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 22, 2021 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 4

In this week’s box:

Basil tips, asst varieties

Chard, large bunched leaves with colorful stems

Garlic Scapes, curly green bundle

Head Lettuce, assorted varieties

Komatsuna: bundle of dark green, spoon-shaped leaves

Oregano

Purslane: bundle of succulent green leaves with reddish stems.

Snow Peas

 and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE  after "A Little Detail..." below)

Broccoli:(Gypsy) small, early heads

Sugar Snap Peas

Summer Squash:  8 Ball (green,round) or Patty Pan(scalloped white, green or yellow)

 For those with the Herb option: Herb share will begin next week!!

Featured Recipes:  

Komatsuna with Basil

Garlic Scape and Basil Vinaigrette

Purslane Salad with Yogurt Dressing

BGF Confetti Pasta *see recipe below

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 2.6 glorious inches!

Finally after weeks of complaining about the lack of rain, my rant has ended! This weekend we got two separate rains totaling more than two and a half inches of liquid gold! Both times we were right on the edge of severe weather that could have wreaked havoc on the farm, but all we saw was a quick dose of pea-sized hail on Friday. Thanking our lucky stars! So now I'm feeling a bit better about the crops but the weather craziness does continue to make me shake my head. Within the past month, we've had record cold temps, record hot temps,  unseasonably dry conditions and now after a stretch of extra warm weather for June, we are back to unseasonably cool temperatures tonight. We were forecast to get down to 49°, which is cold enough to affect cucumbers and basil and to at least make peppers and tomatoes a bit uncomfortable. I have to admit, those of us who make their living based on the soil and weather are having a challenging growing season.

But it's not all worrying! This is probably the best season for peas that we've ever had and the head lettuce coming out of the fields is beautiful. And I promise there are things other than greens that will be appearing in your boxes soon! In fact, the first of the summer squashes are heading out in today's delivery. It is just a few to begin with, but they are the harbinger of the mid-season crops and we're always thrilled to see them! The basil is growing nicely and needed to be pinched back to encourage future stems, so you are getting a wee taste of them today to whet your pallet for more. We spotted the first of the cabbages starting to head up today and the potatoes are blooming, which lets us know that there are baby potatoes underground. Peppers are setting fruits in the high tunnels and in the field and we even saw a few green tomatoes today while we were pruning the plants in preparation for  trellising later this week.

Pruning tomatoes

'Farao' cabbages

Potato blossoms

Crew Corner: Hannah

I count it a privilege to have worked on Blue Gate Farm for six years in the employ of an AMAZING BOSS!  I am also very blessed to have my sisters work by my side.  Their upbeat attitudes, laughter, and encouragement can pull anyone through a rough day! 

Through the years I’ve worked here, I have been discouraged to see a vegetable crop fail since I witness first-hand all the effort it takes to get the plants to produce.  I have learned to take it in stride.  Often, with little change on our part, that same vegetable thrives in production in subsequent years.

 One of my favorite things to do each week is pack CSA boxes.  I love the sight of all those nourishing vegetables neatly origami’d inside their boxes. Thank you, CSA members, for your ongoing support - which makes this job a reality!    

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.

Broccoli: Wrap broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator for up to a week. Immediately before cooking, soak broccoli, 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 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.

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: This succulent plant is a valued green in many parts of the world, though here in the US, it is mostly known as an invasive weed. It 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, it is also ideal for juicing and green smoothies. Makes a terrific replacement for lettuce on tacos. Store in a paper towel (or cloth)-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.

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. Large leaf greens can benefit by being wrapped in a linen or cotton towel inside the bag if excess moisture is a concern.

