In nature, fall colors emerge underground before they appear in the leaves. The crops in the soil — beets, sweet potatoes, squash — are harbingers of seasonal change. Soon, the trees will be dotted with similar hues of burgundy, orange and yellow.
Daniel Parson, the lead farmer-educator at Emory’s Oxford College Organic Farm, says the color shift is a sign it’s almost time to harvest the fall crop — including carrots, radishes, bok choy, arugula, a variety of peppers and much more.
“Fall is a great harvest time,” Parson says. “Crops improve the longer they’re in the soil. In the spring, it’s a race to pull them because it’s getting hotter and the quality is getting lower every day. In the fall, as it cools down, the crops are getting better and better every day as they mature.”
Once picked from the fields, the vegetables go directly to the Oxford Dining Hall and to those participating in the farm’s community supported agriculture program, which sends boxes to subscribers once a month.
The produce will also be available at Emory community farmer’s markets.
Parson’s team has a booth at the city of Oxford’s farmer’s market on 915 Emory Street every Thursday from 3–6 p.m. On Tuesdays, they are at the Emory Farmer’s Market on McDonough Plaza from 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
The fall rivals the spring for the farm’s busiest time of year.
“We want to let the crops mature, but we do need to harvest them before the first freeze,” Parson says. After that, it’s time to spread cover crops — such as clover and oat — across the farm’s 10 acres to ensure the soil stays healthy through the doldrums of winter.
“Watching the natural world, everything else is also preparing for the winter,” Parson says. “Insects are burrowing in and leaving larvae in hollow stems of plants. The preying mantises are laying eggs on a shrub that they sense will stand the season. The sunlight and air are starting to feel dry.”
When the cold hits, Parson says, he can’t wait to put those fall vegetables into hearty meals and enjoy the warmth and sustenance the earth provides.
Below are some of Parson’s top tips for harvesting and using the bounty of a fall garden — including how to manage your autumn décor as Halloween approaches.
Beat the first freeze, and cure your sweet potatoes.
If you have a fall garden, Parson recommends monitoring the weather and making sure you have enough time to harvest before the first freeze hits.
Sweet potatoes, for example, “are not tolerant of frost and will be killed by the first one,” he says.
To harvest a sweet potato, Parson says to first “cut the vines away from the crown of the plant to expose the center of the bed, where all the taters are.” Then, loosen them from the soil with a digging fork and pull them from the ground.
Before sweet potatoes are ready to eat, they need to cure in a humid environment.
“At the farm, we let them sit for the day in a warm field,” Parson says. “Then we pack them into crates, stack them in the greenhouse at a temperature of 95, cover them with plastic to maintain high humidity and leave them about a week.”
For home gardeners, it might take longer, he adds. “Just bring them inside and try to provide a warm, humid environment and leave them for about two weeks.”
Try the farm’s sweet potatoes — and don’t add sugar.
The sweet potatoes at the Oxford Farm come from sturdy stock. Parson has been saving roots from each harvest and growing an heirloom variety, called Mahon, for more than 20 years.
He acquired the seed potatoes from his mentor while a graduate student at Clemson University, and he’s been practicing the lessons he learned there ever since: “Select the best-formed roots from the most productive plants to save for next year.”
The Mahon variety, he adds, doesn’t need any added sugar.
“What my mentor told me is that you make all the traditional meals with sweet potatoes, but you take the sugar out,” Parson explains. “The Mahons are naturally sweeter than your standard sweet potato. So, if you add sugar, your dish will be way too sweet. Just bake them long enough until they’re soft and caramelized.”
The farm also carries a starchy purple sweet potato for those who’d prefer to start from a heartier base.
As for adding marshmallows to the top of a sweet potato casserole, Parson says that he abstains from providing guidance on controversial issues.
The carrot is a secret weapon.
“Everyone who studies French cooking knows carrots are one of the essential aromatics,” Parson says. “For me, there’s nothing better than a fresh carrot.”
The farm plans to harvest its carrots in early November. For home gardeners, Parson encourages eating carrots as soon as possible after pulling them from the ground — even taking a bite right after they’ve been pulled and rinsed.
Parson says a fresh carrot is full of “sublime qualities.”
“It has more aroma when it’s fresh,” he explains. “An organic carrot is tender but crunchy, a little juicy and not dried out, and it should be sweet. The longer it stays in storage, the more you lose those qualities.”
He enjoys seeing the carrots bundled next to other vegetables at the farmer’s market booth and in the community supported agriculture boxes. They add a vibrant pop of fall color, he says: “A beautiful bunch of carrots really sells itself. With those, our adage at the farmer’s market is, ‘Pile it high; watch it fly.’”
Use carrots and sweet potatoes in curries and stews.
Parson extols the virtues of the raw carrot and the soft-baked sweet potato — but he also says they are great vessels for soups and curries.
“This season, I’m looking forward to making Thai coconut curry,” he says. “To me, that’s the taste of fall.”
He encourages adding both carrots and sweet potatoes, as well as bok choy, peppers, fall greens and summer eggplant.
“I can almost taste it as I’m talking,” he says, “where the savory pepper meets the sweetness of the carrot and sweet potato, and you get all those flavors interacting in the same dish.”
An almost recipe: Daniel Parson’s “farmer’s hat” curry
Parson says exact recipes can be a moving target. “I like to cook by feel,” he explains.
Below are his best directions for a fall coconut curry.
First, steam brown rice. Then cut up seasonal fall vegetables — onion, peppers, sweet potatoes, bok choy, carrots, eggplant, hakurei turnips and whatever else is at hand. Sautee vegetables until soft, then add crushed garlic to taste.
Mix Thai curry paste with coconut milk — and peanut butter if you’re feeling adventurous. If you don’t have paste at hand, you can puree a couple Peruvian aji peppers for a substitute.
Add the coconut mixture and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Marinate chicken for grilling and once cooked slice chunks or strips to desired size. If using tofu, pan fry separately. Add protein at the end.
At last, serve over rice and enjoy.
Diversify your Halloween with local pumpkins.
While the Oxford farm does not grow pumpkins or gourds, Parson has given plenty of thought to their importance in fall aesthetics.
“I always think back to the origins: Why do we find it so gratifying to have these pumpkins and gourds on display?” he asks. “I think it’s because if we were looking at a long winter with not much growing in the fields, we would be very grateful to see a big pile of colorful winter squash and pumpkins — visually and for food.”
He says there are plenty of farms that grow pumpkins in Georgia.
“A lot of these in-state heirloom pumpkins are really pretty and unusual,” he says. But they aren’t the perfectly-round, unblemished kind you might find outside a supermarket.
“Some of them have a gray look, or have spots, but they are very tasty,” he adds.
While not ideal candidates for jack-o-lanterns, Parson says these can add some variety to a Halloween arrangement — and then they can be eaten the first day of November.
“When we think of the classic Halloween pumpkin, it’s probably not one you’re going to eat,” Parson says. “Pumpkins will last all winter, but once you carve it, it starts to go bad. I would encourage people to seek out edible pumpkins and enjoy them as a display first and then enjoy eating them. Seek out your local growers. Seek out your local farmer’s markets.”