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 - June 11, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 2

In this week’s box:

Choi-Beijing Express
Daikon
Garlic Scapes (the green, curly things)
Golden Oyster Mushrooms
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties
Lemon Balm
Peas- Snow or Sugar Snap

Swiss "Cheese" Chard
Tapestry Popcorn

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

Herb It! option: will start in a few weeks as the annual herbs mature

Featured Recipes:  

Napa Cabbage & Mushrooms (use Beijing Express & oysters)

Garlic Scape Refrigerator Pickles

Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon 

The Great Chard E'Scape **see recipe below**

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

It's been a week of progress on the farm! 

I feel like we touched every inch of crop soil that is under cultivation this year.  On Wednesday the crew cleared the big high tunnel of early season crops and replanted to warm weather crops like cucumbers, basil, peppers and celery. 

We also got the last of more than 400 dahlia tubers planted, plus sowed more beans, edamame and fennel. After that we grabbed our cultivating tools and hit all the planted fields. Thousands of weeds were evicted from the crop ground (insert villainous laugh here). We finally look more like a vegetable farm again and less of a weed farm. We even managed to get the potatoes hilled twice.

Hopefully we will get at least one more hilling before they get too tall. Speaking of potatoes, we've also been scouting the potato plot every few days for the dreaded potato beetle larva, and boy, have we found them! This is about the worst that we've had them in recent years. Since we are chemical-free, the way we manage them is to pick them off by hand and drop them into soapy water. We have about 3,500 row feet of potatoes, so it takes some time to inspect every plant, but it's worth it!

Gross, nasty things!

They ate every leaf off this plant

We managed to miss all the rain last week, which is how we were able to get so much field work done, but it also means we had to start irrigating our crops. We only have part of the system in, since we hadn't needed it earlier, and the unirrigated crops are getting jealous and threatening a walk out. So we'll spend some time later this week getting the rest of the lines run and giving everyone a good soak. Maybe we'll also get lucky and it will rain!

A couple of notes about things in your box this week. You may have noticed in the box contents list above that we included Swiss" Cheese" Chard. No, it isn't an actual cheesy vegetable, our chard plants were damaged in a hail storm earlier this season. The leaves are perfectly good, they just have cosmetic damage (hail holes) so we hated to just compost them so we decided to send them out and hope you can forgive their "holiness". 

On a more fun note, we are also sending out popcorn this week. This is the first time we've included our Tapestry Popcorn in the CSA delivery, but we had a record-breaking harvest last fall and wanted to share the bounty. It's been in cold storage all this time, so it pops beautifully. It's one of our favorite crops (and treats) and we hope you enjoy it! 

And finally we are sending out the first of the broccoli and cauliflower in some boxes this week. The early season weather was hard on the plants and they are heading out while the plants are still too small. This means the heads are also small, especially on the broccoli. Never fear, there should be more to come.  We grow a variety of cauliflower that may be unfamiliar to some of you, it's a Japanese variety and it's form is more open than traditional cauliflower, making it a cinch to cut into small florets. It's also extra tender and sweeter than other varieties. We love it and hope you do too!

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.

Daikon: Trim the tops and roots. Peel if you like (though not necessary). Daikon will last up to 2 weeks stored in the fridge in plastic bag or wrapped in damp towel in fridge. 

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.

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.

Oyster Mushrooms: To maximize the shelf life of raw mushrooms, refrigerate them in a paper bag; do not wrap in plastic or store in airtight container, as this will speed spoilage. Properly stored, raw whole mushrooms will usually keep well for 4 to 7 days in the fridge. To use, trim off the stems as they are tough and either discard them or save to make a vegetable stock. Please be sure to cook all mushrooms before consuming.

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.

Popcorn: Good for microwave, stovetop or air popper (stovetop is our favorite). Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-6 months or in the freezer for up to a year.


