BGF NEWS - September 14, 2021 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 16

In this week’s box:

Acorn Squash: Thelma Sanders

Chard: Bright Lights Mix

Cherry Tomato Mix *descriptions in 7/20 newsletter

Garlic

Head Lettuce: assorted varieties

Peaches: Native Iowa White

Peppers: Sweet *descriptions in 8/3 newsletter

Potatoes: Adirondack Red and Carola

Scallions

Tomatoes: slicers *descriptions in 7/27 newsletter

and perhaps one of the following:

Bean Mix

Broccoli: Belstar and/or Imperial

Eggplant: Orient Express (thin, dark purple, Asian-style), Orient Charm (thin, neon purple, Asian-style) or Listada De Gandia (purple/white striped, Italian-style)

Red Okra: Burgundy and Candle Fire

Summer Squash: 8 Ball (round, green), Golden Glory (yellow zucchini), Patty Pan (green or yellow, round scallop), Safari (dk green zucchini with light stripes),  Slik Pik (lt. yellow, long), Zephyr (yellow & light green)

Watermelon: Cream of Saskatchewan (striped outside, cream inside) or Sugar Baby (solid green outside, red inside)

For those with the Herb option: sweet basil, mountain mint & lemon thyme

Featured Recipes:  

Herb Roasted Parmesan Acorn Squash

Swiss Chard and Scallion Pesto

Cherry Tomato Peach Salsa

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

The signs of autumn continue to spread across the landscape, the leaves are dropping from the walnut trees, acres of soybeans are shifting to golden, the occasional beacon of red shines from the timber from a Virginia Creeper high in a tree and there is the constant rustle of dry corn leaves. The temperatures keep teasing us with fall weather then return to summer swelter. These shifts aren't abnormal, but they do make the farmHers and the cool weather crops a bit grumbly.

The tomatoes have slowed way down now both in production and in ripening. Those that are ready for harvesting are pretty ugly from the heavy rain a couple weeks ago. We are sending the few we have out in boxes today but anticipate clearing the vines in the next week or so. 

We spent much of the past week chasing (harvesting) fruit trees around the farm. We have multiple orchard plantings and each tree ripens on it's own schedule so every couple of days we cruise through the branches of peaches, pears and Asian pears with baskets, buckets and ladders. We're sending out peaches today.

These are the little Native White Iowa peach and they are beautiful gems of blushing scarlet and creamy white. They are incredibly aromatic and have their own distinct flavor, sweet with just a bit of a "whang" at the end. They are very fragile and will bruise and spoil easily, so handle with care and use in a timely manner. FYI, they are delicious with ice cream! We are sending most of them out in our blue quart boxes today, we only have a limited number of those and would really appreciate their return.

We also spent some time clearing more high tunnel beds and getting ready for transplanting the final fall/winter crops. We hope to have those in the ground by the end of this week.

We had been avoiding the last task, harvesting the big winter squash plot. It wasn't a very inspirational prospect. The insect/disease pressure on that crop was really tough this season and many of the plants died off early so we decided to call the plot a loss and not waste time maintaining it. However, we did note a glimpse of a squash here and there when driving past the weedy mess, so we decided it was worth a walk through to glean whatever was there. It was a bit like wading through shoulder-deep water, but we did find a few assorted squashes to bring in. Experiences like that are disheartening on a vegetable farm, but it does make us thankful to have a wide diversity of crops, if one fails, like the squash, then another is likely to have a bounty, like this year's potatoes!

Member Spotlight: Megan McKay

I invited Megan to be our next spotlight as another of our long-time members and undoubtedly our biggest community supporter! She has hosted our CSA and VegEmail deliveries at one of her locations since our earliest days and has been a die-hard promoter of all facets of the farm, not to mention an ongoing inspiration and friend.

Hi, I am Megan McKay and I am the owner of Peace Tree Brewing Company in Knoxville and Des Moines.  I have a really hectic life running the brewery, being a mom and partner, managing a couple of rental properties, and sitting on our local hospital board and Iowa Economic Development Authority Board.   I've been a member since 2011 when I learned about Blue Gate.  I knew I wanted to be associated with anyone crazy enough to move home and start a sustainable vegetable farm so I tracked Jill down and we not only became members but also have hosted pick ups in both locations as well as served Root Beer at Farm Crawl, hosted Pints and Purls and most importantly become friends and sounding boards for each others business ventures. I became a CSA member when my son was a toddler--he's now 13 and taller than me, which I attribute to eating lots of veggies.  I have also converted my significant other, Brian (he's addicted to jam!!), and his two older sons into being veggie lovers-the 21 year old just brought me some garlic chives he harvested at a friend's house and this was a kid who would eat nothing green when I met him 9 years ago!!  Success!

