BGF NEWS - June 14, 2022 - VOL. XLVIII, NO. 2

In this week’s box:

Choi: Prize (bundled greens with white stems)

Garlic Scapes (green, curly bundle)

Head Lettuce

Lemon Balm (small, green, lemon-scented bunch)

Napa Cabbage

Strawberries

Tapestry Salad Mix

Vivid Choi: green bundle with pink & purple stems

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

Asparagus (last of the season)

Snow Peas

For those with the Herb It! option: Herb share will begin in a couple of weeks as herbs mature

Featured Recipes:  
Lemon Balm Simple Syrup (delicious on strawberries!)

Garlic Scape Pesto

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Sausage Egg Roll in a Bowl (tasty without the sausage too)

BGF Summer Herb Spritzer (see recipe below)

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 1.10"

It appears that while last week's theme was rain, this week's is the HEAT! No one is excited about this one, not the farmers, the crew, the animals nor least of all the early crops! This is going to bring a quick end to many of our early greens, so we are packing your boxes with as many as we can as it will be the last or only chance for you to try them, at least until fall. This includes the salad mix, Prize choi and Napa cabbage. 

Bolting greens, at least they're pretty

We were hoping to get at least another week's growth on them, but they are already starting to bolt (or flower) which will end their use as a food crop.

Hilled potatoes starting to bloom!

This past week we have been clearing the last of the early crops from the big high tunnel and all of our warm-weather crops are now tucked in and growing, including the last of the basil and sweet peppers. 

Cultivating kittens

Much of last week was focused on cultivating crops whenever it was dry enough to do so. As well as getting the potatoes hilled for the first time. We were pleased with the rain for the crops' sake, but the weeds sure do take advantage of it. 

This week everything is growing like crazy, including our monster head lettuces! My secret use of them is to snack on them like potato chips, I just pull off whole leaves and dip into a nice dish of homemade vinaigrette (see recipe above).   The big surprise last week was the sudden ripening of the strawberries, and while we do love strawberries, they take a lot of time to harvest so we are spending quite a bit of time trying to stay ahead of those. Luckily (and sadly) the season is short so be sure to enjoy them while they are here!

A little detail on your produce this week:

Asparagus: Keeps best stored upright in a glass with about 1" of water, in the refrigerator. Delicious raw or cooked. 

Choi (a.k.a. - pac choi, bok choy or pok choy) is a member of the cabbage family and is a traditional Asian stir-fry vegetable.  Both the stems and leaves of choi can be used and are especially tasty in cooked recipes.  If cooking them, separate the leaves and stems, and begin cooking stems first to avoid overcooking the more tender greens. You can also use the leaves like any green-leafy vegetable and the stems like celery.  We tend to use choi leaves as a sandwich wrap, or just roughly chop the whole thing and sauté with garlic and/or onion.  Cook until stems are tender and dress with a little seasoned rice vinegar. Store choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your produce drawer.

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 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. We also enjoyed them tossed whole in olive oil and grilled as a side dish.

Herbs:

 Besides basil, most herbs keep best standing upright in a glass of water in your refrigerator with a loose plastic bag over the top. To use, simply pull a stem between your fingers and the leaves usually shear off. Chop with a sharp knife and add to your favorite recipes.

Napa Cabbage: 

Store Napa whole wrapped in a cotton or linen towel then in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week. These Napa are fairly immature and wont have a large formed head but are still tasty and can be used in any cabbage recipe.

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.

Strawberries keep best in your refrigerator in a vented container. Use within 3-4 days.

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)

Luci & Sky

BGF Summer Herb Spritzer

Besides pesto, this is one of our favorite ways to use herbs during warm weather. It is deceptively simple and delightfully refreshing! All you need is:

1 sprig of your favorite herb. Our favorites for this are lemon balm, lemon basil, lemon thyme, mint and anise hyssop.

ice cubes

plain seltzer water

Glass jar with leak-proof lid (or a martini shaker)

Place washed herb in the jar, add ice enough to fill 1/3 of jar. Secure lid and shake it, shake it, baby! A few vigorous shakes will do it, you are just trying to bruise the leaves and release the aromatic oils, not pulverize them.

Remove lid and top with seltzer. Enjoy! You could add a bit of your favorite sweetener, but I've never found it necessary.

