BGF NEWS - August 6, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 10

In this week’s box:

Basil: Sweet

Beans: Yellow & Green Mix

Beets: Cylindra

Broccoli: heads or florets with edible leaves

Cabbage: Ruby King

Cherry Tomatoes: Jubilee Mix

Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Marketmore or Dragon

Head Lettuce, assorted varieties
Scallions

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

and perhaps one of the following: (see **NOTE below)
Okra: Candle Fire, Bowling Red & Okinawa Pink

Tomatoes: slicers (see 7/30 newsletter for descriptions)

Herb It! option: Purple Basil, Pink Celery, Lemon Verbena

Jam It! option: Tart Cherry Jam & Blackberry Peach Jam

Spice It Up! option: Roselle Salt

Featured Recipes:

Cucumber Scallion Salad

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Cabbage Beet Coleslaw

Roasted Beet Hummus

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 3.20"

It's hard to believe, but here we are at Week 10 of the CSA season, half way through! It surprises me every year when we hit these milestones. We hope you are enjoying your CSA experience.

This past week was something! I don't remember many years with severe storms coming so many days in a row. We managed to avoid any structural damage but we did have some rough looking crops by the end of the week. I'm happy to report that much of our corn that had been laid down by the winds has stood back up. By the end of the week we received a total of 5.8" of rain. Much less than some areas had, but more than we needed.

It made for some challenging harvesting last week and now we are starting to see some stress response in crops who aren't happy about having soggy roots for nearly a week. So far the biggest issue looks to be in our carrots (and a few of our dahlias) where stretches of plants are rotting in the ground. Hopefully that trend won't continue.

The challenging weather probably hastened the end of our summer squash plants. They were already failing due to insect pressures but being bashed about in the winds and deluged for 3 days didn't help matters. So here is your heads up, summer squash/zucchini season is ending soon, if you haven't yet, make that zucchini bread and try the zucchini quesadilla recipe before it's too late!

But, all is not lost! The tomatoes are finally ripening so everyone should get at least a little sampling of tomatoes this week. The peppers are also getting close and we anticipate starting to harvest them later this week. The fall transplants are filling out nicely and we'll probably start putting them in the ground in a couple of days. And the cover crops we sowed right before the rains are starting to come up! Woohoo! Covered soil is happy soil!

A little detail on your produce this week:

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 glass or plastic container 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: Cut off greens, leaving an inch of stem. Refrigerate the unwashed greens in a closed plastic bag and use with your chard mix as beets and chard are closely related. 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/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

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.

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.

Okra: These lovely, dark red, horn-shaped vegetables are a warm weather treat. Extremely cold sensitive, wrap with a dishcloth or paper towel and 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."

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. 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.

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)

BGF NEWS - July 16, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 7

In this week’s box:

Broccoli: heads or florets with edible leaves

Cabbage: Farao
Carrots: Rainbow Mix
Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Marketmore or Dragon

Eggplant: Orient Express, Purple Shine or Listada
Fennel: Preludio
Garlic: Northern White
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties
Summer Squash: Golden Glory, Patty Pan, Safari, Slik Pik, or Zephyr

and at least one of the following: (see **NOTE below)
Beans: Yellow & Green Mix
Cauliflower: Japanese
Cherry Tomatoes: Mix

Okra: Candle Fire and Bowling Red
Peas: Snow or Sugar Snap


Herb It! option: Sweet Basil, Garlic Chives, Pineapple Mint

and at least one of the following: (see **NOTE below)
Beans: Yellow & Green Mix
Cauliflower: Japanese

Eggplant: Orient Express
Peas: Snow or Sugar Snap


Herb It! option: Sweet Basil, Garlic Chives, Pineapple Mint

Featured Recipes:

Zucchini Quesadillas (we love to make the filling and freeze it!)

Cucumber Basil Salad

Cabbage, Fennel and Carrot Slaw

Pickled Carrots with Mint

Fennel Frond Pesto

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: Trace

We hope everyone got through last night's storms without serious issues. Luckily it was a non-event on the farm, with only some moderate breeze and no rain. The previous few days of hot weather were much more of a challenge. It's tough to keep crops, animals and crew happy and healthy in temperatures like that. There were lots of water and shade breaks for the crew and animals and a rotation of irrigation for the crops. 

Most things seemed to get through without too much issue. The exceptions so far have been the beans, which were still offended from the last heat wave and some of the summer squash. We can't really blame the heat for the squash though, our insect nemeses, cucumber beetles and squash vine borers  are the real cause of the plant die off, the heat was just the final blow for some of them. Never fear, they aren't all dead and we have another planting in a separate field, but they too will likely have a shorter season than we'd like. So celebrate it now and we'll send out summer squash as much as we can for as long as we can. The beans are just sulking as their pollen was sterilized from the heat and they are slow to rebloom. There are two more successions of beans coming along in the field so we expect many more beans in the coming weeks.