** 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)

Indigo, Luci & Sky

Blue Gate Farm Confetti Pasta

1 lb pasta (we like penne rigate, or other bite-sized hardy pasta)
1 bunch swiss chard leaves, washed (can substitute most greens)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs minced garlic or garlic scapes (more or less to taste)
Pasta sauce (we like a simple red sauce with garlic and herb with this recipe)
Feta Cheese, crumbled (can substitute with Parmesan)
 
Cook pasta to package instructions or to taste. As pasta is cooking, start warming sauce. Remove large stems from chard and slice crosswise into small pieces. Cut leaves into thin strips, chiffonade-style (stack leaves and roll into a tight roll, then cut crossways into thin strips.) Pour olive oil into a skillet and heat over medium-high, add garlic and sauté until slightly softened, being careful not to allow garlic to brown. Add stems first, cook for about 1 minute, then add greens and sauté lightly, ensuring that garlic is distributed throughout leaves (2-3 minutes.) Remove from heat and cover to retain warmth.
 
When pasta is ready, assemble in a serving bowl or in individual pasta bowls. Place pasta in bowl, sprinkle with garlic and greens mixture and top with red sauce, garnishing with feta cheese (if using a serving bowl, you can toss all ingredients together.)
 
This recipe is also good topped or tossed with grilled or herb-roasted chicken or a medium spice sausage.

Beets: Ace (red) and/or Chioggia (red/white striped) Cabbage: Golden Acre Green Garlic Head Lettuce: assorted varieties Oregano Purslane Summer Squash: 8 Ball (green,round), Golden Glory (bright yellow zucchini), Patty Pan(scalloped white, green or yellow), Slik Pik (thin, yellow) or Zephyr (green & yellow) and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE after "A Little Detail...) Beans: Empress Broccoli: Gypsy Cauliflower: Goodman Snap or Snow Peas For those with the Egg option [Full & Half shares]: one dozen free-range eggs For those with the Herb option: Sweet basil, chives & parsley Featured Recipes: Cabbage Steaks Cabbage Beet Coleslaw Beet & Purslane Salad Grilled Squash with Oregano

BGF NEWS - JUNE 30, 2020 - VOL. XLV, NO. 5

In this week’s box:

Beets: Ace (red) and/or Chioggia (red/white striped)
Cabbage: Golden Acre

Green Garlic

Head Lettuce: assorted varieties

Oregano
Purslane
Summer Squash: 8 Ball (green,round), Golden Glory (bright yellow zucchini),  Patty Pan(scalloped white, green or yellow), Slik Pik (thin, yellow) or Zephyr (green & yellow)

and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE  after "A Little Detail...)     
Beans: Empress

Broccoli: Gypsy
Cauliflower: Goodman

Snap or Snow Peas

For those with the Egg option [Full & Half shares]: one dozen free-range eggs

For those with the Herb option: Sweet basil, chives & parsley

Featured Recipes:  

Cabbage Steaks

Cabbage Beet Coleslaw
Beet & Purslane Salad
Grilled Squash with Oregano

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.70"

In the world of vegetable farming, the gold standard is 1" of rain a week. These past few weeks we have been hitting pretty close to that and the growth in the fields shows it! Plants can double in size in a week and it seems like some are doing that very thing right now. The early crops are finishing up but the mid-season crops are really coming into their own, both in size and in flowering/fruiting.  

First cauliflower of the season

We harvested the very first of the beans this week and the cabbage and cauliflower suddenly put on so much growth that we needed to start harvesting them. So, lucky you, cabbage again this week, though European this time. The basil finally got big enough that we are starting weekly deliveries of Herb Share to those who signed up for it. Those folks will get basil every week (different varieties) and next week everyone else will start getting basil every other week.

We are seeing nice fruit set on the peppers and tomatoes as well as on the melons and winter squash. We were pretty aggressive with the summer squash last week so this week it took a bit of a break. We anticipate it being back in fine form next week.

Juliet tomatoes setting nice fruits

Baby watermelons are ridiculously cute

Our focus this week included more cultivating (surprise!), installing our pole bean trellis, hilling potatoes and chasing deer out of the high tunnel! But our biggest task was getting all the posts in place for our tomato trellising. The process includes placing and pounding in about 300 posts.  Then each of the 500+ tomato plants are pruned and afterwards, twine is woven through the plants and around the posts. Additional lines are added as the tomatoes grow. It isn't anyone's favorite job, but luckily it only happens once a year. As of Monday, all of the posts are in and half of the tomatoes are pruned and trellised with 2 lines. We hope to have it all completed by this Friday.