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)






The Great Chard E’Scape
1 big bunch Swiss chard
1 tbs olive oil
5-6 fresh garlic scapes (or more to taste) or 1-3 cloves minced garlic
Sea salt
Optional: Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Cut garlic scapes into bite-sized pieces. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic scapes. Trim large stems from chard leaves. Cut stems into 1” pieces. Add stems to skillet. Stack chard leaves and roll into a tube. Cut into ½” strips. As scapes and stems just begin to soften, add leaves to skillet. Cook until leaves wilt. Sprinkle with salt to taste. A little shake of seasoned rice vinegar over the top is very tasty!

Great served over pasta with red sauce or as a side dish. Leftovers are tasty in eggs the next day.

Recipe Source: Blue Gate Farm

BGF NEWS - August 22, 2023 - VOL. 50, NO. 11

IN THIS WEEK’S BOX:

Basil: Sweet

Bean Mix: Empress (green) & Carson (yellow)

Carrots: Rainbow Mix

Chard: Rainbow

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

Eggplant: Orient Express, Asian Delight and/or Listada

Jubilee Cherry Tomato Mix: see 8/1 newsletter for descriptions

Peppers: Sweet, see 8/15 newsletter for descriptions

Scallions

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

Tomatoes: see 8/1 newsletter for descriptions

 

and perhaps one of the following:
Cantaloupe: Hannah's Choice

Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

Watermelon: Sugar Baby (red) or Early Moonbeam (yellow)

Herb It! option: Purple basil, garlic chives, lovage

Bread Share: 7-Grain

Featured Recipes:

Simple Garlic Basil Carrots

Ginger Soy Glazed Beans and Peppers

Easy Panzanella Salad

Roasted Ratatouille Pasta

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's HOT on the farm this week...and all over the Midwest. Our recent temperatures coming into this week have been so pleasant that it rather ruined us for 90°-100° weather. Ah well, it is late August and as of the end of this month, the average temperatures do start to drop, so there's hope! The fall crops that we've been working so hard to get planted would really appreciate some cooler temps, as would the other crops, crew,  animals, farmers and everyone else, I'm sure. We are back to our irrigation rotation for sure and just trying to keep everyone alive out here.

The heat will probably be the death knell for some of the crops that were already slowing down like cucumbers and summer squash. While we're sad to see them go, they have stuck around longer this season than they do many years, so we appreciate that. The current crop of lettuce is definitely offended by the weather and has been added to the "clear it" list of crops along with the early turnips. The early bean crop is done and was cleared last week, but the later successions are going strong for now. 

We made an early morning push to get all the carrots and beets harvested over the past few days to be sure they would be tucked happily in the cooler for the hottest weather.

The new crop of cantaloupe is sadly failing fast. There are just too many stresses on it right now, but the watermelon is going crazy! 

All the sudden they are ALL ripening at the same time! We'll do what we can to get them out to you as soon as possible, but it is a bit of a logistical challenge moving nearly 50 watermelons to our pick-ups along with the CSA boxes. Time to roll out the cargo van again!

The one thing that is LOVING this heat is the popcorn! Most of the ears were done filling, so it's growing season is done and now we move to drying time and this is the weather for it! I swear you can almost see the husks turning brown. Looks like it will be an early popcorn harvest this year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Watermelon: Handle watermelons carefully. When harvested at their peak ripeness, they can crack or split easily if bumped or roughly handled. Refrigerate watermelons right away. (Watermelons do not ripen off the vine and do not emanate a ripe smell.) Cut melon should be covered in plastic wrap, chunks or slices should be kept in an airtight container, and both should be refrigerated. Eat all melons within a week.

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)

BGF NEWS - June 13, 2023 - VOL. 50, NO. 2

In this week’s box:

Beijing Express
Chard

Collards

Garlic Scapes (the green, curly things)
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties

Lemon Balm

Scallions

and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE after "A Little Detail..." below)
Cauliflower: Song (Japanese cauliflower)
Snap Peas
Snow Peas

the first few broccoli and baby summer squashes might also make an appearance in a couple of boxes this week.

