Monday, August 27, 2018

BGF News - August 28, 2018-Vol. XL, No.13


In this week’s box:

Cabbage: Golden Acre or Super Red
Carrots: Rainbow mix
Cherry Tomato Mix
Eggplant: Orient Charm, Orient Express and/or Listada de Gandia
Head Lettuce: Kiribatis (bright green), Magenta (reddish green  ) or Rutilai (dark red)
Peppers: Ace or Revolution (red bells), Islander (purple to orange bell), Quadrato D'Asti Giallo
                 (yellow bell), Golden Marconi (long, pointed yellow) or PASS (flat, yellow)
Potatoes: Kennebec
Scallions
Tomatoes: asst varieties, see descriptions on the 7/24 post

 and perhaps one of the following:
Beans: Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)
Broccoli: side shoots
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget or Rocky Ford (green interior)
Cauliflower: Sicilian Purple (purple) or Goodman (white)
Okra: Burgundy & Candle Fire
Watermelon: Sugar Baby (dk green stripe w/ red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (lt green,
                         striped with white interior)
           
For those with the Egg option [full & half shares]: one dozen free-range eggs (asst. colors)
For those with the Herb option: sweet basil, ginger mint, sorrel

  
Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 
Rice & Smothered Cabbage Soup recommended by CSA member Sara B.

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.8"
Final potato harvest

Well, it happened again, a bit of rain fell on the farm, easing the strain on the plants (and the farmers.) We are still in a deep drought hole, now listed as "Severe Drought" but even with just this little bit of moisture, the grass has greened a bit and the fall seeds are germinating. Naturally, so are the weeds that have just been biding their time in the soil waiting for just such an opportunity! We are doing LOTS of cultivating right now to try and stay ahead of them. Besides the rain, one of our most exciting events last week was harvesting the last of the potato plot. These last two rows were the most productive, producing on average 10 lbs of potatoes for every pound that was planted. That is our goal and it is amazing that in this crazy drought year, we are seeing these results. 
Choi seeds germinating in the damp soil

Our fall transplants are appreciating the new moisture as well. The lettuce we referred to last week is putting on some nice growth and some of it is just big enough to be included in today's delivery. New in the gardens this week are broccoli and Napa cabbage, with many more plants to go in the the ground in the next few days. We made space for these by clearing the last of the summer squash and cucumber beds as well as some of the under-performing basil. Don't worry there is still plenty of basil to come, but now is definitely the time to start thinking about stocking up on your winter pesto supply if you haven't already done so.


Potato Love!

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!

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.

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.

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.) Scrub potatoes well and cut off any sprouts or green skin. (Clean delicate new potatoes gently.) Peeling is a matter of preference. Cut potatoes according to your recipe. If baking a whole potato, be sure to prick the skin in at least two places to allow steam to escape.


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.

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)

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

BGF News - August 21, 2018-Vol. XL, No.12


In this week’s box:

Basil: Red Rubin
Beans: Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)
Cherry Tomato Mix
Cucumber: Diva/Marketmore  (green, English), Suyo Long (long green, Asian)
                     or Lemon (round, yellow) final delivery
Head Lettuce: Concept (dk green), Magenta (red) or Nevada (bright green)
Peppers: Ace or Revolution (red bells), Islander (purple to orange bell), Quadrato D'Asti Giallo
                 (yellow bell), Golden Marconi (long, pointed yellow) or PASS (small, yellow)
Spaghetti Squash
Sweet Onions: Ailsa Craig
Tomatoes: asst varieties, see descriptions on the 7/24 post

 and perhaps one of the following:
Broccoli: side shoots
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget or Rocky Ford (green interior)
Cauliflower: Sicilian Purple (purple) or Goodman (white)
Okra: Burgundy & Candle Fire
Watermelon: Sugar Baby (dk green stripe w/ red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (lt green,
                         striped with white interior)
           
For those with the Egg option [full shares]: one dozen free-range eggs
For those with the Herb option: sweet basil, oregano, lemon balm

What’s up on the farm?   

Precipitation in the past week: 0.8"
A rainy Monday morning on the farm
The above photo is the most important thing that happened on the farm this week...it rained! Not a lot, but more rain than we have seen since June (.2" late last week and .6" on Monday.) It came slow and soft and while we would like much more, it was most welcome! This will help the fall crops more than anything else we can do though we will have to turn the irrigation lines back on tomorrow.

I'm not sure I have done an adequate job of sharing how very dry it is here (and in areas south of us). We hope you haven't felt the reality of the drought in your weekly deliveries. We've tried to keep the boxes as full and varied as possible, but it is getting harder and harder to do so, especially with crops like cucumbers and summer squash finishing up for the season. There isn't much new yet to give you. We are seeing the greatest shortages in leafy greens and tomato volume, though the tomatoes seem to be ratcheting up their production this week. The greens front is really a struggle for us right now. We had nearly 300 heads of lettuce bolt far sooner than we were expecting, which means only a small percentage of them are usable. We do have more lettuce coming, but it has been slowed by the weather and may not be ready for next week's delivery. The replacement chard crop is struggling as well, but we hope to see it start to size up in the next couple of weeks. New kale is growing nicely in flats, but still has to be transplanted and grow out for about 4 weeks.  It isn't all bad, as I said, the tomatoes seems to be speeding up and the peppers look pretty good, though they too are slow to color.
We are sending out something new and fun this week that we hope you will enjoy. It is the first time we've grown spaghetti squash and the crop was pretty good in the field. We hope you enjoy it, whether it is an old favorite or a new adventure for you!

Spaghetti squash, sunflowers and smiles!
More seasonal progress around the farm this week. We cleared the high tunnel cucumbers and spent lettuce, plus the unusable lettuce from the field. Beds are prepped and ready to be resown. We have some surprisingly good germination in our late carrots and the choi and turnips are looking pretty good. A few things will need some remedial sowing, but hopefully not too many. Let's keep hoping for more rain soon!

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.

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."

Onions: cured and ready to use or store at room temperature or a bit cooler (basement) with good air circulation. Once cut, store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Sweet onions don't store as long as other types, so be sure to use them in the next few weeks.

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.

Spaghetti Squash: A true winter squash, store spaghetti squash like you would an acorn or butternut squash, at room temperature or a bit cooler (basement) with good air circulation. To prepare, bake in the oven or the quicker version is to microwave 5mins/1lb until fork goes through. Cut squash in half and scope out the seeds.  Scoop out seeds, then scoop out the flesh of the squash and flake off “spaghetti” into strands and use as a pasta replacement or as a vegetable side dish.



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)

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

BGF News - August 14, 2018-Vol. XL, No.11


In this week’s box:

Beans: Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)
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)
Garlic: Northern White
Head Lettuce: Concept (dk green), Magenta (red) or Nevada (bright green)
Peppers: Ace or Revolution (red bells), Islander (purple to orange bell), Quadrato D'Asti Giallo
                 (yellow bell), Golden Marconi (long, pointed yellow) or PASS (small, yellow)
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 perhaps one of the following:
Broccoli: side shoots
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget (mini)
Cauliflower: Sicilian Purple (purple) or Goodman (white)
Okra: Burgundy & Candle Fire
Watermelon: Sugar Baby (dk green stripe w/ red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (lt green,
                         striped with white interior)
Cream of Saskatchewan melons
           
For those with the Egg option [full and half shares]: one dozen free-range eggs
For those with the Herb option: sweet basil, garlic chives, fennel

Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 
Crispy Baked Eggplant

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

Wow, here we are at week #11 already! It's the start of the second half of the CSA season and I  I don't know what you are doing at your house today to celebrate, but we are washing all the cars and leaving their windows open, opening the house windows and leaving laundry on the clothesline, all in the desperate hope that we can tempt it to rain (and rain well!) Maybe we should plan a picnic for lunch today? Honestly, we are up for trying just about anything, rain dances, prayers, bribery, and double dog dares...whatever it takes!

This week we continued clearing spent crops and cleaning up beds for their fall crops. The crew also  got the high tunnel peppers and eggplant trellised and we mowed down some fallow beds. We've started clearing the cucumber plants that gave up to the annual onslaught of insects/disease. This is probably the best cuke year we've had, so we appreciate the plants efforts but that time is just about at its end. I think we might get one more week's deliveries in, but that's probably it. The summer squash are soon to follow the same fate. Luckily there are new crops coming along to take their place including chard, acorn and spaghetti squashes and more.

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.

Garlic is now cured and can be stored at room temperature with good air circulation for several months. For best storage keep at cooler temps (think basement), in the dark with good air flow.

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.

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)

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

BGF News - August 7, 2018-Vol. XL, No.10


In this week’s box:

Basil: sweet
Cherry Tomato Mix
Cucumber: Diva/Marketmore  (green, English), Suyo Long (long green, Asian)
                     or Lemon (round, yellow)
Head Lettuce: Concept (dk green), Cherokee (red) or Nevada (bright geen)
Onions: Cipollini
Peppers: Ace or Revolution (red bells), Islander (purple to orange bell), Quadrato D'Asti Giallo
                 (yellow bell), Golden Marconi (long, pointed yellow) or
                  PASS (small, pumpkin-shaped, yellow ## see description below)
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)
Sicilian Purple Cauliflower
Tomatoes: asst varieties, see descriptions on the 7/24 post

 and at least one of the following:
Bean Mix: Carson (yellow) & Empress (green)
Broccoli: side shoots
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget (mini)
Cauliflower: Sicilian Purple
Watermelon: Sugar Baby (dk green stripe w/ red interior) or Cream of Saskatchewan (lt green,
                         striped with white interior)
           
For those with the Egg option [full shares]: one dozen free-range eggs (asst. colors)
For those with the Herb option: lemon basil, savory, sorrel

  
Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 
Baked Eggs on Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Grilled Zucchini and Tomato Salad
Zucchini Butter
Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes
BGF Pesto **see recipe below

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: trace

There was an 80% chance of rain in the past 12 hrs, guess what? No rain on the farm. (insert sad, frustrated farmher face here).  We continue to add and tweak our irrigation system and it is running almost continuously, but it just isn't the same as rainwater. The tomatoes continue to ripen very slowly and the beans are just piddling about. I'm afraid both of these situations will continue until our rain situation changes.

While  we are hoping for rain, we took advantage of the dry conditions to harvest the rest of the early potatoes today. This rather strenuous task was greatly improved by our new-to-us potato plow. We bought it from a neighbor earlier this summer, but the handles were long gone so we had to wait for the new handles to arrive. Here she is all outfitted with fancy new hickory handles and ready to dig! And dig she did!















We've also been putting in lots of fall crops this past week including seeding beets, choi, salad mix, turnips, daikon, carrots, broccoli raab and kohlrabi. We also sowed kale transplants and put some more baby lettuces into the ground.

## We want to introduce you to one of our new crops this week, PASS peppers. The real name is Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes, so you can see why we call them PASS! These are an heirloom Hungarian pepper with the fabulous flavor that peppers from Hungary are famous for. They are a small yellow, flat, pumpkin-shaped fruit with very thick, crisp and juicy flesh. They are coming on slowly so it will take a while to get some out to everyone in your mix of peppers but you should start keeping an eye out for them.
Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes (PASS) peppers
Your farmHer hint of the day: If you are a fan of BLT's to celebrate the height of tomato season, try our favorite variation. Replace the lettuce (or add to it) a few leaves of fresh basil! It is delicious!!

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."

Cipollini Onions:  These lovely little italian onions are some of our favorites. Sweet & mild they are the perfect size for adding just a bit of onion to a recipe. The place they really shine though is in shush kabobs! Due to their flat shape, they are easy to skewer and cook faster. They are mostly cured now, so can be stored like regular onions, at room temperature with good air circulation. Sweet onions  don't store as long as other onions though, so use within a few weeks.

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.

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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)

Blue Gate Farm Pesto

2 Tbs Sunflower seeds-toasted (can substitute pine nuts)
2 cloves Garlic (garlic lovers can add more) green garlic or garlic scapes are also good.
2 c. Basil (any variety, a mix is particularly nice)
1-2 leaves Sorrel (optional)
½ c. Olive oil
6-10 oz fresh tomatoes,
1 tsp Salt (if using pre-salted sunflower seeds, can reduce salt amount)
½ c. Parmesan cheese, fresh grated (not the stuff in the can)

Place sunflower seeds and garlic into food processor then pulse several times. Add basil and sorrel, drizzle with half of oil. Pulse several time s.  Add remaining oil, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and salt if desired.
Pesto should be stored for a week or less in the refrigerator in a sealed container.  If storing longer, freeze in snack-sized, zip-top bags (about 1 1/2 TBS per bag), pressed flat. Once frozen, they can be stored upright in a larger plastic bag. To use a little, just break off the amount needed and return the rest to the freezer.
Also, if we are making a large batch for the freezer, for best quality, we omit the cheese and seeds. Freeze as is and then add those items in when we are ready to use.