BGF NEWS - August 13, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 11

In this week’s box:

Beans: Yellow & Green Mix

Carrots: Rainbow Mix
Cherry Tomatoes: Jubilee Mix

Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Marketmore or Dragon

Eggplant: Orient Express, Purple Shine or Listada
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties
Onions: Red Carpet

Peppers: Asst. sweet (see descriptions below)

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

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

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

Herb It! option: Sweet Basil, Sage, Dill

Featured Recipes:

Roasted Ratatouille Pasta

Ginger Soy-glazed Green Beans & Peppers

Balsamic Tomato Salad **BGF Favorite!**

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.40"

I'm not sure how many times over the years I've started the newsletter with " what crazy weather we are having," but it's probably annoyingly often. This morning we taste-tested the first watermelon of the season and the whole crew was wearing flannel and jackets! That's just not normal, but I have to admit, it sure is nice for weather for working!

The cool temps are going to slow ripening on warm-weather crops like tomatoes and peppers but all of our greens are loving it! The summer squash decline continues at a rapid rate. We have cleared 3 of 4 beds with just about 1/3 of the last bed still surviving. Field cucumbers are also failing fast (they suffer the same pests and disease that fell the summer squash.) High tunnel cukes are still doing ok, though they are weirdly slow to produce. The cantaloupe, which are also related to squash and cucumbers, are a mixed bag. Our favorite Minnesota Midgets are really struggling between the bugs and the deer, but the larger Hannah's choice look pretty good. The watermelons (unrelated to the others) are doing well and as noted above, just about ready for harvesting.

Bed prep for fall crops continues. We made really good headway last week after we pulled the spent squash beds. Fall field transplants should planted this week if the weather will cooperate. We'll start sowing fall high tunnel crop transplants this week as well.

Tomato harvest is getting serious. 

I spent about 4 hours Sunday afternoon harvesting tomatoes ahead of the forecast rain. We had been dry enough for the past week that any rain was likely to split the nearly ripe tomatoes, so we had some quality time together. 

We harvested the first of the bell peppers this week. Peppers are always a bit of a slow start for us but now that they are finally rolling it's time to meet the sweet peppers. Here's what you can look forward to:

Ace- green to red bell, thin walled
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 

Islander- purple to reddish-orange bell

Red Knight-large, thick walled green to red bell
Snowball-Ivory to red bell

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.

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.

Garlic, Onions & Shallots: Fully cured bulbs don't require refrigeration. For longest storage, keep in a dark place with good airflow. Once cut, store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

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, 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."

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.

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. For 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)