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Kakai pumpkin, acorn squash, mix of collard greens, swiss chard and kale, Italian brassica leaves, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, basil, rosemary,green tomatoes, tomatoes, tea mix lemon verbena, comfrey and nettle.

Kakai Pumpkin and Acorn Squash: 

Use the Kakai flesh in soups or bake in an oven to use in muffins, cookies, cakes, or bread recipes.

http://www.happyboyfarms.com/our-produce-varieties.php?id=24&keywords=Kakai

Acorn Squash

Cut open, clean out seeds

Place in a Pyrex baking dish

Drizzle ( or heavy drizzle) with olive oil, butter, brown sugar, garlic powder, sea salt and pepper

Bake until tender 

Last Basil Of The Season

If you have not made the infused olive oil with the basil, you really want to make this one, it is incredibly good!

Let it infuse for about 4 to 6 weeks and then drain. 

Green Tomato Dip

A dip for fresh vegetables, a salad dressing for mixed greens, or a sandwich spread.  

Boiling-water bath canner; four 1-pint jars

8 green tomatoes, washed and cored

4 red bell peppers, washed, halved, and seeded

4 large onions, peeled, cut in half

3 cucumbers, peeled, cut into chunks 

1/2 cup sea salt or pickling salt 

2 1/2 cups white wine vinegar

1 cup organic sugar

2 teaspoons celery seed 

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1 teaspoon mixed pickling spice 

2 organic eggs

1/2 cup organic white flour

3/4 cup organic olive oil 

Grind the vegetables coarsely, using a hand-turned grinder or pulsating motions in a food processor.  You may also chop the vegetables by hand.  Sprinkle them with the salt. 

Cover and let stand at least 8-12 hours to allow the vegetables to "sweat" 

Drain the vegetables and combine them with 2 1/4 cups of the vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard, and pepper.  Add the pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag. 

pour the vegetables and seasonings into a nonreactive saucepan.  Cook, simmering over low heat, for 30 minutes.  Combine the eggs, flour, and the remaining vinegar in a food processor.  With the motor running, add the oil by droplets in a  steady stream until the mixture becomes thick and smooth. 

Remove the spice bag from eh vegetables and stir in the egg mixture.  Cook, simmering over low heat, until thick.  This should take 56-10 minutes.  

Ladle into hot, clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. 

Cap, seal, and process in a boiling water-bath canner for 10 minutes.

Green Tomato Pickle

4 quarts sliced green tomatoes

6 large onions, sliced

1/2 cup sea salt 

6 cups apple cider vinegar

6 sliced peppers

3 diced sweet red peppers 

6 garlic cloves, minced 

1 tablespoon dry mustard 

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon 

1 tablespoon powdered ginger

1/2 tablespoon celery seed 

2 1/4 cups honey 

Combine sliced green tomatoes and onions.  Sprinkle with salt.

Let mixture stand for 12 hours. 

Wash in clear water and drain. 

Heat vinegar to the boiling point, and add the peppers and red peppers and garlic. 

Then add the tomato-onion mixture. 

Tie the spices in a square of cheesecloth and drop into the mixture.  

Simmer for about 1 hour, or until tomatoes are transparent, stirring frequently. 

Then add the honey

Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4 -inch headspace, and process quarts 15 minutes and pints 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. 

It is week twenty  of our farm wellness boxes and it is our last harvest day.  It has been a great farming season and we learned a lot.   There were some hard lessons learned and some insightful ones,   

This summer was a green tomato summer, which means a colder winter, I see more darkness and lots of rain... Which means start taking your vitamin D NOW, plan hikes in nature through the fall season and winter.  Hike when it rains, run when it rains, walk in the rain, do kung fu in the rain and dance in the rain.  Embrace the liquid sunshine.  Sungaze at the sunsets when the sun is out, take a moment bundle up and watch the cold starry sky.  Seek art with community, add color to your winter.  

Plan you winter menus  to build up your immune system, by adding energizing bone broth, make elderberry syrup, make fire cider, high vitamin C tea, nettle tea and stay away from SUGAR.... 

Eat organic fermented foods

Get some tinctures made of Elecampane, Oregon grape, echinacea, hawthorn, lemon balm,

Thoughts and talks have been started on new things that we will implement for next year.  But,  I am also very ready for some much needed rest, reading, knitting, crafting, cooking, more canning,  more sleep,  jumping into my herbal studies and making healing remedies.

I will also be teaching some herbal classes, I will put together a schedule soon and send it out.  

Wellness Box:

Nettle, Kale, swiss chard, brassica family, peppermint, lemon balm, catnip mint, stevia, parsley, sage, rosemary, fennel seeds, hawthorn berries, rosehips, kakai pumpkin, acorn squash, sugar pumpkin, onions, celery, and jerusalem artichokes also called sunchokes. 

Rosehips: 

Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 2 heaping teaspoons of chopped rose hips. You can use rose hips with or without their seeds. Steep the herbal tea, covered, for 15 minutes and strain. Sweeten the refreshing, slightly sour tea with honey, if desired. Drink the tea lukewarm at bedtime for maximum effectiveness.

You could also make this as a strong infusion and steep it for 8 hours. 

Rose hip tea is refreshing, pleasantly tart and contains vitamins A, B, C, E and K, pectin and organic acids. Besides battling colds, the nutrient-rich tea boosts your health in other ways as well. This popular medicinal tea strengthens the body's resistance to infection, reinforces digestive function, combats all kinds of illnesses with fever, flushes out the kidneys and urinary tract and relieves mild rheumatic pain.

When you think of vitamin C, you are most likely to think of grapefruit and oranges. But rose hips, the fruit of the wild rose, have even more vitamin C than do citrus fruits. Rose hips were long known as a food, but only since the mid-twentieth century has their medicinal value as a premier source of the essential vitamin been recognized. The vitamin C content gives rose hip tea its primary benefit, the ability to help prevent and treat colds and flu.

Hawthorn:  Make infused honey and Tincture

http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/November08/healingwise.htm

More information on Hawthorn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sOWXQi08T4

This is one of the ways I like to make the Hawthorn Honey: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6AG_FlEkfY

Make a tincture of Hawthorn

Stevia, Catnip Mint, Parsley... 

Kakai Pumpkin ( eat the hulled seeds) and Sugar Pumpkin (use for desserts)

Jerusalem Artichoke or Sunchoke 

Information: 

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2011/10/flavor_of_the_week_jerusalem_a.html

http://www.foodwisenw.com/tag/jerusalem-artichoke/

Raw Recipe: fleur de sel, is sea salt

http://www.forkandflower.com/2013/02/raw-jerusalem-artichoke-salad-with-lemon.html

Fennel Seeds:

Fennel Cream: 

Use over organic chicken, organic sausage, organic veggies. etc...

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 large shallots, minced

1/2 cup organic  dry white wine or organic white wine

1 1/2 cups organic chicken broth

1/2 cup  organic whipping cream (Do not use Ultra Pasteurized!) 

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low. Now add onion and sauté until they are very tender and caramelized, about 40 minutes.   Add minced garlic and minced shallots.  Cook for about 2 minutes

 Add white wine and boil until liquid is reduced to glaze, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and whipping cream and boil until reduced to sauce consistency, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!! 

Peace to you, enjoy your fall and upcoming winter! 

Pictured below:  Golden Tree Of Fall, (this is not the sun)