CSA Newsletter - Week 14

Week 14

Let me just start by saying this smoke sucks! Goodness gracious. I hope you all are able to stay indoors and are taking care of yourselves. We have had several shorter workdays and are giving folks the option to skedaddle early if they need to. Mornings, generally, aren’t as bad and it’s even a little hard to tell if it is mist or smoke. We all wear masks, but after a full day it gets a little rough. We are sticking to the essential jobs and refraining from starting the big potato dig and winter squash harvest. That’s just too much to tackle in the given conditions. Luckily those crops will just sit there contentedly until we get to them. I never thought I’d say, “Man, I cant’ wait for the fall rains to get here!” But here I am, sipping my Breathe Easy herbal tea thinking, “Man I can’t wait for the fall rains to get here!”

On a more lighthearted note, as I was doing a field walk Tuesday trying to figure out what to put in the boxes this week. I was stopped dead in my tracks by two simple but fascinating things. The first was when walking along a bed of cilantro that had gone to flower. I was struck by how many bees and other insects were buzzing around the flowers. It was REALLY loud. It was like a giant pollinator party going on in the cilantro. I recorded a video and put in on our Instagram and Facebook if you need a hit of awesome moments in nature. The other thing that caught my attention was the cacophony made by the thousands of birds gathering and chattering in the maples on the field edge. I think it was a mix of red wing black birds, starlings, and crows. I imagined them up their making their winter travel plans; discussing routes, favorite stops along the way, weather predictions, etc. I made a recording of that as well. There are social media links at the bottom of this page. This farm is full on awe inspiring moments if we allow ourselves permission to stop and look and listen.

As you can see from today’s box content, we are certainly shifting gears from summer to fall. Where once were were harvesting 20 crates of summer squash, we are lucky to eek out 10 these days. Tomatoes are still at a trickle. Even our seemingly endless supply of lemon cucumbers are drying up. Cabbage, broccoli, and kohlrabi are happy to fill those shoes, however. I was musing to myself that today you are getting a box of “cole.” (Cabbage, broccoli, and kohlrabi all belong to the cole family of plants.) Wah wah wah - bad farmer pun. Couldn’t resist. Anyway, moving on….

WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
carrots
beets or chard
sweet onions
green cabbage
kohlrabi
broccoli
delicata winter squash (don’t eat it yet! See below.)
corn
cilantro or parsley
red potatoes
lemon cucumber
summer squash
sungolds for large shares
beans for half of you

ELABORATIONS:
Delicata squash: This is one of the sweetest and creamiest types, but wait a few weeks to eat it. Winter squash in general needs a few weeks off the vine to sweeten up and we just picked these this morning. Like I suggest every year, find a nice spot on your kitchen counter to create your own fall vegetable shrine. Channel your inner Martha Stewart and artfully arrange all the onions and squash you will be receiving over the next few weeks. You will also receive acorn, butternut, buttercup, spaghetti, and a pie pumpkin. While you wait, check out these recipes and/or allow yourself to fall down the google rabbit hole of squash recipes.

HOW TO COOK ANY SQUASH:
Each variety differs in sweetness and texture and has it’s “best uses”. However, you can prepare any type the following 2 ways:
1. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and pulp. Place halves cut side down in a casserole dish and add about an inch of water. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake between 30-45 minutes or until you can pierce the skin easily with a fork. When serving you can add a variety of toppings such as butter, parmesan, gorgonzola, feta, toasted walnuts, or sunflower seeds.
2. Cut and clean as described above. place squash in a steamer basket on the stove stop and steam for 15-13 minutes until you can easily pierce through the flesh. Serve as described above.

That’s all for this week.

Jen