BGF News - September 5, 2017-Vol. XXXIII, No.13

BGF News - September 5, 2017-Vol. XXXIII, No.13

In this week’s box:

Butternut Squash

Basil: sweet
Beans: Mix or Romano
Cherry Tomatoes
Head Lettuce: asst.
Sweet Onions: Ailsa Craig
Sweet Peppers: asst
Summer Squash: asst
Tomatoes: see descriptions in 8/1 newsletter

Winter Squash: Butternut 
And perhaps one of the following:    
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget
Cucumber: Lemon
Eggplant: Orient Express or Orient Charm
Okra: Bowling Red
Squash Blossoms
Watermelon: Sugar Baby (red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (white interior)

           

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

For those with the Herb option: Thai Magic basil, thyme, peppermint

 
Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 
Baked Eggs on Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Garlic Roasted Peppers and Butternut Squash

What’s up on the farm?

 Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

As the morning light arrives this morning, it is not just the cool temperatures that show us that the seasons have changed. The color of the landscape is slowly shifting into its fall wardrobe. The the vibrant green of many of the trees has gone dull and are starting to shift to yellow. The sumac and ivys have started to turn red and the fall blooming wildflowers are a riot of yellows in the ditches and field margins. It is a beautiful time of year on the farm!

So what have we been up to in this beautiful weather? Irrigating and cultivating mostly. We continue to clear spent crops and are still sowing the final few in the fields. This week we will likely pull the last of the cantaloupe from the high tunnel as they are mostly dead. They sure provided some lovely melons over the course of the season. That bed will be renovated and planted with crops that will overwinter in the tunnel for our VegEmail sales (more on those later). We are harvesting the first of the winter squash today and the crop is looking outstanding! In fact, between the squashes and the potential popcorn harvest, we may be facing a bit of a storage issue. It is a good problem to have!

Speaking of storage, a couple of you have asked over the course of the season about the containers/packaging you receive in your boxes. I kept meaning to include that information in the newsletter and week after week, I got distracted by other things (I forgot). So now, in the final 3rd of the season, here's are the details:
Egg cartons: yes, if they are clean, we are happy to have them back for reusing
Pint & quart containers (cherry tomatoes):  yes, please return and we will reuse
Plastic bags: no, thank you. Please feel free to reuse at home
Paper bags (cherry tomatoes or potatoes): no, thank you, we don't trust them for a 2nd use.
Twist ties: no, thank you, they tend to fall apart on the 2nd use.

Finally, this is the time of the season when we start getting questions about our Winter CSA. After more than 10 years, this year we are doing something different. Instead of offering the regular Winter CSA program in November & December, we will be starting up our VegEmail sales in early November. They will run on a similar schedule as the CSA with deliveries every 2 weeks, but go from November to May. Every 2 weeks we will email out a link to the order form and you can simply request whatever you want from the available choices. If you are away or too busy one week, then you just don't place an order. We're hoping the added flexibility helps to engage more folks and keep fresh healthy food heading into homes for the entire winter and spring.

Save the date! 
Farm Crawl 2017 is coming up fast! Seven independent family farm operations, all within an easy drive of each other in south-central Iowa, are jointly hosting open houses. Enjoy a leisurely autumn day “crawling” from farm to farm (Okay, you don't actually crawl, you drive yourself between farms).

Come visit south Marion County/north Lucas County (one hour south of Des Moines) to see each of our individual operations. Tour the farms, visit the animals, meet the farmers, see demonstrations, sample the goodies, purchase locally grown & produced products, and have lots of fun in the beautiful Iowa countryside! Visit special guest vendors at many of the farms.  FREE admission onto all of the farms.

The seven farms include: Blue Gate Farm, Coyote Run Farm, Crooked Gap Farm, Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch, Schneider Orchards, White Breast Pottery and Weaving, and Trojan Iron Works.

 

A little detail on your produce this week:

Eggplant: Eggplant prefers to be kept at about 50° F, which is warmer than most refrigerators and cooler than most kitchen counters. Wrap unwashed eggplant in a towel (not in plastic) to absorb any moisture and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Used within a week, it should still be fresh and mild.  The shape of an eggplant determines how it is best prepared. Slice a straight, narrow eggplant into rounds for grilling or broiling, and cut a rounded, bulbous eggplant into cubes for stews and stir-fries.

Melons: If your cantaloupe seems a bit short of ripe, keep it at room temperature for a few days or until there is a sweet smell coming from the stem end. Once the melon ripens, store it in the refrigerator. Handle watermelons carefully. When harvested at their peak ripeness, they can crack or split easily if bumped or roughly handled. Refrigerate watermelons right away. (Watermelons do not ripen off the vine and do not emanate a ripe smell.)
Cut melon should be covered in plastic wrap, chunks or slices should be kept in an airtight container, and both should be refrigerated. Eat all melons within a week.

Okra: These lovely, dark red, horn-shaped vegetables are a warm weather treat. Extremely cold sensitive, store in their plastic bag in the warmest part of your fridge, or place the plastic bag in a small paper sack and store in the crisper drawer and use within the week. Traditional southerners will cut into rounds, bread in cornmeal and fry, but our favorite version is our dear friend Annie's method, "All I do is rinse off the pods and lay them in a saucepan with a little water in the bottom. Ten to fifteen minutes is all it takes...twenty if the pods are really big and "woody" feeling. I put salt on them and eat as finger food. It reminds me of young sweet corn."

Peppers: Place whole, unwashed peppers in a plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate for a week or more. Rinse peppers just before use. For sweet peppers, cut around the stem with a small knife and lift out the core. Slice down the side to open it up and then cut out the inner membranes. Store unused portions in a sealed bag or container in the refrigerator.

Squash Blossoms: Squash blossoms are very perishable.  Arrange them on paper towel lined tray, cover with another cloth and then lightly wrap with plastic, refrigerate and use very soon.  Blossoms will keep for 1 week at 50ºF.  Open and inspect squash blossoms for insects before using them.  Pull off and discard the green calyxes surrounding the bottom of the blossom.  Clean blossoms by gently swishing them in a bowl of cold water.  Shake them dry.  Trim or snip out the anthers or style.  A few suggested uses for the squash blossoms:  as a garnish raw on crêpes, green salads, fruit salads, soups, and quesadillas; stuff blossoms with rice or minced meat and fry in batter; stuff blossoms with soft cheese, cooked and crumbled sausage, then bread and fry or bake; dip blossoms in a flour and cornstarch batter and fry until brown and crunchy; chop them up and add to quiche. 

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.

A few other details: All of your GREENS will keep best if stored in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.  

* NOTE: You will notice over the course of the season that some box contents listed above say "Perhaps one of the following..."  These are items that we can’t harvest in sufficient quantities for the whole CSA to receive at one time.  We do track who gets what and we will do our best to ensure that everyone eventually receives each item.  On some items this may take several weeks, so please be patient.

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 on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences and questions with other BGF members at Blue Gate Farm Community.

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 & Indigo)

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