BGF NEWS - June 7, 2022 - VOL. XLVIII, NO. 1

In this week’s box:

Asparagus

Basil Tips (asst. varieties)

Golden Oyster Mushrooms

Green Garlic

Head Lettuce, assorted varieties

Kale Mix  (large mixed leaf bundle)

Komatsuna (bundle of uniform green leaves)

Spinruts: Hakurei (baby Japanese salad turnips)

Tapestry Salad Mix

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

Snow Peas

For those with the Herb It! option: Herb share will begin in a couple of weeks as herbs mature

For those with the Jam It! option: Lime Berry Jam & Blackberry Peach Jam

For those with the Spice It Up! option: Roselle Sugar

Featured Recipes:  
Bok Choy and Oyster Mushroom Stir Fry

Roasted Sweet Turnips with Thyme

BGF Favorite Kale Salad (see recipe below)

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past week: 0.8"

Welcome to the first delivery of the 2022 CSA season and the start of weekly newsletters!

  The boxes feel a little light at this time of the season and you will notice the abundance of greens and not quite as much variety as we expect later in the season.  This is part of the joy of eating fresh, seasonal foods.  As the season continues the weight and variety of the contents will increase with the arrival of heavier crops including beans, tomatoes, potatoes and squash.  One thing that does remain somewhat consistent is the presence of some cosmetic damage caused by our local insects.  This is an indication that we are truly a chemical-free farm.  We try to keep the insect population under control, but they are simply a fact of life in a naturally grown system.  We hope you can overlook some minor leaf damage and we will do our best to keep it to a minimum.  Also we do our best to provide you with clean produce, but you may find a little dirt here and there or, yikes, possibly an insect.  We do wash the produce and sort it to the best of our ability, but we are processing a significant volume and it is possible that at some point you will find a little “nature” in your box.  If and when it happens to you, we apologize ahead of time and hope you will forgive the oversight.  Remember, while we do clean the produce, it is always good practice to wash your vegetables before using.

A bit on our efforts be more mindful producers. Over the years we have tried to minimize our use of plastics and single-use products both in our field practices  and in the packing shed/kitchen. We use long-term reusable totes for your CSA deliveries both for sanitation and low waste. You'll notice they have the name "Grinnell Heritage Farm" stamped on the sides. When our friends from GHF "retired" from farming last year, we purchased their CSA totes. They met a need that we had, filled a need that GHF had and allowed us to not buy new plastic. We are continually looking to reduce our plastic bag use  and we've switched over to twist-ties or rubber bands on products that we used to bag like chard, kale, herbs and lettuce bouquets. We haven't yet found a good solution for our baby greens like salad mix and arugula or things like green beans but we're always looking. So how can you help us on this journey?

Clean & Return to Us

Plastic pint/quart containers

Plastic or paper berry boxes

Half pint, pint and quart glass canning jars

Please don't return plastic produce bags or twist ties, we can't reuse those in the packing shed but we encourage you to wash and reuse them in your own home. The less waste we create, the less we have to clean up later. Do you have questions or suggestions on our use of packaging materials (or anything else)? Please let us know!

A big thank you to our pick-up site hosts: Peace Tree Brewing Co - Des Moines and the Grand Theater in Knoxville.  Over the course of the season please consider supporting these independent, local businesses who offer us a great place to deliver your produce.

So what have we been up to this week in addition to preparing for CSA delivery #1? 

All the major transplanting is done, with the tomatoes going in late last week. We will continue to do succession plantings of head lettuce, but other than the final planting of Minnesota Midget cantaloupe, we are done with transplanting for a few weeks. With the late start to spring, we are a bit behind in our direct seeding, with the 2nd sowings of both beans and edamame to go in the field as soon as the soil dries out enough to do so. 

The crazy spring weather also threw a huge wrench in the asparagus crop. It started 2 weeks later than normal and is ending 2 weeks earlier. So please enjoy your asparagus this week as there won't be more until next year.

Cultivating is the main activity right now. We've been working hard at keeping the weeds at bay with all of the tools we have available, depending on the crop and the conditions. 

Everything from fingers to Yankee Weeders, stirrup hoes and walking tractors are put to hard labor.

This past weekend we even got the first round of hilling done on the potatoes.

A bright spot to our recent moisture has been a huge flush of golden oyster mushrooms in our timber! 

This is the 5th year we have been able to offer wild-harvested mushrooms as part of the CSA and we hope you are as excited about them as we are. 

Finally, we want to introduce our other bright spots and recent additions to our farm family. We've had serious issues in the past couple of seasons with rabbits, ground squirrels and other small critters eating huge numbers of our young crops. Meet the solution, Wallace & Gromit. They may have to practice a bit but we're all sure having fun!

 We hope you enjoy this first delivery and are looking forward to this season as much as we are.

Thank you for making it all the way to the end of a very long newsletter! We hope you also enjoy the weekly online format. One of the goals for it is so you can go to the blog/newsletter at any time and search for specific vegetables, that should allow you to see any archived recipes for that item. It also allows us to include photos and links to more recipes and information. 

