Thursday, January 23, 2014

BGF News 12/17/2013

In this week’s box:

Carrot Mix: Napoli, St Valery, Amarillo &/or Purple Haze

Fingerling Potatoes: Rose Finn

Garlic: hardneck & softneck

Kale Mix: Red Russian, Toscano & Vates

Napa Cabbage (also known as Chinese Cabbage)

Shallots: Ambition (tan) & Prisma (purple)

Storage Onions: Copra

Tapestry Salad Mix

Turnips: Hakurei and/or Scarlet Queen

For those with the Egg option [full]: 18 ct free-range pullet eggs (assorted colors)

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): White Bean and Kale Ragout with Turnips and Sausage

Browned Cabbage with Pork

Precipitation this month: Snow 2.0"

What’s up on the farm?

Well here we are at the tail end of 2013 and the final CSA delivery of the season. Again we want to thank Mother Nature for providing us with a little window of warmer weather in which to harvest and deliver your produce. While it wasn't quite balmy, given some of the temperatures we've been experiencing recently, we are feeling pretty fortunate. Some of our crops aren't feeling nearly so fortunate, even the hearty kale has really suffered under the recent extreme cold. You will notice that the bundles of kale in today's delivery are quite a bit smaller and a little softer than in the past. We were shocked at how much damage the kale sustained in the high tunnels, under row cover. We picked every leaf that wasn't completely destroyed in order to send some out in every box, but we aren't particularly proud of the quantity or quality. We hope that the big, delicious, crazy carrots will distract you from the lack of green bounty.

As 2013 comes to a close we are already deep in planning for the new year. The seed catalogs have all arrived and the garden planning sessions are popping up amidst woodcutting chores. There are still a number of chores left to do this year, (all of the row cover is still in the fields from the fall crops) but we are trying to balance the old and the new amid breaks in the weather.

We hope that you have enjoyed your CSA experience this season. If you would like to join us again in 2014, we will start sending out emails to veteran members (you) in January. But you don't have to wait for next spring to get your fresh produce and eggs. Starting early next month, we plan to resume our custom egg and produce sales on an "as available" basis. We will send out an email listing available products and if you are interested, just respond to the email, requesting the items you would like. Currently we plan to continue to use Ritual Café and Peace Tree Brewing Company for these deliveries, so keep an eye on your email in early January.

Thank you for being a part of the BGF family. We wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with peace and joy.

Upcoming events:

Prairieland Herbs Sample Sunday, 12/22, Noon-5pm Woodward, IA.

We'll be there (with all our non-perishable products) along with a bunch of other cool craftspeople and artists.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Leafy Greens- these all keep best loosely wrapped in plastic and stored in the crisper drawer.

Napa 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. Napa cabbage can be used in nearly any recipe calling for cabbage.

Potatoes- Keep unwashed potatoes in a cool, dark place, such as a loosely closed paper bag in a cupboard or cool basement, and use them within a month. Do not store in the refrigerator; Scrub potatoes gently before cooking. Peeling is a matter of preference.

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm? Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

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)

White Bean and Kale Ragout with Turnips and Sausage

This ragout is meant to be a throw-together-fast-on-a-weeknight kind of meal. If you have sweet potatoes instead of turnips, use them. If you have Swiss chard in the fridge but no kale, sub it instead. You may be surprised by how much flavor you can coax, with the help of a well-stocked pantry, out of the ingredients you have on hand.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Italian chicken sausages, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups de-stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) or other greens
1/2 cup chicken or mushroom stock
2 16-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion and turnip for 8 minutes, or until bronzed. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add sausage and garlic to pan. Cook for 2 more minutes, then add kale and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender.

Recipe Source: www.nourishnetwork.com

Browned Cabbage with Pork

One small head cabbage, coarsely chopped

1 c. chopped onion

4 T. cooking oil of your choice, divided

1 lb. ground pork

¼ c. soy sauce

¼ c. water

1 T. cornstarch

Heat 2 T. oil in a large skillet. Brown onion and cabbage in oil with skillet partially covered over medium high heat, reducing to medium heat as moisture cooks off. Remove to large bowl and reserve. Add remaining 2 T. oil to skillet, add ground pork, and brown meat. Remove any oil that remains once meat is browned. Combine soy sauce and water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to skillet with meat, and stir quickly as it thickens. Return cabbage and onions to skillet and stir well. Serves 4.

