BGF News - July 31, 2018-Vol. XL, No.9

BGF News - July 31, 2018-Vol. XL, No.9

In this week’s box:

Carrots:Mix

Cherry Tomato Mix
Cucumber: Diva/Marketmore  (green, English), Suyo Long (long green, Asian)

                     or Lemon (round, yellow)

Eggplant: Orient Express (dk purple), Orient Charm (lavender) or Listada (striped)
Head Lettuce: Concept (dk green), Cherokee (red) or Nevada (bright geen)

Peppers: Ace (red bell), Islander (purple to orange bell) Quadrato D'Asti Giallo (yellow bell) 
Purslane

Shallots: Ambition (tan) and/or Camelot (purple)

Summer Squash: Slik Pik (yellow), Zephyr (yellow & green), Golden Glory (yellow zucchini), 

                                Patty Pan (saucer-shaped, green/yellow/white) or 8 Ball (round, green)

Tomatoes: asst varieties, see descriptions on the 7/24 post

 and at least one of the following:

Bean Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)

Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget (mini)

Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

Watermelon: Sugar Baby (dk green stripe w/ red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (lt green,

                         striped with white interior) 

           

Cream of Saskatchewan watermelon

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

For those with the Herb option: Sweet basil, chocolate mint, rosemary

  

Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 

Cucumber and Mint Salad (can replace the red onions with shallots)
Purslane, Cherry Tomato and Cucumber Salad (I would mix this in with cooked pasta)
Roasted Ratatouille Pasta

Shallot Vinaigrette ** see recipe below

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

How tall is the corn, Hannah?

There is not much new and exciting around the farm this week. Still no rain, but the "Abnormally Dry" classification is still holding, no official drought here yet, but the line is just south of us and includes most of the bottom two tiers of Iowa counties. Despite the weeks without rain, the crops continue to do pretty well. we are using a huge amount of irrigation on most of them, but even the popcorn, which isn't irrigated is looking good. We harvested the first of the melons this week, which is always exciting. We are sending them out in about 1/3 of the boxes this week, with more to come soon. Be aware, if you cut open your watermelon and it is creamy-white colored, don't be alarmed. We grow an heirloom white-fleshed melon, which we think is one of the tastiest out there.Melons are a tough crop for us in multiple ways. They take up a lot of real estate, they have pretty strict growing requirements, they take up a lot of transport space and most concerning, you can never tell if a melon is actually going to taste good. There are tricks to help determine ripeness, but even with those, we can be fooled. So if you get a melon that isn't ripe or just plain tastes bad, let us know and we'll do our best to send you another one in the following weeks.

We finished up the last of the mid-season crop transplanting this past week, putting in a bit more chard, head lettuce and one last shot at edamame. We are finally getting serious about our fall crops this week (a little later than normal). We've sown transplants for chard, broccoli, cabbage, Napa and cauliflower, with kale and some more head lettuce still to go. We've been prepping beds in the field to start direct sowing crops as well, including turnips, carrots, daikon and beets. 

Package recycling: To help keep down costs and reduce plastic use and landfill waste, we try to reuse as many packaging materials as possible. This includes the egg cartons (paper-pulp only, not styrofoam) and the pint containers for your small produce items. We are happy to receive back those those clean containers to reuse again. 

A little detail on your produce this week:

Cantaloupe:  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. It is best not to cut a cantaloupe until you are ready to eat it. If you need to return cut melon to the refrigerator, do not remove the seeds from the remaining sections as they keep the flesh from drying out. Use within 3-5 days.

Cucumber: Store unwashed cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag in the vegetable crisper bin for about a week. Keep cucumbers tucked far away from tomatoes, apples, and citrus—these give off ethylene gas that accelerates cucumber deterioration. You can do a lot of fancy things to the skin of a cucumber, but when it is young, fresh (and unwaxed), it really only needs to be thoroughly washed. However, if the skin seems tough or bitter you can remove it; if the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out.

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, then place in a plastic bag 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. Many people like to peel, salt, and drain their eggplant to draw out any bitter flavor; however, bitterness develops only in eggplant that has been stored for a while, so with farm-fresh specimens this is generally not necessary. Many recipes call for salting in order to make the vegetable less watery and more absorbent—much like draining tofu. Salting is not an essential step, but it can greatly enhance the taste and texture of your dish and is well worth the extra effort.

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.

Shallots: the "fancy" cousins of onions, shallots have a rich flavor that really shines in soups, sauces, salad dressings and egg dishes.  Store like onions, in a cool, dark place with good air circulation.

Summer Squash/Zucchini: Refrigerate unwashed zucchini and summer squash for up to a week and a half in a perforated plastic bag or in a sealed plastic container lined with a kitchen towel.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.  

Tomatoes:

 prefer to reside on your counter and not in the refrigerator unless they have been sliced. A light "squeeze" is the best test for ripeness.

Watermelon: 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.

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 Luci & Indigo)

Shallot Vinaigrette

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil (preferably French) or safflower oil

BGF News - July 24, 2018-Vol. XL, No.8

BGF News - July 24, 2018-Vol. XL, No.8

In this week’s box:

Basil: Genovese or Italian Large Leaf

Cabbage: Omero (red)

Cherry Tomato Mix
Cucumber: Diva/Marketmore  (green, English), Suyo Long (long green, Asian)

                     or Lemon (round, yellow)

Fennel: Perfection
Head Lettuce: Concept (dk green), Cherokee (red) or Nevada (bright geen)
Ground Cherries
Peppers: Ace (red bell), Islander (purple to orange bell) Quadrato D'Asti Giallo (yellow bell) 
Scallions

Summer Squash: Slik Pik (yellow), Zephyr (yellow & green), Golden Glory (yellow zucchini), 

                                Patty Pan (saucer-shaped, green/yellow/white) or 8 Ball (round, green)

and at least one of the following:

Bean Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)

Eggplant: Orient Express (dk purple), Orient Charm (lavendar) or Listada (striped)

Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

      

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

For those with the Herb option: purple basil, anise hyssop, oregano

  

Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 

Summer Squash & Basil Pasta
German Cucumber Salad Recipe
Roasted Fennel Pesto
Cabbage, Cucumber and Fennel Salad
Peanut Noodles with Cabbage and Basil
BGF Chocolate Zucchini Cake **see recipe below

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.10"

What a crazy weather roller coaster ride we are on this season! It was steamy-hot a week ago, now we are almost unseasonably cool. One guess which temperature the farmers, crew and livestock prefer? We were so disappointed to miss last week's rain chances, but will happily trade that for no catastrophic damage from tornadoes, as some in our county experienced. That said, the farm crew is getting ready to don their rain dance costumes, all volunteers welcome to join in!

The biggest push this past week was getting all the field tomatoes trellised and pruned. This is the latest we've every accomplished this task, which means the plants were much larger than normal. It made the task take twice as long, a note we will remember in the future! Regardless, the task is done for now. We will continue to prune and add trellis lines on an as-needed basis throughout the season. Speaking of tomatoes, some of you received the first of the cherry tomatoes in your boxes last week and more will receive them today. We are finally starting to see some coloring on the slicing tomatoes and we expect to start sending those out next week. To get your appetite whetted, below is the tomato list for this season. You will likely see all of these varieties cycle through your box at some time in the coming weeks. Something to note about our tomatoes, we grow the whole rainbow of colors, including some that are white or green when ripe. So how do you know if a tomato is ripe or not? Squeeze very gently, if the tomato yields to gentle pressure then it is ready to eat. If still firm, then leave it on the counter (not in the sun) for a day or two and check again. Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine.

Golden Rave & Juliet mini Romas & Cherry Tomato mix

Tomato varieties for 2018:

Amish Paste: meaty, red roma-type with delicious flavor for fresh use or canning. Great salsa tomato!

Azoycha: Lemon-yellow medium-sized fruits with sweet, yet rich flavor.

Berkeley Pink Tye Dye: medium beefsteak, dk red with green stripes and very meaty flesh with luscious sweet tomato flavor.

Black Cherry: Beautiful black cherry tomato with rich flavor.

Black Krim: purple/red slicing tomato with excellent full flavor

Blondkopfchen: Small yellow 1” cherry tomato with excellent sweet taste.

Cherry Roma: red, bite-sized roma tomato

Cosmonaut Volkov: medium-large red slicer with a full-rich flavor

Dr. Wychee Yellow: Large orange tomato with meaty, rich tasting flavor.

Golden Rave: Small 1–2 oz yellow, plum shaped tomatoes with good tomato flavor. Perfect snacking tomato.

Green Zebra: Small, 2 1/2" olive yellow with green stripes and a sweet zingy flavor

Jasper: Small red, 1/2" cherry tomato with chewy flesh and full tomato flavor

John Baer: meaty red heirloom slicer

Juliet: Small 1 – 2 oz red mini-roma, perfect flavor and shape for slicing onto pizza or salad.

Paul Robeson: Large, brick-red fruits with dark green shoulders.  Has a sweet, rich, smoky flavor.

Pantano Romanesco: A large, deep red Roman heirloom. The flesh is very rich, flavorful & juicy.

Redfield Beauty: 3”– 4” flat pink fruits with excellent, full flavor.

Rutgers: large, red with excellent flavor for fresh eating or canning

Sweetie: Bite-sized, sweet red cherry tomato

White Queen: Medium-sized, smooth white-skinned tomato with sweet, juicy flesh, low acid.

White Cherry: small, 1" creamy-white to light pink tomato with sweet flavor

Woodle Orange: medium-large, bright orange, and perfectly round. It has a bold flavor and is surprisingly acidic for an orange tomato

Another special treat in the boxes that may be new to most folks is ground cherries. This is the first time that we've had enough to share so we thought you'd like a little fruity adventure to liven up your CSA delivery. Ground cherries, which are native to Iowa, are a husked fruit related to a tomatillo with a tropical taste like a cross between pineapple and mango. The husks and fruit start out light green and ripen to a golden/apricot color inside when ready to eat and the husks will be completely dry and papery. They store for several weeks to a month on the counter if the husks are still sealed, and they won't ripen outside of the husk. To enjoy, remove dried husks and eat as a snack, in salads , desserts or combined with cherry tomatoes in a pasta dish or sweet & savory pizza.

Ground cherries, Iowa's tropical treat

Speaking of pasta dishes, be sure to check out the squash recipe from CSA member Sara T. that is linked in the recipe section above. It is delicious and a great way to use up some of your bountiful CSA squash. We've also included our perennial popular chocolate zucchini cake recipe. We serve this every year at the Ice Cream Social and are always asked for the recipe, so here you go!

We have been busy with other tasks around the farm besides tomato maintenance. We have been mowing and clearing spent beds or lost crops (beets just seem like an impossibility this year). The push to get this done is two-fold, one it is aggravating to look at beds where a crop failed. But more importantly, it is time to make room for fall crops. So if a bed isn't producing, then away it goes!
We have also been doing some rescue weeding of melons and field peppers that were in beds that hadn't received enough attention earlier this season. And finally, yesterday afternoon, the Farmher left the farm in the capable hands of the crew and headed south to judge horticulture crops at the Lucas County Fair. It is always fun to see the pride (or sometimes not) in folks displaying what they are growing. It was a notable year in the low number of entries, about half of last years', but just goes to show what a challenging growing season it has been.

Finally, in the past couple of weeks we have had a few members ask if they can add or increase their egg share. The answer is "absolutely!" If anyone else would like to do so, just shoot us an email and we will get you set up.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Cucumber: Store unwashed cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag in the vegetable crisper bin for about a week. Keep cucumbers tucked far away from tomatoes, apples, and citrus—these give off ethylene gas that accelerates cucumber deterioration. You can do a lot of fancy things to the skin of a cucumber, but when it is young, fresh (and unwaxed), it really only needs to be thoroughly washed. However, if the skin seems tough or bitter you can remove it; if the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out.

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, then place in a plastic bag 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. Many people like to peel, salt, and drain their eggplant to draw out any bitter flavor; however, bitterness develops only in eggplant that has been stored for a while, so with farm-fresh specimens this is generally not necessary. Many recipes call for salting in order to make the vegetable less watery and more absorbent—much like draining tofu. Salting is not an essential step, but it can greatly enhance the taste and texture of your dish and is well worth the extra effort.

Ground Cherries: These are a husked fruit, related to a tomatillo. The husks and fruit start out light green and ripen to a golden/apricot color inside when ready to eat and the husks will be completely dry and papery. They store for several weeks to a month on the counter if the husks is still sealed, and they wont ripen outside of the husk. To enjoy, remove husks and eat as a snack, in salads , desserts or combined with cherry tomatoes in a pasta dish.

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.

Scallions (green onions)- are best kept upright in a glass with about 1" of water in it, more like flowers than vegetables. Loosely cover the tops with plastic and you will be amazed at how long they will keep. We like to throw a handful of chopped scallions into nearly any savory dish, right near the end of the cooking time.

Summer Squash/Zucchini: Refrigerate unwashed zucchini and summer squash for up to a week and a half in a perforated plastic bag or in a sealed plastic container lined with a kitchen towel.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.  

Tomatoes: prefer to reside on your counter and not in the refrigerator unless they have been sliced.

** 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 Luci & Indigo)

BGF Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2-3c. grated zucchini

2 c. flour

1 ½ c. sugar

1 tsp salt

½ c. oil

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1/3 c. cocoa

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, pour into greased & floured 9 x 13” pan.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.

When cool, frost with Hershey’s Cocoa Frosting

1 stick butter

2/3 c. cocoa

3 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium mixer bowl melt butter, add cocoa and stir until combined. Alternating between powdered sugar and milk, add to cocoa and butter, mixing between. When thoroughly combined, beat in vanilla. Makes +/- 2 cups.

BGF News - July 17, 2018-Vol. XL, No.7

BGF News - July 17, 2018-Vol. XL, No.7

In this week’s box:

Broccoli: Belstar

Choi: Vivid (leafy bundle with pink/purple stems) and/or Joi (dk green leaves, white stems)

Cucumber: Diva/Marketmore  (green, English), Suyo Long (long green, Asian)

                     or Lemon (round, yellow)

Garlic: Northern White

Head Lettuce: Kiribati (bright green), Muir (dk green) or Magenta (red)
Potatoes: Red Gold  

Summer Squash: Slik Pik (yellow), Zephyr (yellow & green), Golden Glory (yellow zucchini), 

                                Patty Pan (saucer-shaped, green/yellow/white) or 8 Ball (round, green)

and at least one of the following:

Bean Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)

Cherry Tomato Mix

Eggplant: Orient Express (dk purple), Orient Charm (lavendar) or Listada (striped)

Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

Peppers: Ace (red)
Snow Peas: Oregon Giant

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

For those with the Herb option: Sweet basil, lemon thyme, chives 

  

Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 

Salt and Vinegar Zucchini Chips

Broccoli and Bow-Ties
Parmesan Crusted Potatoes and Zucchini
Grilled Eggplant Panini

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: Trace

Coming to a CSA box near you!

It's hard to believe with all the crazy rains in the past month, that there are parts of Iowa still in drought conditions. Our area is rated "Abnormally Dry" which is just below the first "Drought" level. We are running the irrigation system in a near constant rotation to try and keep everything going. The greatest challenge is with newly transplanted crops and germinating seed. We also have crops that are "offended" by the high temperatures. Plants like beans will drop their blooms in high heat because the pollen isn't viable. No bloom means no bean. Now that the temperatures have moderated we are starting to see new bud set on the plants so there are many more beans to come, but our harvest this week is greatly decreased so beans are back on the "possible" list for today's delivery.

There are some crops that aren't nearly as "irritated" by the heat. The tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and okra are growing along steadily. We are starting to see our first ripening fruits on the smaller variety tomatoes and peppers so we'll be sending out the first tastes of those this week. Don't worry, if you don't see any in your box this week, there are many, many more to come!

Speaking of the heat and tomatoes, we decided to take advantage of this past week's hot, dry weather to finally get the rest of the tomato trellis posts put in. It takes a long time to pound posts in 95° weather, as frequent shade and water breaks are required, but we got it done. Now we are working to get the plants all pruned and trellised. It is a long task and we are late in getting it done, so the plants are much larger than normal.

The warm dry conditions were perfect for finishing off the garlic this week as well. The whole plot was pulled, bundled and hung in the barn to cure. Once it is dry (in a few weeks) we will trim and bag it for long term storage.

Collecting garlic bundles from the field

One of six loads headed to the barn for curing

We finished off this week with our annual CSA Member Ice Cream Social. It'a always fun to have members out to the farm and everyone seems to enjoy the afternoon, especially the dogs, who got lots of great attention! We played games, ate tasty treats and enjoyed some nice chats in the shade.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Broccoli: Wrap broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable bin 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.

Choi (a.k.a. - pac choi, bok choy or pok choy) is a member of the cabbage family and is a traditional Asian stir-fry vegetable.  Both the stems and leaves of choi can be used and are especially tasty in cooked recipes.  If cooking them, separate the leaves and stems, and begin cooking stems first to avoid overcooking the more tender greens. You can also use the leaves like any green-leafy vegetable and the stems like celery.  We tend to use choi leaves as a sandwich wrap, or just roughly chop the whole thing and sauté with garlic and/or onion.  Cook until stems are tender and dress with a little seasoned rice vinegar. Store choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your produce drawer.

Cucumber: Store unwashed cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag in the vegetable crisper bin for about a week. Keep cucumbers tucked far away from tomatoes, apples, and citrus—these give off ethylene gas that accelerates cucumber deterioration. You can do a lot of fancy things to the skin of a cucumber, but when it is young, fresh (and unwaxed), it really only needs to be thoroughly washed. However, if the skin seems tough or bitter you can remove it; if the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out.

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, then place in a plastic bag 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. Many people like to peel, salt, and drain their eggplant to draw out any bitter flavor; however, bitterness develops only in eggplant that has been stored for a while, so with farm-fresh specimens this is generally not necessary. Many recipes call for salting in order to make the vegetable less watery and more absorbent—much like draining tofu. Salting is not an essential step, but it can greatly enhance the taste and texture of your dish and is well worth the extra effort.

Garlic: This is now partially cured, so just store on the counter for short term and in a dark place with good air circulation for long term storage. Keeps for 3-5 months.

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."

Potatoes: Keep unwashed potatoes in a cool, dark, dry place, such as a loosely closed paper bag in a cupboard. They will keep for weeks at room temperature, longer if you can provide their ideal temperature of 40 to 50 degrees. Beware: the low temperature of your refrigerator will convert the starch to sugars. Moisture causes potatoes to spoil, light turns them green, and proximity to onions causes them to sprout. (You can still use a potato that has sprouted, however; simply cut off the “eyes” before use.) Potatoes store best if they haven't been washed, so we send them out in their "dust jackets". Just before using, scrub potatoes well and cut off any sprouts or green skin. (Clean delicate new potatoes gently.) Peeling is a matter of preference.

Summer Squash/Zucchini: Refrigerate unwashed zucchini and summer squash for up to a week and a half in a perforated plastic bag or in a sealed plastic container lined with a kitchen towel.

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 Luci & Indigo)