Herb It! option: will start in a few weeks as the annual herbs mature
Bread Share: 7-Grain Bread

Featured Recipes:
Garlic Scape and Mess-o-Greens Pesto

Garlic Scape & Lemon Balm Pesto

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Chard Wrapped Grilled Mozzarella (a BGF favorite!)
Grilled Scallions *see recipe below (a BGF favorite!)


What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.15"

While Kermit the Frog would tell you that it's not easy being green, your farmer will tell you that at this time of the season it's very easy, in fact almost everything we are harvesting right now is green. Leafy greens, green onions, green peas, green garlic, green...green...green!

That's just the way it goes eating seasonally in the spring. I personally LOVE greens but not everyone is my household does so we try to find easy ways to use lots of them. Salads are a cinch, but what about greens that are better cooked? My go-to response is "saute them in garlic and olive oil. We also add lots of them to eggs and pasta, or use them in place of lettuce on a sandwich, sliced finely and added to chicken or egg salad. They are tasty on tacos or in burritos and we always use them as the base when we serve beans and rice! And there is always pesto! 

The Beijing Express we are sending out today is a favorite new green (both with us and the bugs!). Technically a choi it makes a great replacement for romaine lettuce in salads. A big, beautiful, deep green, upright variety with sweet, tender choi flavor. Delicious raw in salads, added to smoothies or cooked in any of your favorite greens recipes. Check out a couple of the linked recipes for some detailed inspiration there. And I promise, there are lots of great things to come, in addition to the greens.

Cauliflower is making it's first appearance this week in some of the boxes. This earliest variety is our favorite and it's a little different than your typical grocery store version. "Song" cauliflower is from Japan and it's a little sweeter and more tender than others. It's form is more open and it's much easier to cut apart into florets. And don't automatically compost the stem, many times it's tender enough to enjoy sliced along with the "curds." We're pretty excited about our Japanese scallion variety too. It was a discovery last year and we think they are amazing!

We were SO hopeful about last week's rain chances, and it did indeed rain on the farm, but it didn't last long and didn't add up to much. May and June are supposed to be the rainiest months, but it just isn't happening for us. We are trying to till as little as possible right now to conserve as much soil moisture as we can. The conditions are perfect for cultivating so our weed pressure is probably the lowest it's ever been. Hooray!! The irrigation system is the only thing keeping many crops alive right now. We don't typically irrigate our winter squash but the seed has been in the ground for nearly a month and there has been little germination due to the lack of moisture, so we may have to add some drip lines if we don't get rain by the end of the week.

Besides cultivating, we started clearing some spent spring crops this week. It was frustrating to pull out crops that hadn't been fully harvested (or harvested at all) but they had sped from "not yet ready" to past "harvestable" before we had a chance to use them. Sometimes, when conditions are challenging, that's just the way it goes. So, see you in the fall, Arugula and Vivid Choi!

But again, not all is gloom and doom! The main pea plantings are going gangbusters which is exciting because we love peas and they are also adding nitrogen to the soil for us. The cabbages are starting to head and look really good and the summer squashes and early cucumbers are setting fruits. There are SO many good things to come!

Finally, Farmyard Fancies still has openings for Bread Share! Cost is $120 (if paid with cash or check) or $125 (if paid with PayPal. Please email Angie at (farmyardfancies@gmail.com) to sign up . If you need one more temptation, Angie will be sampling bread in DM at today's delivery.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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)

Grilled Scallions with Sesame Oil

Serves 2

8 scallions, greens trimmed to 5 inches, cut in half lengthwise

toasted sesame oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the broiler or lightly oiled grill to medium-high heat. Arrange the scallions on a shallow baking sheet or aluminum foil.

Use a pastry brush to coat the scallions with a thin layer of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper. Broil or grill until golden

brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes.

Recipe Source: “The Real Dirt on Farmer John Cookbook”

BGF NEWS - August 30, 2022 - VOL. XLVIII, NO. 13

In this week’s box:

Basil: Sweet

Chard: Rainbow Mix

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

Shallots: Ambition (tan) &/or Camelot (purple)

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

Baby Turnips: Hakurei

and at least one of the following: 
Beans: Provider (green) & Carson (yellow) Mix

Broccoli Florets

Cantaloupe: Hannah's Choice or Minnesota Midget
Cauliflower: Snow Crown or Song
Eggplant: Orient Express, Asian Delight or Listada de Gandia
Okra: Candle Fire and Burgundy

Watermelon: Cream of Saskatchewan 

Herb It! option: lemon basil, garlic chives, bronze fennel
Bread Share: Italian Herb

Featured Recipes:  

Roasted Baby Turnips with Dijon Shallot Vinaigrette

Chard with Caramelized Shallots

Penne with Peppers, Fresh Tomato and Basil

BGF Pesto **see below**

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.1" (ugh!)

While we were again very pleased to miss the hail that fell around central Iowa this week, we were very disappointed to also miss almost all of the rain. We did have a couple of brief showers, but it didn't add up to much of anything so we are continuing to irrigate on a daily basis. The drought and decreasing daylight hours are really starting to affect our midseason crops, tomato and eggplant ripening has slowed way down, melons are pretty much done. Peppers are also slowing a bit, but not nearly as much as the others. We had planned to do our annual "Salsa Box" this week, but I wasn't confident that we would have enough tomatoes to really do it justice, so we are postponing it for a week in hopes of greater tomato volume. 

We spent much of the past week taking advantage of our dry conditions and catching up on weeding and cultivating many of the crops on the farm. We continue to clear spent crops like early plantings of kale and lettuce plus melons and replace them with cool weather crops like Purple Peacock, head lettuce, komatsuna, misome, and more arugula. 

We also renovated the spent cucumber bed in the big high tunnel and planted kale and Napa Cabbage. These are crops that we will harvest throughout the winter.

Speaking of crops that are finishing up, we're not there yet, but basil season will be coming to an end in the next month. This is your heads up that now is the time to take advantage of bounteous basil and make a couple batches of pesto to freeze for winter use. Believe me, you will thank yourself for it in January! Our favorite pesto recipe is at the end of the newsletter, including our preferred way to freeze it.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

Shallots: the grown-up cousins of onions, shallots have a rich flavor that really shines in soups, sauces, salad dressings and egg dishes. Store like onions in a cool, dark place with good air circulation.

Tomatoes: always store whole tomatoes at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Once cut, store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

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.

Watermelon: Handle watermelons carefully. When harvested at their peak ripeness, they can crack or split easily if bumped or roughly handled. Refrigerate watermelons right away. (Watermelons do not ripen off the vine and do not emanate a ripe smell.) Cut melon should be covered in plastic wrap, chunks or slices should be kept in an airtight container, and both should be refrigerated. Eat all melons within a week.

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

Blue Gate Farm Pesto

2 Tbs Sunflower seeds-toasted (can substitute pine nuts)
2 cloves Garlic (garlic lovers can add more) green garlic or garlic scapes are also good.
2 c. Basil (any variety, a mix is particularly nice)
1-2 leaves Sorrel (optional)
½ c. Olive oil
1 medium tomato
1 tsp Salt (if using pre-salted sunflower seeds, can reduce salt amount)
½ c. Parmesan cheese, fresh grated (not the stuff in the can)

Place sunflower seeds and garlic into food processor then pulse several times. Add basil and sorrel, drizzle with half of oil. Pulse several times. Add remaining oil, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and salt if desired.

Pesto should be stored for a week or less in the refrigerator in a sealed container. 

 For longer storage, freeze in snack-sized, zip-top bags (about 1 1/2 TBS per bag), pressed flat. Once frozen, they can be stored upright in a larger plastic bag. To use, just break off the amount needed and return the rest to the freezer. Even if you are using the full bag, it is much easier to remove from the bag if you do so while it is still frozen.

Also, if we are making a large batch for the freezer, for best quality, we omit the cheese and seeds. Freeze as is and then add those items in when we are ready to use.