Recipe: Angela Tedesco, Turtle Farm CSA

BGF News 12/3/2013

In this week’s box:

Beets: Chioggia (red) & Golden

Chard: Bright Lights Mix

Cabbage: Storage 4 &/or Super Red

Potatoes: German Butterball

Radish Mix: Cherryette, Easter Egg Mix and/or Icicle

Spinach Mix (open top bag): Space, Cardinal, Olympia & Tyee

Sweet Onions: Gold Coin

Tapestry Salad Mix (zip-top bag)

Tatsoi (dark green leafy rosette)

Winter Squash: Butternut (from our friends at Pierce's Pumpkin Patch)

For those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Rice Fried Vegetables

Steamed Greens with Balsamic Butter

Maple Glazed Beets & Greens

Precipitation in the past month: Rain- 0.75"

Snow- 1.50"

What’s up on the farm?

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mother Nature for her very kind consideration as we harvested for this week's delivery in unseasonably warm weather, especially since it is book-ended by unseasonably cold conditions! Our harvest and prep for the indoor farmer's market a week ago wasn't nearly so pleasant as we were racing the snow, sleet, ice and below freezing temps to get the vegetables in and keep them from freezing. While we did get lots of crops harvested, the ensuing single digit temps finally did in most of our remaining crops in the fields, the spinach, tatsoi and some of the salad mix are the hardy survivors out there but most of the rest of today's delivery was either harvested and stored before the ice (cabbage, potatoes, onions) or came from the high tunnels. Even the protection of the tunnels couldn't combat such deep, early cold and we lost a good amount of our radishes (and some of the chard) as they are in the northern-most high tunnel bed. You are getting a cute little bundle of radishes this week, little because that is all that survived, the chard fared a little better.

Speaking of survivors, every year we hope that some of the crops that challenge us, namely in the squash family will survive the onslaught of insects and produce a good crop. This past year we had pretty good luck with some of our squashes, enough so that both the Summer and Winter CSA's got to have squash once, which is better than we have had some years, but we had hoped for better. This past week we were chatting with our friends & neighbors the Pierce's of Pierce's Pumpkin Patch and they mentioned that they had quite a bit of squash left from their bumper crop. Ah ha! So as we have done once before, we purchased some of their surplus to share with our members. This is conventionally-raised squash, not chemical-free, but the Pierce's are responsible with their chemical-use and we feel comfortable eating their products, in fact this is where we buy all of the squash for our own use as we never have enough of our own. So use it as you will, we think it is delicious and hope you enjoy it.

We have been doing a few things besides dodging the cold weather for harvesting. The alpaca shed has two new windows, much to the appreciation of Boris & Abby. The wood-cutting season has begun in earnest and will continue as a weekly outing through next March, at least. The chickens and alpacas have moved to their winter pasture locations and tomorrow we will start stripping all the low tunnels from the fields. We are also prepping for the remaining holiday markets and hosting visitors as they come thorough visiting family and friends.

Upcoming events:

First Annual Artisan Holiday Bazaar, Sunday 12/8, 11am-5pm

3108 49th St, Des Moines. In Beaverdale, between Douglas and Hickman (private home, public event). We'll be there (with all our non-perishable products) along with a bunch of other craftspeople and artists.

Downtown Des Moines Winter Market (indoors at Capitol Square) 12/13-14.

A great opportunity to stock up on fresh produce, gifts and supplies for the holiday season. We'll be on the ground floor near the Nolan Plaza exit, stop by and say hello!

A little detail on your produce this week:

Beets- Separate roots from tops. Store each in a plastic bag in the produce drawer. Roots will keep for a month or more and are delicious just sliced raw, but also tasty roasted. Leaves are a tasty cooked green very similar to chard.

Winter Squash- Store winter squash in a cool, dry, dark place with good ventilation for up to a month, depending on the variety. Once squash has been cut, you can wrap the pieces in plastic and refrigerate them for five to seven days. To make it easier to prep winter squash for your recipe, try the prebaking method: pierce the squash to allow heat to escape while it is in the oven, then bake the squash whole at 350° F until it is just barely tender to the poke of the finger, 20 to 30 minutes. This softens the shell and makes cutting and peeling much easier.

Leafy Greens (chard, tatsoi, beet/turnip tops, ect) - Store in a plastic bag in the produce drawer for up to two weeks.

Potatoes & Onions - store on the counter for short-term use. For longer storage, keep in a cool, dark place with good air circulation (garages and basements can be a good choice).

Cabbage- Very tender and sweet. Wrap in plastic and store in the produce drawer. Enjoy as you would any cabbage, but we particularly like them "leafed out" (pulled apart into their individual leaves) and then either spread with peanut butter and rolled up for a quick energy snack or even better, sauteed in butter until slightly wilted, then sprinkled with a touch of sea salt. YUM!

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)

Rice Fried Vegetables

Serves 4

In this vegetable fried rice reversal, the vegetables are dominant and the rice secondary. Feel free to substitute, add, or augment the vegetables—just don’t subtract.

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil or peanut oil, divided

3 large eggs, beaten

3 green onions, chopped (¼ cup)

3 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

4 cups chopped fresh broccoli

½ lb. chopped asparagus or green beans

1 medium carrot, cut in thin slices on the diagonal (½ cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

4 cups chopped kale, collards, spinach, or Swiss chard

3 cups cooked brown rice

2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. sriracha chile sauce

1 ½ cups frozen peas, thawed

⅔ cup toasted sliced almonds

Heat small skillet over medium heat 1 minute. Add 1 tsp. oil, and swirl to coat pan. Wait 30 seconds, then add eggs. Tilt pan in all directions to let eggs flow to edges, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, lifting cooked eggs to allow uncooked eggs to flow underneath. Flip omelet, and cook 30 seconds more, or until dry, but not browned. Transfer to plate, and cut into strips.

Heat large, deep skillet or wok over medium heat 1 minute. Add remaining oil and swirl to coat pan. Add green onions and ginger, and sauté 5 minutes or until onions are soft. Stir in broccoli, asparagus, carrot, and garlic, and stir-fry 8 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Fold in kale with tongs. Cook 2 minutes, or until kale is bright green and slightly wilted. Stir in rice, soy sauce, egg strips, and sriracha chile sauce. Serve topped with peas and almonds.

Recipe Source: www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/rice-fried-vegetables/

Maple Glazed Beets & Greens

1 bunch of beets (I used 3 beets total)

olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup (or more if you’re feeling saucy)

A word of caution: beets stain. everything. So be careful – paper towels are your friend when handling them.

Trim stems from beets, leaving about 1 inch on (so you have something to hold onto when removing skins later). Separate leaves from stems and reserve for later then give beets a good scrubbing. Admire their brilliant color.

Drizzle each beet with olive oil and wrap up with aluminum foil.

Be generous with the aluminum foil so your poor little beets don’t bleed through in the oven and leave a lovely stain on your favorite oven mitt….

Place beets in oven and cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until tender (poke a skewer in to check). Remove from oven and let cool. Carefully unwrap each beet and use a knife to gently scrape off the skin. Chop beets into cubes.

Roughly chop or tear the reserved greens and add to pan heated with olive oil and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add in chopped beets, followed by maple syrup. Cook for another 2-3 minutes then remove from heat.

Plate up: Simply place on plate, step back & let the gorgeous colors of the beets speak for themselves.

Recipe Source: www.thesimplelens.com

Steamed Greens with Balsamic Butter

The recipe makes far more balsamic butter than you'll need for the spinach, so save the rest for another use, such as spreading on roasted salmon or braised endive.

Serves 6

1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons red wine

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1-3 bunches Tatsoi or other greens (chard, choi, turnip greens), washed and trimmed

1. Combine the vinegar and wine in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce by half. Remove from the heat and add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until all the butter is incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Steam the spinach for 2 to 3 minutes, or until wilted; use tongs to toss the leaves so they wilt evenly. Transfer to a serving bowl.

3. Spoon one-third of the balsamic butter over the spinach and toss to mix. Taste, adding more butter if needed (reserve the rest for another use).