As we mentioned in the recent newsletter, in addition to the regular BGF Facebook page, we also have a Facebook page for CSA members. You can find it here: Blue Gate Farm Community. If you have a Facebook account we encourage you to post recipes, photos and questions about your weekly produce box adventures. If you don't have an account, don't worry, you can still see/read anything on the page, but you won't be able to post anything. We will keep an eye on the page and try to answer questions in a timely manner, but really this is to encourage the "Community" aspect of CSA and to provide you all a venue to share and connect with each other.

A little detail on your produce this week:

Asparagus: Keeps best stored upright in a glass with about 1" of water, in the refrigerator. Delicious raw or cooked. 

Basil: 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. FYI, 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.

Choi (a.k.a. - pac choi, bok choy or pok choy) is a member of the cabbage family and is a traditional Asian stir-fry vegetable.  Both the stems and leaves of choi can be used and are especially tasty in cooked recipes.  If cooking them, separate the leaves and stems, and begin cooking stems first to avoid overcooking the more tender greens. You can also use the leaves like any green-leafy vegetable and the stems like celery.  We tend to use choi leaves as a sandwich wrap, or just roughly chop the whole thing and sauté with garlic and/or onion.  Cook until stems are tender and dress with a little seasoned rice vinegar. Store choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your produce drawer.

Green Garlic: is immature or "teenage" garlic and should be stored in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 5-7 days. Wrap the green garlic in a damp paper towel and place it in a plastic bag; or for a non-plastic alternative, stick the green garlic in a tall glass with some water in the bottom. You can use all of the tender white and light green parts in recipes calling for fresh garlic. Dark green leaves can be frozen and saved for stock, or used to add flavor to a soup (pop them in whole, like a bay leaf).

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. They also dry very nicely for future use.

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.

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 large GREENS will keep best if wrapped in a cotton or linen towel and then 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)

Luci & Sky

BGF's Favorite Kale Salad  

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

2 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
3 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
a big bunch of kale (about 1 pound), center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced crosswise
2 tablespoons sunflower  or pumpkin seeds, (if using salted, cut down on the 1tsp salt above)
Parmesan cheese shavings

Place fruit in small bowl; add balsamic vinegar, seasoned rice vinegar, honey oil and salt and allow to soak several hours (overnight is even better).

Place kale in a large bowl, add cranberry mixture and toss to coat. Let marinate 20 minutes at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese shavings and sunflower seeds just before serving.

Recipe Source:  adapted from an epicurious recipe by Dan Barber

BGF NEWS - May 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 7

Signs of Spring!

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Weather in the past month:      Rain: 2.5"

                                                        High temp: 79° (4/22/22)

                                                        Low Temp: 25° (4/19/22)

The overriding theme of the past month is the weather (have you heard this song before?) Did you notice in the weather summary above, the listed high and low temps for the past month are only 3 days apart? Talk about weather whiplash! While spring is always a bit chaotic on the farm, this year has shown a whole new level of crazy. Our soil temperatures are 3-4 weeks behind schedule, which means that so is nearly everything else; grass, trees and crops.

That said, we are making forward progress! 

With half of our Farm Crew back on staff, we've been planting whenever the conditions allow. In the past month we've sown: carrots, beets, turnips and chard to add to our earlier peas, spinach, salad mix, arugula and choi. Transplanted crops include 3 rotations of head lettuce, kale, chard, celery, broccoli and cauliflower, onions, leeks, scallions and shallots, potatoes, hearty herbs, perennial flowers and snapdragons. 

This coming week will mark the real start of the asparagus harvesting season (3 weeks later than normal) and then things will get serious with trying to get more field space ready and crops in the ground.

This week VegEmail sales returned to our summer schedule of Saturday deliveries from 10-noon. It's a perfect opportunity to get first choice at top quality, chemical-free produce and other farm-fresh products, like jam, seasonings and yarn plus meat and eggs from Ebersole Cattle Co, and cheese from Lost Lake Farm LLC. It's like a farmers market in your inbox with no crowds or parking hassles. Plus, in DM you can enjoy your favorite beverage from Peace Tree Brewing Co. If you are interested in joining us for VegEmail but aren't already getting the order form emails, be sure to let us know!

