IN THIS WEEK’S BOX:
Bean Mix: Empress (green) & Carson (yellow)Celery: TangoCucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Lemon, Marketmore, Nokya or Sashimi Edamame: BieiEggplant: Orient Express, Asian Delight and/or ListadaGarlic: Northern WhiteHead Lettuce: asst.Jubilee Cherry Tomato Mix: see 8/1 newsletter for descriptionsPeppers: Sweet, see descriptions belowPotatoes: KennebecSummer Squash: 8 Ball, Golden Glory, Patty Pan, Safari, Slik Pik, or ZephyrTomatoes: see 8/1 newsletter for descriptions and perhaps one of the following:
Cantaloupe: Minnesota MidgetOkra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire
Herb It! option: Cardinal basil, peppermint & rosemary
Celery: Tango
Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Lemon, Marketmore, Nokya or Sashimi
Edamame: Biei
Eggplant: Orient Express, Asian Delight and/or ListadaCantaloupe: Minnesota Midget
Bread Share: Giant Cinnamon Rolls
Featured Recipes:Balsamic Tomato Salad (FarmHer recommended!)
WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?
Precipitation in the past week: 0.05"
Week 10! It's hard to believe we are half way through the CSA season already. It always comes as a bit of a shock to me but here we are!
This week was ALL about potatoes! Well, not really, but it felt like it. We pushed hard to get all the remaining potatoes harvested before the rain, and then it didn't rain. Oh well, at least the crop is in, and what a crop it is! Given the drought and the fact that we don't irrigate potatoes we really expected a disappointing harvest. We were pleasantly surprised and honestly a little alarmed at what came in. Not only did the potatoes look good but we brought in 2,990 pounds, beating last year's total by 800 pounds!! Holy potatoes, Batman! So needless to say, we are sending out potatoes this week, just so we don't have to store them all :)
We also harvested all of the onions and shallots for the season. Those weren't all quite as prolific as the potatoes, but it was a solid showing during a tough season. Now we just have to get them all cured so that we can store them.
We're pleased to report that the peppers are recovering from the hailstorms and we started harvesting ripe sweet peppers a little over a week ago. It's always a bit of a slow start but now that they are rolling it's time to meet the sweet peppers:Ace- green to red bell, thin walled
Carmen-green to red Italian pepper (long, pointed)
Delite Mix-red, orange and yellow mini peppersEscamillo-green to yellow Italian pepper (long, pointed)
Golden Star-big, thick-walled, blocky green to yellow bell Islander- purple to reddish-orange bellRed Knight-large, thick walled green to red bell
Snowball-Ivory to red bell
The tomatoes, however, are still suffering from the hailstorms. 
You will likely notice cosmetic damage on the them again this week. We are sending out the best fruits we have, and this is it. Sadly the plants are showing disease stress from all the earlier hail damage so it will probably be a short tomato season. Enjoy them while you can!
A couple of other fun things heading out in boxes this week include edamame and celery! This is the best looking crop of edamame we've had in years and although they take a bit of work on your end, we hope you enjoy them. It's the first time we've grown traditional celery and we are very pleased with it so far. We think the taste is really wonderful, not the wishy-washy stuff you get in the grocery store, but also not so strongly flavored that you can't enjoy it plain as a snack. Don't forget that the leaves are useful too, use in place of parsley or cilantro in recipes.
Featured Recipes:
Precipitation in the past week: 0.05"
Week 10! It's hard to believe we are half way through the CSA season already. It always comes as a bit of a shock to me but here we are!
This week was ALL about potatoes! Well, not really, but it felt like it. We pushed hard to get all the remaining potatoes harvested before the rain, and then it didn't rain. Oh well, at least the crop is in, and what a crop it is! Given the drought and the fact that we don't irrigate potatoes we really expected a disappointing harvest. We were pleasantly surprised and honestly a little alarmed at what came in. Not only did the potatoes look good but we brought in 2,990 pounds, beating last year's total by 800 pounds!! Holy potatoes, Batman! So needless to say, we are sending out potatoes this week, just so we don't have to store them all :)
Ace- green to red bell, thin walled
Carmen-green to red Italian pepper (long, pointed)
Delite Mix-red, orange and yellow mini peppers
Carmen-green to red Italian pepper (long, pointed)
Delite Mix-red, orange and yellow mini peppers
Escamillo-green to yellow Italian pepper (long, pointed)
Golden Star-big, thick-walled, blocky green to yellow bell
Golden Star-big, thick-walled, blocky green to yellow bell
Islander- purple to reddish-orange bell
Red Knight-large, thick walled green to red bell
Snowball-Ivory to red bell
Snowball-Ivory to red bell
The tomatoes, however, are still suffering from the hailstorms.
You will likely notice cosmetic damage on the them again this week. We are sending out the best fruits we have, and this is it. Sadly the plants are showing disease stress from all the earlier hail damage so it will probably be a short tomato season. Enjoy them while you can!
A little detail on your produce this week:
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.
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.
Celery: Separate leaves and stems for best storage. Leaves (with thin stems) can be stored like herbs in a glass of water in your refrigerator or in a zip-top plastic bag. Main stems keep best wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in your crisper 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.
Edamame: (vegetable or green soy beans): Store beans on or off the branches in a bag in the crisper drawer and use within 1 week. To use, separate beans from branches and cook in salted, boiling water in the pods or shelled, depending on how you plan to use them. In case this is a new vegetable for you, the pods of edamame are not edible, so be sure to shell them before eating. The traditional way to enjoy them is to pull the cooked pod through your teeth, popping the beans into your mouth.
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.
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."
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. So refrigerated potatoes should be brought to room temperature for at least 24 hours before using. 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 a few places to allow steam to escape.
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. These do not need to be peeled to use, just slice them up and go!
Tomatoes: always store whole tomatoes at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Once cut, store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
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."
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. These do not need to be peeled to use, just slice them up and go!
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? 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)
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