Recipe Source: Adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century by Amanda Hesser.

BGF News 11/5/2013

In this week’s box:

Broccoli: Pacman

Chard: Bright Lights Mix

Daikon (long, single white root with green leafy top)

Fingerling Potatoes: Banana

Mini cabbages: Gonzalez &/or Super Red

Spinach Mix (open top bag)

Sweet Onions: Ailsa Craig

Sweet Peppers: Ace (green/red), Golden Marconi (long, pointed, green/yellow), Islander (purple/orange) or Sunray (green/yellow)

Tapestry Salad Mix (zip-top bag)

Turnips: Hakurei (white) & Scarlet Queen (pink) (round, pink & white roots with green leafy tops)

Winter Squash: Butternut

For those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Preserves option: first delivery on 11/19

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Roasted Broccoli with Lemon & Pecorino

Easy Daikon Salad

Turnips Sauteed with Garlic and Onion

Precipitation in the past two weeks: 1.05"

What’s up on the farm?

Welcome to the first delivery of the 2013 Winter CSA season! We hope you are looking forward to bountiful fresh, chemical-free produce for the next two months. Just a reminder that the Winter CSA delivers every other week, so if you show up next week, you might be able to enjoy a nice cup of coffee or a good book, but we won’t be there. We will return with the next delivery on 11/19, please remember to bring your empty box along with you at that time so we can re-fill it for you for the December deliveries.

We have been celebrating the mild fall that nature has been sharing with us, not to mention the lovely rains of the past month. It seems like we have more produce available now than we have had all year and we are putting as much as we can into your boxes this week, because you never know when this lovely weather trend will end. I heard the word snow in the forecast for later this week, we like snow, but aren't necessarily ready for it now. Regardless, we have been celebrating the fine weather by getting a good start on our chores for the winter. Tools and supplies are cleaned and put away, including the extensive irrigation system that we used so heavily this summer. We haven't yet started up the wood-fired boiler, which provides heat to the sunroom (our plant nursery) and supplemental heat to the house, but that will happen soon enough. So, too will begin the winter-long activity of wood-cutting, which is our primary source of winter exercise. We really prefer to wait until colder weather for that to begin. The high tunnel crops are coming along well and we continue to do maintenance/care on those, as well as minor care of the field crops that are still going strong. Truly, at this time of year, our biggest challenge is keeping the 70' - 150' pieces of row cover fabric on the field crops and not tearing off or bludgeoning the vegetables in the brisk fall winds.

One of our most important fall tasks is the planting of the garlic! We have gotten about 110 lbs of seed garlic planted so far. We ran a little shorter than we planned with our seed saving, so we added a new variety from a farm in New Mexico to try out for next year. Hopefully we will have good success with this variety and we look forward to sharing it with our members in the future. As soon as we finish planting this new variety, we will mulch the whole lot with straw and wait for the spring.

There has been much other excitement around the farm as we retired our oldest flock of laying hens to "freezer camp" on the same day that 120 new girls came to the farm as their replacements. The new birds are just at six moths old - referred to as a "pullet" at this age - and were raised for us by an Amish farmer in Pulaski, IA (inches from the Missouri border). Many haven't started to lay eggs yet but those that have are laying smaller eggs for the moment. For those with the egg option you will discover one pullet egg in each dozen. The larger eggs come from our slightly older flock (not the oldest ones sent to freezer camp).

However the biggest news on the farm has been the arrival of a breeding pair of alpacas. Boris & Abby came from friends near Perry that are retiring from the critter business. They are lovely, peaceful animals who mostly graze, soak up the late fall sun and keep us entertained with their unique noises. Come spring they will provide wonderful fiber for Jill's handspun yarns and some summer they may also provide us with a cria (baby alpaca), not to mention the added fertility that they will add to the compost piles. You can see photos of the new arrivals on the farm's Facebook page.

All that said, things have certainly started to slow down for the year. With the end of Daylight Savings Time, evening chores are done by 5pm. The winter tradition of attending farming conferences has begun, the farm crew is getting some days off and more household chores are being attended to. It has been quite a year here at BGF and I guess we are all ready for things to start to wind down. It is that time of year.

