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 30, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 9

In this week’s box:

Beans: Yellow & Green Mix

Collards

Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Marketmore or Dragon

Eggplant: Orient Express, Purple Shine or Listada
Fennel: Preludio
Garlic: Northern White
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties
Roselle

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

Turnips: Hakurei

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

Cauliflower: Japanese
Cherry Tomatoes: Mix

Okra: Candle Fire, Bowling Red and/or Okinawa Pink
Peas: Snow or Sugar Snap

Herb It! option: Sweet Basil, Rosemary & Thyme

Featured Recipes:

Crisp Fried Roselle Leaves

Green Beans with Fennel

Cajun Beans and Greens

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad (use roselle in place of arugula)

BGF Pesto **see recipe below**

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 2.85" (in the past 24 hrs)

Wow, that was quite a storm early Monday morning! We were thrilled to come up with just over an inch and a half of rain and negligible wind damage. Just a few miles to the northwest of us they had over 4" and to the east there was some tree damage from the winds, so we are very pleased. 

Corn down!

The only damage we had was our Peruvian Purple Corn was blown down, but I'm hoping it will stand back up given the opportunity. 

And now we've gotten another 1.25" of rain on Tuesday morning! These were a powerful pair of storms so we are pleased to report no serious damage so far besides more corn and sunflowers down and the loss of a young apple tree :(

Dry, dry, dry!

The soil moisture before the rain was really low and we had spent quite a bit of time last week getting the missing sections of irrigations lines run. Since then, we had been running the irrigation daily to make it around to all the plots. Sunday I tilled down some empty beds and the soil was literally dust dry! After tilling I sowed some cover crop seed in hopes that we might get enough rain for it to germinate. BINGO! The timing couldn't have been better!

We did take the opportunity to get lots of cultivating done during last week's dry conditions. Somehow even when it seems like the soil is too dry for anything to grow, the weeds find a way! We also got some more fall crops sown including the final sowing of carrots. It takes lots of irrigation water to get those tiny seeds to germinate in dry soil, so the rain was extra helpful for them!

Our roselle crop is looking really good and we are excited to send it out in this week's delivery. For those of you unfamiliar, it is an edible member of the hibiscus family and the leaves have a tart, lemony flavor. It is delicious added to pesto and in combination with other greens. I really like it added to (or instead of) lettuce on my sandwiches. Give it a try and see what you think. Here's a concise page about roselle greens and their uses: Roselle.

We started picking the very first of the slicing tomatoes this week and will be sending them out in just a few boxes this week. So it's time to meet the rest of the 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.

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 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.

Roselle: Store in a cloth or paper-lined plastic bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator and use within a week.

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.

Turnips: keep best if separated from their greens. Greens are stored in a plastic bag and can be cooked like mustard or collard greens (you can add them in with your Braising Greens Mix). 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)

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), Roselle, Purslane or Sorrel or any combo of them
½ c. Olive oil
6-10 oz fresh tomatoes,
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 or other greens, 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. If storing longer, 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 a little, just break off the amount needed and return the rest to the freezer.

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.

BGF NEWS - July 23, 2024 - VOL. 52, NO. 8

In this week’s box:

Basil: Sweet

Beans: Yellow & Green Mix

Broccoli: heads or florets with edible leaves

Cucumbers: Corinto, Generally, Marketmore or Dragon

Choi

Green-top Onions
Head Lettuce, assorted varieties

Purslane

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

and perhaps one of the following: (see **NOTE below)
Cauliflower: Japanese
Cherry Tomatoes: Mix

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


Herb It! option: Thai Basil, Par-cel, Sorrel

Featured Recipes:

Summer Squash Pizza

Purslane Pesto

Sesame Bok Choy

Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli with Tahini Basil Sauce

(use purslane in place of spinach in recipe)

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

Despite the fact that we missed all the area rains in the past 2 weeks, we have definitely been loving the temperatures! It's been a welcome break from the heat for the crew and the animals, even the beans have been celebrating by getting back into production!

With the dry weather we've been clearing a lot of spent crops and cultivating beds to try and stay ahead of the weeds. We've gotten caught up on our fall crop seeding for now, though we have to run the irrigation to get the seeds to germinate. Earlier in the season we were so wet that some of our irrigation lines were never installed in our El Sur and El Norte fields. At that time we didn't need them and other tasks were higher priority. This week has brought home the need for those lines, so irrigation work is at the top of the list for later this week.

And now it's time to start talking about the most important subject, TOMATOES! We are finally at the start of the season so it's time for the official introductions. The smaller varieties tend to ripen first so we're starting with those, even though we won't have enough for everyone this week. Slicing tomatoes are coming, but we are probably at least two weeks out from our first harvest. 

 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.

Blush Cross: Three assorted seeding crosses of Blush and Juliet.

Bronze Torch: Green-striped red mini roma 

Chadwick Cherry: 1 oz red cherry with delicious, sweet flavor

Citrine: A bright orange bite-sized cherry with a rich, balanced flavor

Favorita: 1" red cherry with big tomato flavor

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

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

Sweetie: Bite-sized, sweet red cherry tomato

We're also sending out the first of the green-top onions this week. Unfortunately we got our onions planted really late this spring so they haven't sized up like we would normally expect by this time of the season, but small as they are, they are still tasty so we hope you enjoy them...and we hope that we can get them to grow some more!

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.

Green-top onions: As you might note from their name, these are young, freshly pulled, uncured onions. They can be used as you would any onion, the difference is in the storage. Since they don't have a layer of dried skin to protect them, please store in a sealed bag or container in your refrigerator and plan to use within 2 weeks. As long as the greens are still fresh, you can use them like scallions.

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, 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."

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.

Purslane: Considered an invasive weed in many gardens, purslane is a valued green in many parts of the world. The plant is rich in vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene, and quite high in protein.  Most noteworthy of all, it is considered a better source of essential omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant.  Enjoy raw or cooked in any recipe calling for greens.   We particularly like it in salads, cooked with eggs and as a lettuce replacement in tacos. Store in a paper towel-lined plastic bag in your crisper drawer and use within a week.

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 - September 5, 2023 - VOL. 50, NO. 13

IN THIS WEEK’S BOX:

Basil: Genovese and/or Large Leaf

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

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

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

Peppers: Sweet, see 8/15 newsletter for descriptions

Potatoes: Carola

Roselle: leaves & calyxes 

Shallots: Ambition (tan) and/or Prisma (red)

Tomatoes: see 8/1 for descriptions. 

and perhaps one of the following:
Broccoli Florets

Okra: Bowling Red & Candle Fire

Herb It! option: Nunum Basil, Lemon Balm, Stevia

Jam It! option: Tart Cherry Jam & Golden Fire Pepper

Spice It Up! Option: Rosemary-Meyer Lemon Salt

Bread Share: Apple Bread

Featured Recipes:

Quick Pickled Green Beans

How to Quick Pickle Any Vegetable

Mizeria (Cucumbers in Sour Cream)

Roselle Pesto

Hibiscus (Roselle) Tea

Grilled Potatoes and Green Beans

BGF Pesto **see below

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?
Precipitation in the past week: 0.00"

Happy September from the farm! Clearly August is having a tough time exiting gracefully but it sounds like the temperatures are supposed to drop a bit later this week. We are certainly ready for it...and rain, please, please rain! 

Despite the inhospitable conditions, we have continued to put fall transplants in the ground and sow fall seeds. The transplants are a bit grouchy with the conditions and we are struggling to get enough irrigation water on the seeded crops for them to germinate, but it is starting to happen. 

And as long as we can pull it through the current heat wave, we will hopefully be back to harvesting head lettuce next week. This is definitely a hello and goodbye time of the year. Hello to roselle and a fond farewell to summer squash and cucumbers. I think we'll get one more week of eggplant and okra, then they too will be done for the season.

We spent the past week trying to stay ahead of the tomato harvest and irrigation needs. We cleared more spent beds, planted Beijing Express greens and head lettuce but most of our "other" time was taken up by the popcorn harvest! 

This is the earliest we've ever harvested popcorn but it was so dry in the field that the ears were starting to drop on the ground, so the time is now! At this point we are about 80% done and so far it looks really good, despite 2 hail storms, severe drought and no irrigation. We won't know for sure until it is fully dried and shelled, but right now it looks like a record breaking popcorn crop!

Now back to the roselle. We are excited to send it out in this week's delivery. For those of you unfamiliar, it is an edible member of the hibiscus family and the leaves have a tart, lemony flavor. It is delicious added to pesto and in combination with other greens. I really like it added to (or instead of) lettuce on my sandwiches. Give it a try and see what you think. Here's a concise page about roselle greens and their uses: Roselle. We are including the calyxs of the roselle as well. This is a favorite ingredient in Asian, Carribean and African countries. It's largely used dried for making both hot teas and refreshing chilled beverages but we like it chopped up and added to salads and sweets as well. Be sure to remove the white seed pod from the inside and only eat the tender red parts.

Upcoming Dates to Note:

Tues, Oct. 24: Final CSA delivery

Sat, Oct. 28: Final Saturday VegEmail delivery

Tues, Nov. 7: Fall VegEmail schedule begins, delivery every 2 weeks.

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.

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.

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.

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 a few places to allow steam to escape.

Roselle: Store in a cloth or paper-lined plastic bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator and use within a week.

Shallots: A "high-brow" member of the onion family, shallots have a smooth, rich onion-y flavor that is perfect with egg, vegetable and salad dressing recipes. Cured shallots are stored like a cured onion or garlic (at cool room temp) for many months.  Once you cut into a shallot bulb, store the remainder in a sealed container in the fridge.

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)

BGF Pesto

2 Tbs Sunflower seeds-toasted (can substitute pine nuts)

2 cloves Garlic ( or garlic scapes, garlic lovers can add more)

2 c. Basil (any variety, a mix is particularly nice)

½ c. Sorrel or Roselle (optional)

½ c. Olive oil

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)

1 medium ripe tomato

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, Parmesan cheese, tomato and salt if desired.

Pesto should be stored for a week or less in the refrigerator in a sealed container.  If storing longer, 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 a little, just break off the amount needed and return the rest to the freezer.