BGF NEWS - August 9, 2022 - VOL. XLVIII, NO. 10

In this week’s box:

Broccoli: Belstar or Imperial

Cabbage (Red): Omero

Carrots: Rainbow Mix

Cherry Tomatoes: Jubilee Mix (see description on 8/2)

Cucumber: Suyo Long, Armenian, Marketmore or Lemon
Head Lettuce: asst

Onions: Cipollini
Purslane

Summer Squash: asst.

Tomatoes-Slicers: asst. (see description on 8/2)

and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE after "A Little Detail..." below)
Beans: Provider (green) & Carson (yellow) Mix
Cantaloupe: Minnesota Midget
Cauliflower: Snow Crown or Song
Eggplant: Orient Express, Asian Delight or Listada de Gandia

Okra: Candle Fire and Burgundy

Herb It! option: sweet basil, curly parsley, pineapple mint
Bread Share: Honey Oat Dinner Rolls

Featured Recipes:
Roasted Red Cabbage

Healthy Broccoli Carrot Salad

Purslane, Tomato and Onion Salad

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.20" (where are my rain dancers?)

Welcome to delivery #10 and the halfway mark for the CSA season. It always amazes me when we hit this point, how can we be halfway through already? But here we are.

we're the blue dot

This past week we were officially declared to be in moderate drought in our area. It makes the lack of rain feel so much more alarming when that happens. But as I said above, here we are. We are running nearly non-stop irrigation lines during the daylight hours just trying to keep things alive and to try and germinate newly seeded crops, but all of our crops would really prefer some natural rain. We did get a couple of tenths of rain last week and it was just enough to be able to start the next round of transplanting for fall crops. So far we've planted head lettuce, choi, broccoli, cauliflower, napa cabbage, kale, chard and kohlrabi. We also seeded turnips, choi and komatsuna. There's still much more planting to do, but we really need another rain to make it happen.

We've also been harvesting several root crops including carrots, beets and 3/5 of the potato crop. You'll see some of the carrots in your boxes this week, the beets and potatoes will follow in the coming weeks.  

It was such a relief to see the potato crop coming out of the field. We don't irrigate our potatoes and I was really concerned that we weren't going to have a very good yield. In fact, my test digs of the different varieties were less than inspiring. So when that potato plow starting rolling out lots of nice potatoes, I nearly cried with relief!

The drought and the recent heat has been hard on our current crops. We are seeing lots of loss in our summer squash/zucchini crops and our cucumbers as well, so celebrate those crops while we have them because they likely won't be around for much longer. The lettuce is hanging in there and we are really trying to keep it on the delivery list every week, but we lost a lot of plants to the heat and we may have a week or two break before the next succession is harvestable. The winter squash plots are looking pretty rough and we are seeing quite a bit of die-off due to insects and drought. I think we might manage a small harvest, but it's questionable. These are all crops that are among the hardest to grow chemical-free due to the insect pressures, but we are committed to it, so there are always losses. Never fear, there are still lots of amazing crops to come. 

The tomatoes are really kicking in this week and everyone should see some in their box this week and I think next week we will have ripe sweet peppers heading out to you. We tasted our first watermelon this week and it was promising! Soon, we hope, very soon!

Crew Corner: Morgan

Hello friends, my name is Morgan McKay! This summer I had the opportunity to work with Jill and the crew. The skills and knowledge that I learned in my short time at Blue Gate is something that I am excited to carry with me as I plan to attend DMACC in the Fall of 2023 to receive my Horticulture certification. During my time at the farm, I was introduced to new ways of farming and a broader perspective of agriculture. The patience and teaching environment was a huge encouragement to me as a “rookie” horticulturist. One of my best memories on the farm was my first day on the job and it DOWNPOURED!!

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.

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 you soak broccoli or cauliflower in salt water before storing, it will become too rubbery and wilted to enjoy.)

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!

Carrots: These "mid-season" carrots are a little different than the candy-sweet gems of cool weather carrots. They are a little more strongly flavored, a little earthy. This makes them perfect for cooking and more complicated recipes, as some might not love them for fresh eating. Remove the leafy green tops, leaving about an inch of stems. Refrigerate dry, unwashed carrots in a plastic bag for two weeks or longer. Peel carrots or scrub carrots well with a stiff brush just before using. Trim off any green spots, which can taste bitter. When slicing or chopping carrots for cooking, be sure to make all the pieces relatively the same size; this will ensure an evenly cooked dish. Greens can be added to soup stock for flavor.

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.

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.

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 (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.
Green top onions/shallots: not the pencil-thin scallions, but nearly grown (though not-yet-cured) onions are an early summer treat. Keep sweet mild onions in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a week or two, but beware the fatal moisture accumulation that causes them to spoil. To prolong their storage, wrap in a paper or cloth towel before storing in plastic. Also, don't just toss the tops, several years ago a CSA member taught us a great recipe to use them! See recipe below.

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)

Sky, Wallace & Gromit