Upcoming events:

Downtown Des Moines Harvest Market (indoors at Capitol Square) 11/22-23 and 12/13-14.

A great opportunity to stock up on fresh produce, gifts and supplies for the holiday season. We'll be on the ground floor near the Nolan Plaza exit, stop by and say hello!

A little detail on your produce this week:

Broccoli-Wrap loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the produce drawer of your refrigerator for up to a week. Immediately before cooking, soak broccoli, head down, in cold, salted water (1 teaspoon salt to a 8 cups of water) for 5 minutes. Any [organic] critters will float to the top where you can rescue them or allow them to suffer a salty death. (Note: If you soak broccoli in salt water before storing, it will become too rubbery and wilted to enjoy.) Slice the juicy, edible stems and use them wherever florets are called for. Peel particularly thick skin before using.

Daikon- a large member of the radish family, popular in many Asian cuisines. Store like you would smaller radishes, remove the greens and wrap in plastic in your produce drawer. Daikon can store for several weeks, but is best used in a week or two. Delicious sliced or grated and added to salads, soups or just enjoyed as a low calorie, high fiber snack with hummus or other dips. The greens can be stored in a separate bag and once separated from their tough stems, can be cooked just like any other green, leafy vegetable. We like them added to soups or egg dishes.

Leafy Greens (chard, kale, braising greens, spinach, ect) - Store in a plastic bag in the produce drawer for up to two weeks.

Potatoes, Winter Squash, Onions & Garlic- store on the counter for short-term use. For longer storage, keep in a cool, dark place with good air circulation (garages and basements can be a good choice).

Mini cabbage- just a dainty version of the larger cabbages. Very tender and sweet. Wrap in plastic and store in the produce drawer. Enjoy as you would any cabbage, but we particularly like them "leafed out" (pulled apart into their individual leaves) and then either spread with peanut butter and rolled up for a quick energy snack or even better, sauteed in butter until slightly wilted, then sprinkled with a touch of sea salt. YUM!

Turnips- Separate roots from tops. Store each in a plastic bag in the produce drawer. Roots will keep for a month or more and are delicious just sliced raw, but also tasty roasted, mashed or cubed and added to soups. Leaves are a tasty cooked green.

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)

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon & Pecorino

Serves 4

1 ½ lb broccoli

¼ cup plus 2 TBS olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

2 TBS fresh lemon juice; more to taste

1/3 cup fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°. Tear off any broccoli leaves and trim the bottoms of the stems, Cut the florets just above where they join the large stem, and then cut each floret through its stem (but not the buds) so that each piece is about ¼ inch thick at the stem end. Using a paring knife, peel the tough outer skin from the large ste, removing as little flesh as possible. Cut the stem into baton shaped pieces about ¼” wide and 2 inches long.

Put the florets and stem pieces on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the salt and toss well to combine. Spread the broccoli into an even layer and roast until tender and golden brown, 15 – 20 minutes. Transfer the broccoli to a serving platter, toss with the lemon juice and some of the grated Pecorino; save some to sprinkle on top.

Recipe Source: Fine Cooking: Weekend Cooking 2007

Easy Daikon Salad

2 cups julienne cut daikon radish (I used my food processor to cut it)

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp sweet rice wine (mirin)

OPTIONAL crushed peanuts

Place the daikon in a colander/mesh strainer over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle with salt. Mix well. Let sit for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and then rinse well with cold water. Drain.
In a small saucepan, combine the seasoned rice vinegar, sugar and rice wine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves (this will only take a few minutes).
Transfer the daikon to an airtight container and pour the rice vinegar mixture over. Shake or stir well to combine. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.
This can store for up to a few days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. If desired, serve topped with crushed peanuts.

Recipe Source: http://sarahscucinabella.com

Turnips Sauteed with Garlic and Onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup onion, finely minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 bunch Japanese or other turnips, approx 1 to 1 1/2 cups sliced

In heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add turnips and continue cooking over medium-low heat until turnips, onions, and garlic are all soft and caramelized (but not burned--watch carefully).

Makes 2 servings.