Yesterday, ahead of the forecast storm we pushed to get another round of trellising on the tomatoes, in hopes that more support would help them survive the winds. Luckily we missed the wind and now the plants are well supported and looking really good. The first fruits are just starting to ripen. So far there's just been a handful of cherry and mini romas that we are sending out today but there are more to come soon!

Besides keeping up with the tomato plants, watering and harvesting we were able to get more weeding and cultivating done this week. In general things are looking pretty good in the field. The local deer marauders found the edamame and my prized Purple Peruvian corn but hopefully we can keep the hungry beasts from finishing them off. Finally, we got another round of fall crops sown including chard, kale, beans, turnips, beets and daikon. A good week, despite the heat!

A little detail on your produce this week:

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 glass or plastic container 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.

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

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: 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.

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 & Onions: Fully cured garlic and onions don't require refrigeration. For longest storage, keep in a dark place with good airflow. Once cut, store in the refrigerator.

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!

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)

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

BGF NEWS - August 1, 2023 - VOL. 50, NO. 8

IN THIS WEEK’S BOX:

Basil: Sweet
Bean Mix: Empress (green) & Carson (yellow)
Cabbage: Ruby King

Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget

Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Lemon, Marketmore, Nokya or Sashimi 

Head Lettuce: asst var.
Jubilee Cherry Tomato Mix: see descriptions below

Leeks

Potatoes: Adirondack Red

Summer Squash: 8 Ball, Golden Glory, Patty Pan, Safari, Slik Pik, or Zephyr

Tomatoes: asst. see descriptions below

and perhaps one of the following:
Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

Herb It! option: Cardinal Basil, Thyme, Bronze Fennel

Bread Share: Loaded Blueberry Muffins

Jam It! option: Rhubarb Jam & Zinger Pear

Spice It Up! option: Chive Blossom Salt

Featured Recipes:

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Easy Pickled Red Cabbage

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Garlic and Leek Smashed Red Potatoes

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Precipitation in the past week: Trace

Last week wasn't anyone's favorite week of the summer. It was so hot that we sent the farm crew home early Wed, Thurs and Fri. We didn't get a whole lot done due to our short schedule, but people are more important that crops and timelines. We did manage to clear more spent crops and clean up some empty beds to get ready for fall transplanting. We also got the fall carrots cultivated and sowed fall beets and turnips. 

This week kicked off with much better temperatures so we "dug in" and got the first two varieties of potatoes harvested. We were very pleased with our yields so far, given how little rain we've had this season and we don't irrigate potatoes. We are sending out the first of the Adirondack Red potatoes in this week's delivery, freshly harvested! We hope you enjoy them!!

And now it's time to start talking about one of our favorite subjects of the season, TOMATOES! We are officially in the season so it's time for introductions. As you can see, we raise a variety of colors of tomatoes, so color isn't your best indication of ripeness, touch is. 

A ripe tomato should yield to a gentle squeeze of your fingertips. If it feels hard, it's probably not quite ripe. Just leave it out on your counter for a day or 2 and try again.

 

Here are the tomatoes that go into our "Jubilee Cherry Tomato Mix" also referred to as snacking tomatoes:

Black Cherry: Beautiful black cherry tomato with rich flavor.

Blush: yellow fruit with orange blush when fully ripe. Very low acid, meaty, and super sweet.

Bronze Torch: Green-striped red mini roma 

Glitter: Bite-sized orange mini roma

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

Honeydrop: sweet, fruity, yellow bite-sized tomatoes

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

Orange Paruche: 1" glowing orange globes that are sweet and flavorful.

Sunrise Bumblebee:  Bite sized swirls of red and orange, inside the fruit and out with a sweet, fruity taste, 

Sweetie: Bite-sized, sweet red cherry tomato

Tommy Toe: Large round red cherry with big tomato flavor

And now our slicing  tomatoes (all except Dark Star, Granadero & Marmalade are heirlooms):

Azoycha: Lemon-yellow medium-sized fruits with sweet, yet rich flavor.
Black Krim: Medium "black" tomato with big, high acid flavor.

Cosmonaut Volkov: medium-large red slicer with a full-rich flavor
Dark Star: Dark red/purple tomato with rich, tangy flavor.

Dr. Wychee Yellow: Large orange tomato with meaty, rich tasting flavor.
Granadero: Red plum tomato with thick-walled fruit; ideal for fresh tomato sauces, salsas, and salads
Green Zebra: Small, 2 1/2" olive yellow with green stripes and a sweet zingy flavor
John Baer: meaty red heirloom slicer
Mandarine Cross: golden-orange, Japanese tomato with a succulent, sweet/low acid flavor.

Marmalade: round, orange fruits with sweet tomato flavor
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
White Queen: Medium-sized, smooth white-skinned tomato with sweet, juicy flesh, low acid.
Wisconsin 55: A flavorful medium-sized variety that is juicy, firm and ideal for slicing, cooking, and salads

A little detail on your produce this week:

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.

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.

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: 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."

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 two 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.

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)