baking in our oven (thanks Jeff!).

Fall brings with it a whole different atmosphere on the farm, with the bittersweet tasks of harvesting the last of the summer crops, cleaning up the fields, and thinking about next year. Oh, and before it gets too cold I still need to dig the rest of the potatoes, hunt for the onions hiding in the weeds, put winter squash and pumpkins into storage, plant garlic, and finish building the ends of the hoophouse. But there will be plenty of time for all that in October.

For now, let's just have some pumpkin pie.  Here's the recipe for the pies Jeff just made, using a 'Long Pie' pumpkin, roasted in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Pumpkin or Squash Pie (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

A 9-inch pie shell
2 cups cooked pumpkin or squash
1 1/2 cups rich cream (we used whole milk from Brookford Farm)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
2 beaten eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Mix ingredients until well blended. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake 15 minutes at 425, then reduce heat to 350 and bake about 45 minutes longer or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

If you have a great pumpkin pie recipe, please share it! We'd love to try it.

big week for heirloom vegetables

Heirloom vegetables are getting a lot of attention around here this week. At last night's Heirloom Harvest Barn Dinner at Meadow's Mirth, the 11 RAFT heirloom varieties were the stars of the show. A dozen local chefs teamed up to create course after delicious course - all centered around the RAFT varieties. Stout Oak Farm's 'Long Pie' pumpkins and 'Boston Marrow' squash showed up in the pumpkin panna cotta dessert made by Chef Matt Greco from Blue Moon Evolution. Yum. 

This Wednesday, two other RAFT vegetables grown here at Stout Oak Farm - 'Trophy' tomatoes and 'Jimmy Nardello' peppers - will be featured at the UNH Local Harvest Feast.

And of course you can buy all of these heirloom vegetables at the Exeter Farmers' Market on Thursday.  See you there!