We do try to have a little fun with this annual chore!

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 or clamshell, 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.

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 broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator for up to a week. Immediately before cooking, soak broccoli, 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 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. Our favorite way to eat raw cabbage is as a "walking salad" which is to simply spread peanut butter over a leaf of cabbage, sprinkle with your favorite dried fruit, roll it up into a tube and enjoy. This is a kid-pleaser for sure!

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 loosely wrapped in the refrigerator for best keeping quality.

Peas: best kept in a plastic bag or glass container in your refrigerator. Use within a week.

Purslane: This succulent plant is a valued green in many parts of the world, though here in the US, it is mostly known as an invasive weed. It 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, it is also ideal for juicing and green smoothies. Makes a terrific replacement for lettuce on tacos and tastes great cooked with eggs. Store in a paper towel (or cloth)-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!

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 and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences and questions with other BGF members at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Luci, Indigo & Sky)

Indigo, Luci & Sky

BGF News - June 25, 2019-Vol. XLII, No.4

BGF News - June 25, 2019-Vol. XLII, No.4

In this week’s box:

Amaranth: bunched greens with bright green leaves, remove stems to use.
Chard: Bright Lights mix
Green Garlic

Kale: asst. varieties

Lettuce: bouquet or assorted heads

Oregano

Spring Turnips: Hakurei

and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE  after "A Little Detail..." below)     

Snow Peas: Oregon Giant

For those with the Egg option [Full shares only]: one dozen free-range eggs (asst. colors)

For those with the Herb option: Herb share will begin next week

Featured Recipes:  ** indicates a BGF favorite 

Braised Turnips and Greens **

Green Garlic Salt **

Beans and Greens **

Garlic Oregano Butter

What’s up on the farm?

Baby spaghetti squash

Precipitation in the past week: 3.05"

We finally got our rain! Rather a lot of rain, but not so much as some other places so we aren't complaining and the crops and farmers are much relieved! All of the crops we listed as newly seeded last week are now germinating including the first few shoots in our "try-it-again" potato bed.

newly germinated pole bean

We also added some new plantings including more tomatoes in the high tunnels and new transplant sowings of New Zealand spinach, head lettuce and fall cabbages and fennel. We aren't dry enough to do any cultivating yet this week, but we did start hand weeding the shallots, leeks and onion crops that were getting buried in lush green grasses.

Hakurei turnips

You will notice a bounty of greens in your boxes this week, along with our favorite spring turnips. If you haven't enjoyed turnips in the past, we hope you will at least give these a try before giving them away to the neighbors. These aren't your grandma's turnips, which tended to be big and strong-flavored. These are Japanese salad turnips, developed to be enjoyed raw, though they work perfectly in cooked dishes as well. We like them straight out of the field, eaten like an apple.

We promise that there are more crops coming besides greens! It looks likely that the very first summer squashes and cucumbers may be ready next week. They will likely start with a trickle, but we hope to be sending out good, heavy boxes soon! 

Just a reminder, you can request a 12pk of  recycled, regular size canning jar lids . They have been washed and are ready for reuse in your fridge, pantry or craft room. 

A little detail on your produce this week:

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 loosely wrapped in the refrigerator for best keeping quality.

Head Lettuce

: We prefer to store heads wrapped in a cotton or linen dish towel, then placed in a plastic bag. This helps maintain a little bit of moisture, while keeping the leaves from touching the plastic to extend their "drawer-life".  Wash lettuce just before using. The inner-most leaves of the head are the sweetest, so save those for salad use and take advantage of the bigger, outside leaves for use on sandwiches or wraps.

Peas are best kept in a plastic bag or glass container in your refrigerator. Use within a week.  They are delicious raw on salads or in stir-fries.

Oregano:

Like most other fresh herbs (except basil), oregano keeps best stored upright in a glass of water (keep leaves out of water), loosely covered with a plastic bag 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 and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences and questions with other BGF members at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Luci, Indigo & Sky)