BGF NEWS - June 25, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 4

In this week’s box:

Baby Cabbage: Farao

Chard

Fennel

Garlic Scapes (the green, curly things) one last time!
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties

Oregano

Turnips

and perhaps one of the following: (see **NOTE below)
Broccoli
Cauliflower: Japanese

Cucumbers: Marketmore or Dragon

Peas- Snow

Summer Squash: Golden Glory, Patty Pan, Safari, Slik Pik, or Zephyr

Herb It! option: will start next week!

Featured Recipes:  

Roasted Haruki Turnips with Couscous Salad

Lime Cabbage Salad **BGF Favorite (see recipe below)

Sautéed Cabbage with Fennel **BGF Favorite (see recipe below)

What’s up on the farm?
Precipitation in the past week: 1.18"

Whew, what a week it's been! It started with the announcement that our Peace Tree delivery location was closing. Amid much scrambling and emailing and site visits, our fabulous friends at HoQ have offered us a place with them, just a few blocks from Peace Tree. What a hugely generous offer and we are so thankful to them! We're still looking for a location for VegEmail, as our footprint with three producers is quite a bit larger. We have several leads we are following up on. Big thanks to everyone who emailed suggestions or helped us make connections! Stay tuned for updates on locations.

The past week was a big cultivation push, as we worked to clean up beds and stay ahead of the weeds. The beds were looking really good, though now that we've gotten some rain, we can already see new weeds germinating. It's a relentless cycle this time of year!

This past Sunday we hosted our longtime farming friends group for a workday. Only true farming friends would put up with what we asked of them. We spent several hours installing all the posts for our tomato trellis. It's a formidable job that involves placing and pounding hundreds of posts. Undaunted, we placed and pounded until it was done. Now we "just" have to prune the plants and string the trellis. 

The final big job of the week was the garlic harvest. 

With rain in the forecast, it was important for us to push through this task on Monday, even though the mid-90° temperatures made it a hot, sweaty task.  We were a bit concerned about the rapid drying on some of the garlic and hoped it didn't indicate an issue with the crop. Happily, once we got it pulled we were pleased to see that it was some of the best looking garlic we've grown. Whew! About 4,200 heads of garlic are now hanging in the packing barn to cure. 

A few new things in your boxes today as the season shifts into summer crops. A variety of summer squashes are making their first appearances as are cabbage and fennel. We're excited to see new crops starting to produce and we hope you enjoy them as they make their seasonal debuts! 

A little detail on your produce this week:

Broccoli/Cauliflower: 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.

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.

Fennel: Cut off the stalks where they emerge from the bulb. To use the feathery foliage as an herb, place the dry stalks upright in a glass filled with two inches of water, cover the glass loosely with a plastic bag, and store in the refrigerator for up to five days. The unwashed bulb will keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for at least a week. To use, remove any damaged spots or layers. Cut the bulb in half lengthwise and check the inner core. If it’s tough, remove it with a paring knife. Fennel should be washed carefully, because dirt can lodge between the layers of the bulb. Chop or mince the leaves.

Garlic Scapes: One of our favorite crops of the year. These curly green things are the emerging flower stalk from a hardneck garlic plant. We remove them to redirect more of the plant's energy into the bulb, but it also provides us with a delightful fresh garlic treat. These keep very well in a plastic bag in your produce drawer and can be used in any recipe calling for garlic. They would be perfect in last week's garlic salt recipe, make a great pesto and can be minced and added to room-temperature butter, which is then stored in log shape, in the freezer for a last minute dollop of goodness for vegetables, breads or meat.

Green Garlic: This is freshly harvested garlic that hasn't had time to cure yet. You will notice that the wrappers are soft and the garlic itself is very juicy. You can use it in any recipe calling for garlic. The flavor is so fresh and green that we like to use them in recipes that really highlight the flavor, like pesto or garlic butter. Store in a jar or other glass container in the refrigerator for best keeping quality.

Herbs: Generally, except for basil, set unwashed bunches of fresh herbs (with stems) upright into small jars filled with 1 to 2 inches of water, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to two weeks. Rinse fresh herbs right before use. To release their scents and flavors, rub them between your hands before mincing or chopping. If you have no idea what to do with fresh herbs, there is one great default answer "compound butter." Finely mince leaves and knead them into a stick of room temperature butter. Roll the butter into a log in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Then simply slice off the amount you need to add delicious, ready-to-use flavor to vegetables, bread or meats.

Peas: We grow snow peas (flat pod with little bumps showing immature peas inside) and sugar snap peas (rounded pods with mature peas inside). Both have edible pods and can be used interchangeably in recipes. They are particularly good in stir-fries and salads, though we tend to eat them fresh as a snack. Peas keep best in their plastic container in the produce drawer of your 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. These do not need to be peeled to use, just slice them up and go!

Turnips: keep best if separated from their greens. Greens are stored in a plastic bag and can be cooked like mustard or collard greens. Trimmed roots can go into a lidded container or zip-close bag. These aren't your grandma's turnips. These are a sweet, Japanese salad variety that is particularly tasty for fresh eating. They will still work great in cooked dishes, but we love to eat them raw, often right out of hand, like an apple. One of the farm crew's favorite mid-field snacks.

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, photos 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)

Lime Cabbage Salad

1/2 cabbage (or 1 small), finely shredded
2 limes, freshly squeezed
large pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

Toss together & serve as a side salad or top with a saucy or spicy meat, like left over BBQ beef or pulled pork.

Recipe Source: Blue Gate Farm friend, Dana F.

Sauteed Cabbage with Fennel

serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil 
1-2 c. fresh fennel bulb, chopped
1 small/medium sweet onion, chopped
4 cups shredded cabbage
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a very large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add fennel, onion and cabbage and saute until cabbage is cooked through but still crunchy, about 5 minutes.
Place cabbage mixture in a large serving bowl, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Recipe Source: Blue Gate Farm