Recipe Source: http://afridgefulloffood.typepad.com

BGF News 10/15/2013

In this week’s box:

Beets: Chioggia and/or Golden

Braising Greens: Osaka Purple Mustard, Senposai & Collards

Garlic: Northern White

Kohlrabi: Eder (green) and/or Koolibri (purple)

Storage Onions: Copra

Sweet Peppers: Ace (green/red), Golden Marconi (long, pointed, green/yellow), Islander (purple/orange) or Sunray (green/yellow)

Sweet Potatoes: Beauregard

Tomatoes: asst, see descriptions in the 7/30 newsletter

and one of the following:

Broccoli florets

Broccoli Raab

Mini Bell Peppers (in plastic bag)

Okra: Burgundy

Tapestry Salad Mix

For those with the Cheese option: Lemon Curd Chevre & Basil Feta

For those with the Egg option [full]: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Herb option: lemongrass, anise hyssop & pineapple mint

For those with the Honey option: one bottle liquid honey

Featured Recipe(s) (see below): Slow-Roasted Peppers in Balsamic Garlic Glaze

Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Kohlrabi Greens with Toasted Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce

Precipitation in the past week: 0.12"

What’s up on the farm?

Well here it is, the final delivery of the 2013 Summer CSA season. Every year it seems these 20 weeks go by faster and faster. In that time we've tilled, sowed, transplanted, weeded, mowed, tried new crops and tilled under failing ones. We've had fields that were too wet, too dry, too weedy and very nearly perfect for vegetables production. We've tried new varieties of crops and retired those that just weren't performing well and now we are looking forward to starting it all over again for next season (after a little winter's rest.) We hope you have enjoyed our veggie adventure together this year and if you aren't joining us for the Winter Share, we will look forward to seeing you again next Summer! We will be starting the signup period for the 2014 season in early December, so you can anticipate receiving an email from us about that time. We want to take the opportunity to thank you all for being an important part of the BGF family and for helping to make it possible for us to raise and provide our members and customers with fresh, chemical-free produce. Our members are the core of that plan. We also want to thank The Next Chapter in Knoxville and Ritual Café in Des Moines for offering us a "home away from home" and a convenient place to deliver your produce. We hope you will show them the same generosity they have given all of us. This is a perfect embodiment of Buy Fresh, Buy Local!

The kohlrabi in your boxes this week is a little goofy, but we wanted you to have a chance to try it. We had an entire spring crop that just never did much, finally as we were ready to clean out that bed last week, we discovered that a number of the heads had finally sized up a bit so we harvested all of the usable ones yesterday and then added some from the new fall crop to them, so everyone will receive a couple of older heads and at least one new one. It will be easy to tell the difference just by looking at the skin and leaves, which is which. The older ones will want to be peeled before using, the fall bulbs will require no such attention before using.

The garlic is also a little special this time around. Due to the conditions when we harvested (rock hard, dry soil) we had a fairly high number of heads that were damaged this year. Generally there is one clove on the head that was scraped or stabbed during digging, making it unfit for sale. Normally that is "family garlic" or what we use in our house and offer to the crew. This year there is A LOT of it, way more than we can use, so in the interest of stocking you up for the weeks ahead, we've decided to send it out in this final delivery. You will find 2 undamaged heads and several with "issues". Use the damaged heads first, simply discarding the damaged clove and use the blemish-free heads for storage. This should extend your garlic stock a bit and keep us from wasting it.

The Winter CSA is scheduled to start on Tuesday, November 5^th. For those of you new to the group, we offer a separate season extension for the months of November & December. The schedule is a little different as we do bi-weekly deliveries, with a larger produce volume at each delivery. This works well because the cool weather produce has extended storage ability. There will be a total of four deliveries spaced every other Tuesday on the following dates: 11/5, 11/19, 12/3, 12/17. Delivery locations will be the same as they are now. The base membership for produce is $240. Add-on options include: eggs @ $16 (four deliveries) and preserves @ $12 (two deliveries). We have to limit the number of members we can accommodate for the Winter membership due to significant challenges provided by the weather. Veteran Winter CSA members have until end of day today to sign up and then any open slots will be made available to current CSA members on a first come-first served basis. If you haven't previously participated in the Winter CSA and would like to join us, please send us an email indicating your interest by Monday, Oct 21.