This is the final monthly newsletter until November. Starting in June we move to weekly postings as a companion to our CSA deliveries. Only current CSA members will get the weekly email link to the newsletters, as we don't want to overwhelm or annoy the rest of you. The newsletters will focus on the CSA box contents along with recipes and produce hints, but also include the weekly news of the farm. If you aren't a 2022 CSA member, but want to continue to follow along, you can subscribe to the posts through Blogger at the blue "Follow" button on the right side of the screen, or you can always check in here:  http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/

The first CSA delivery is tentatively scheduled for June 7th (though we may have to postpone a week due to weather delays). 2022 CSA members should have received an invoice via email at the beginning of April, with the balance payments due by May 1. If you haven't yet paid for your membership, we'd appreciate receiving that payment ASAP. If you need some flexibility in that, please contact us to make arrangements. 

Speaking of the upcoming CSA season, we have big news!

Options! This year we are excited to offer some new options to add on to our base CSA shares. These options are available at ALL delivery locations. 

1) Spice it Up Share: Receive 1 jar of our Seasonal Seasonings each month, farmer's choice of flavors

2) Jam Share: Receive 2 jars (different flavors) of our "farm-fresh" jam each month, farmer's choice of flavors

3) Bread Share: From our friends/neighbors at Farmyard Fancies. Receive a fresh loaf of sweet or savory homemade bread each week. 

4) (For DM customers only) Meat and Egg Shares are available from our friends at Ebersole Cattle Company. 

CSA members will be receiving an email in the next week or so with details on the add-on options and about the start of the CSA season.

We do still have a few spaces available for new members and we'd love to fill up those last spots! If you are interested in joining us this season and haven't already done so, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and we'll get you set up. Know someone who might be interested in a season of fresh, healthy, delicious food? Please, send them our way!

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. 

Is a monthly 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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky

BGF NEWS - April 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 6

This wasn't the weather I was expecting today.

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Weather in the past month:      Snow: 3.6" (and still snowing!)

                                                        Freezing Rain: 0.25"

                                                        Rain: 2.35"

                                                        High temp: 79° (4/10/22)

                                                        Low Temp: 24° (3/27/22)

Beautiful red seed potatoes

What interesting weather we are "celebrating" on the farm this spring. We were extra warm in March, and now, as we would normally be transplanting in the field, I'm sitting with a cup of tea, watching it snow. Don't get me wrong, I like snow. But I'm done! We've got potatoes to plant and seeds to sow and so much more to get going on the season! 

That said, despite the slow start, things are rolling forward,. This past week our newest crew member started, (welcome to the farm, Jim!) and we were able to get all of the fields composted and the early crop beds are tilled along with some early cultivation to battle the scourge that is chickweed. We burned the asparagus patch and we even got a few of the earliest field crops sown including peas, spinach, salad mix, arugula and choi. 

Grow, garlic, grow!

The garlic has pushed up through the mulch and looks to be growing well. The seed potatoes are cut and prepped for planting (thanks, Mom!) 

The high tunnel crops are growing well, albeit a bit slowly due to so many cloudy days. 

We have moved most of the early, cool-weather transplants out to the small tunnel to harden them off, but the nights have been so cold that we have to drop them to the ground and cover them with fabric to keep them growing. 

The sunroom (our plant nursery) is jammed to the gills with our heat-loving plants until the outside temps overnight are warm enough for them to move out. 

But it sure is exciting to see all those little basil, pepper and tomato plants flourishing inside until then. And even outside we are seeing more little peeks of spring color around the farm. 

The Cornelian and Nanking cherries are always the first to bloom and they were starting to grace us with their beauty last week, so it isn't all cold snow gloom and doom!

So along with warmer weather, what else are we looking forward to? 

The first CSA delivery is scheduled for June 7th and we have a few spaces available for new members. We'd love to fill up those last spots! If you are interested in joining us this season and haven't already done so, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and we'll get you set up. Know someone who might be interested in a season of fresh, healthy, delicious food? Please, send them our way!

2022 CSA members should have received an invoice via email at the beginning of the month.  Many of our members have already sent in their payment for the upcoming season. Thank you! Just a reminder that membership payments are due by May 1.

Want to get some great local food in the meantime?  VegEmail deliveries continue throughout the year. You can custom order your farm-fresh produce, preserves, seasonings, (plus Ebersole Cattle Co. eggs & meats and Lost Lake Farm LLC cheese in DM) from the comfort of home (and pick up tasty beverages from Peace Tree Brewing Co. at the same time!) It's like a farmers market in your Inbox! If you want to order and aren't already getting email announcements about the deliveries, be sure to let us know!

**VegEmail Schedule Change**

Just a reminder that April 26th is our final Tuesday VegEmail delivery. Starting in May, VegEmail moves back to Saturday mornings from 10-noon. Our first Saturday delivery will be May 7th at all current locations.

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. We wish you all the joys of the season and a bright new year!

Is a monthly 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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky