In
this week’s box:
Beans: Mix or Maxibel (filet-type)
Fingerling Potatoes: Rose Finn
Hot Peppers: Wenk's
Yellow Hots & Georgia Flame
Mini Cabbages: Super Red (purple), Gonzales (tiny, green)
or Storage 4 (slightly ruffled, green)
Sweet Peppers: Islander (purple to orange), Ace
(Green to Red), Golden Marconi (Long green to yellow)
Tomatoes, slicers
…plus whatever else we can find to add to the fun!
For
those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)
For
those with the Herb option: basil: lemon, nasturtium, tarragon
Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Herb Roasted
Fingerling Potatoes
Pasta
with Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans
Sautéed
Cabbage
Precipitation in the past week:
5 drops
What’s up on the farm?
It was a week of
much tilling, weeding and worm patrolling at the farm. Most of the retired beds
have been tilled and are being prepped for the winter. The fall field crops are
all seeded as are a few of the cold weather, high tunnel crops. The rain from a
couple weeks ago really brought on another flush of weeds, so the crew has been
had at work keeping those under control. The "worm" patrol really has
nothing to do with worms, but caterpillars. We are having a veritable explosion
of tomato horn worms in the high tunnels and in the field. These little
beasties have some of the most effective camouflage you can imagine and
appetites the size of dinosaurs. They range in size from a tiny 1/4" up to
the size of an adult man's thumb and are nothing more than fleshy green tubes
of tomato eating teeth. Just one good-sized caterpillar can strip a tomato
plant down to just stems overnight! So our hunt for them is never-ending right
now. Yesterday the crew found five one-gallon buckets of the little nasties,
which were promptly fed to the chickens, which is the farm version of poetic
justice.
So, on to
something more pleasant. The fall sowings of greens are mostly coming along
nicely and I think you might see the first of those in next week's delivery.
The exception to this is the salad, spinach and head lettuce. The combination
of sudden high temps and dry surface conditions made for an almost complete
failure of the first sowings of those crops. We have re-sown them, but will
still be about a month away from harvesting those.
Farm Crawl is
coming! Our 6th annual Farm Crawl will take place on Sunday, October 7th from
11-5. If you are unfamiliar with this fun, family-friendly event you can learn
more about it at www.farmcrawl.com. Every year
we invite CSA members not only to come out and tour the
farms, but also to be part of the BGF team. So here is your chance for 2012. In
the past, individuals/families have helped out with greeting visitors, sharing
information, helping out at the chickens, parking and other various tasks. And,
even better, you can still "Do the Crawl"! We are asking for
volunteers to come for a 2 hour shift, so there is still time to visit the
other farms. . If you (and/or your family) would be interested in helping out
at the please let us know.
The Tall Farmer Update: Sean is still at Mercy Hospital. He is getting stronger and eating better
and hopefully the little complications that keep popping up will come to an
end. We hope he will be moving to a rehab unit at Mercy sometime this week.
A little detail on your produce this week:
Cabbage: Store
dry, unwashed cabbage in the refrigerator, preferably in the vegetable bin. The
outer leaves may eventually get floppy or yellowish, but you can remove and
discard them to reveal fresh inner
leaves. Cabbage can keep for
more than a month. Once it’s cut, seal it in a plastic bag and continue to
refrigerate for several weeks. Rinse the cabbage under cold running water just
before use. Peel away a few of the outer leaves, then cut the cabbage according
to your needs with a big, sharp knife, and then chop, sliver, or grate. Our
favorite way to eat raw cabbage is as a "walking salad" which is to
simply spread peanut butter over a leaf of cabbage, sprinkle with your favorite
dried fruit, roll it up into a tube and enjoy. This is a kid-pleaser for sure!
Is a weekly
newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily
adventures? Follow us at our blog
at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/
and on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm.
That’s about it
this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)
Herb Roasted Fingerling
Potatoes
1 lb fingerling potatoes cut
in 1 inch pieces or once lengthwise (just wash, no need to peel)
1-4 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 tbs of your favorite
fresh herb: chopped parsley, rosemary, thyme, dill, ect.
3-4 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat potatoes with other ingredients and spread out on a shallow baking dish.
Roast until tender, 40-45 minutes. Makes 2-4 servings.
Adapted from a recipe in From
Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-fresh Seasonal Produce
Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green
Beans
Serves 4
2 waxy
potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon
salt
8 ounces
cavatappi (or other pasta)
8 ounces
green beans, trimmed and halved
1/2 cup pesto
Pepper
Peel and cut 2 waxy potatoes
into 1-inch cubes; place in a large pot of water; bring to a boil.
Add 1 tablespoon salt and 8
ounces cavatappi or other short tubular pasta; return to a boil; cook 2
minutes.
Add 8 ounces trimmed and
halved green beans. Return to a boil; cook until vegetables are tender and
pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes.
Drain; toss with 1/2 cup
Pesto; season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Source: unknown
Sauteed Cabbage
Serves 4
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
2 pinches caraway seeds (or fennel seed)
Coarse salt and freshly
ground pepper
In a large skillet,
melt butter over medium heat.
Add cabbage and caraway
seeds.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally
until soft, 7 to 10 minutes.
Taste and adjust for
seasoning. Serve immediately.
Recipe Source: unknown
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