Upcoming events:

Downtown Des Moines Harvest Market (indoors at Capitol Square) 11/22-23 and 12/13-14.

A great opportunity to stock up on fresh produce, gifts and supplies for the holiday season.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Kohlrabi-Its almost like a fleet of alien spacecraft landed in the fields—green and purple orbs growing lightly on the soil, antennas splayed in all directions. If we left them there long enough, they might actually levitate. These oddities are in fact fellow earthlings and relatives of broccoli. Kohlrabi initiates know what a treasure these outlandish vegetables are in the kitchen. Their sweet crunch is excellent cooked or raw. If you plan to use it soon, wrap the whole unwashed kohlrabi— stem, stalks, leaves, and all—in a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, remove the stalks and greens from the bulb and use them within a week. Store the bulb in another plastic bag in the fridge and use it within two weeks. Rinse kohlrabi under cold running water just before use. Unless the skin seems particularly tough, kohlrabi does not have to be peeled. Just trim off the remains of the stalks and root. Grate, slice, or chop kohlrabi as desired. We like the bulb sliced and eaten raw with a bit of salt. Don't forget about the leaves though, they are delightful cooked with garlic and olive oil or made into pesto.

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)

Slow-Roasted Peppers in Balsamic Garlic Glaze

3 ripe (red, yellow, orange) peppers, sliced into generous bite-size pieces

6 garlic cloves, sliced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Sea salt & cracked pepper

Heat oven to 300 F

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce.

Meanwhile, place sliced peppers in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle with garlic slices and top with well whisked balsamic glaze. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and cracked pepper.

Roast peppers for 1 hour, turning on occasion. Turn oven up to 375 and roast for another 10 minutes or until peppers are sizzling and just beginning to char. Remove peppers from oven and allow them to cool slightly before serving warm.

Recipe Source: http://www.inspirededibles.ca

Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Yields: 6 servings

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon salt

1 pinch freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pour the oil into a 9x13 inch baking dish, and place in the oven until hot, about 5 minutes.

2. Add potatoes to the oiled dish, and bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, turning after 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

3. After the 20 minutes is up, remove the potatoes from the oven, and sprinkle with the brown sugar mixture. Stir to coat. Return to the oven, and roast for another 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Stir potatoes as necessary to allow them to brown evenly.

4. Remove potatoes to paper towels to drain, then transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle with lime juice.

Recipe Source: www.allrecipes.com

Kohlrabi Greens with Toasted Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce

1 large bunch kohlrabi greens

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

~ Good-quality soy sauce, to taste

~ Shichimi, to garnish (see note)

Tear the leaves away from tough ribs and stems. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the kohlrabi leaves, and boil until tender, 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the age of the leaves. Fish out a leaf and taste it after 1 minute to determine cooking time.
Drain the greens in a colander and push on them with a spatula to remove as much water as possible. Roughly chop the cooked greens and place them on a serving plate. Toss with the sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. Sprinkle with shichimi and serve as a side dish with rice and steamed fish or a meat stir-fry.

Shichimi is a Japanese condiment made from sesame seeds, nori seaweed, and red chile flakes. It is available at most Asian grocery stores, or you can substitute toasted sesame seeds and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Recipe Source: unknown

Mental Updates

No, we are not updating our public on our mental statuses, which are questionable at best! But, much to your undoubted amazement, we have been updating the blog, mentally. Huh. Funny how that doesn't seem to have translated to ACTUAL blog updates. Must work on that skill in the future!

So hang on to your hats and get ready for some serious updating!
First we will start with the backlog of CSA newsletters...sorry, these wont include the actual vegetables, but maybe they will help us all to remember the bounty that was, and that will be!

There is so much to write about, like alpacas, CSA, farmers market, weather, events and, did I mention alpacas?

Well, let's get caught up!

Beyond the Blue Gate

Thursday, January 23, 2014

BGF News 12/17/2013

What’s up on the farm?

BGF News 12/3/2013

What’s up on the farm?

BGF News 11/5/2013

What’s up on the farm?

BGF News 10/15/2013

What’s up on the farm?

Mental Updates

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