 

Why is being a CSA member important to me?

• I love what Jill and her crew have created and I want to support their efforts with my dollars. They add to the vibrancy of our community, especially in a more rural area like Knoxville, and I want to make sure they stick around.
• I love knowing where my food comes from and that it's grown with care, not harmful chemicals or unsafe/exploitative practices.
• Have you eaten Blue Gate Veggies?  Need I say more?  I took a year off when we had 3 boys in baseball because I was just never home to cook but grocery store veggies just do not compare.
• It helps me slow down and stay connected to food and family.  Cooking and sharing a meal at the dinner table feels like such an important ritual and having a box of perishable vegetables looking at you from the fridge is a great reminder to slow down, rearrange your priorities and get grounded.
• Variety is the spice of life and the CSA box keeps things fresh and ever changing.  I love the recipes included in the newsletter and on the FB group as it helps me be creative and learn new prep ideas.

While we are little less busy during baseball season now, it can still be a challenge to stay home and cook sometimes.  I am a big fan of giant salads with everything thrown in or ratatouille, stir fry, curry or soups when I get a little backed up in the vegetable drawer.  I think getting produce home and stored away according to the great directions really helps to preserve items until use.  Since we are still pretty short on time, I tend to make simple meals of pork or beef we have in the freezer from another local farmer and whatever veg is on hand either on the grill or sauteed.  

This year I pickled some zucchini and I didn't have the right spices so I threw in some garam masala and extra tumeric--gorgeous and delicious!  I also love to take the little tomatoes and mix with some fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil, put it on top of some good feta and to the grill wrapped in foil, add some crusty bread and it's nearly a meal!  Or tonight, it was a quick pizza topped with odds and ends of peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and basil--leftovers for lunch tomorrow!  Last week I ordered more from the Veg Email and made a couple batches of pesto and oven roasted tomato sauce, both will be amazing when the cold winds and snow are here.

 As another small business owner and producer of local products, it's so wonderful to have the back and forth support of this larger community.  I know what a difference it makes to have each customer and that they become more than just a transaction.  Especially in this past year or so, it's been awesome to pivot and pivot again with friends like Blue Gate!  I am hopeful for the days when business and life slows down a little so I can garden and cook more often but for now, Blue Gate and the BGF Community fills my belly and my soul.  Cheers!

A little detail on your produce this week:

Acorn Squash: Acorn squash can be stored at room temperature for up to one month.  It is so easy to bake.  After washing the outside, slice in half lengthwise,  scoop out the seeds and fiber, and place face down in a baking dish.  Add a little water to avoid drying out and to speed up the cooking process.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork.

Basil hates the cold and will turn black with exposure. Keep long stemmed basil in a glass/vase of water on your counter top (out of direct sunlight). Stems that are too short (trimmings/tops) should be placed in a plastic bag, with a dry paper towel. Then put inside of a paper bag (for insulation) and put in the warmest part of your refrigerator (usually the door) or on the top shelf towards the front.

Beans: Fresh beans are an easy "store."  Just leave them in their plastic bag and keep them in the produce drawer.  Can last up to 2 weeks.

Beets- Store the beet roots, unwashed, with the rootlets (or “tails”) attached, in a plastic bag in the crisper bin of your refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks, but their sweetness diminishes with time. Just before cooking, scrub beets well and remove any scraggly leaves and rootlets. If your recipe calls for raw beets, peel them with a knife or vegetable peeler, then grate or cut according to your needs baby/young beets usually don't need to be peeled.

Broccoli: Wrap loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator for up to a week. Immediately before cooking, soak 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 soaked 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.

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.

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.  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.

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."

Peaches: these little beauties are very fragile and will go from not-quite-ripe to over-ripe in a heartbeat. You can speed ripening on the countertop or slow it in the refrigerator. Their flavor is best at room temp or slightly cool, but not cold.

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: can be stored on your counter for the short term. For longer term storage they prefer cool (not cold) dark conditions with good airflow. A dark room in your basement would be perfect, but don't share a container with onions, it will cause the potatoes to spoil faster. We store potatoes in the cooler for long term storage. This works great, but please let them sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours before using or they will taste sweet.

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.

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

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.

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. Large leaf greens can benefit by being wrapped in a linen or cotton towel inside the bag if excess moisture is a concern.

** 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? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Indigo, Luci & Sky