CSA Harvest # 22

Happy Halloween everyone! Since we did not provide you with pumpkins we thought we would share our jack o' lantern with you! The trick to making it look artistic is in the carving kits from the store (and having a dad with a dremel tool to carve it out!) The only time I've grown pumpkins was when I was operating a school farm in Monterey County, Ca. The kids loved it but the pumpkins took up a fair share of the garden and besides squash like butternut and delicata taste so much better! If we had an endless land supply pumpkins would definitely be on the list.. but alas we are a bit land short. We hope you were able to find your perfect pumpkin at one of the other local farms.
Instead of pumpkins this week we are giving you one of my (other) favorite winter squashes called the red kuri. This is a Japanese variety and they are sweet and delicious! They make a wonderful pie and soup. I have included quite a few recipe ideas below. Also this week more butternut!

In farm news the garlic and cover crop seed that we planted two weeks ago are sprouting with gusto after the rains we've been having. It is great to have the rain but we still have more cover crop seed to plant so we are looking forward to a few more days of sunshine before the clouds encase us for good.

At this time of year you would think that there is not a lot going on at the farm but there is! There are all of the fruit trees that will need to be sprayed with a winter dormant oil to protect them over the long winter from disease and assorted pests. Our 42 peach trees will be coddled as much as necessary so that we can have the only organic peach orchard in Douglas County! Also we have nearly 30 apple trees planted at our folks place up Big Lick Lane in Myrtle Creek. As much as we wanted to have everything together in one place we did not want to sacrifice this wonderful, loamy, flat river bottom land for apple trees. They seem to be thriving on the hillsides at 1,200 feet.
We also still have more garlic to plant, weed mat to pull up, crop residues to clean up with our tractor... and 300 pounds more of cover crop seed to go in... oh yeah and 1/4 of our roof on our house needs to be torn off and redone.. come on sunny weather!

I promise I will be working on those email surveys for each of you so don't give up and start thinking about what you've enjoyed this year and things that you maybe could have lived without..

Don't forget about the free showing of the movie Food, Inc showing Friday Nov 6th at 6pm at the Douglas County Museum (next to fairgrounds) there will be a panel of speakers and free locally grown popcorn too! You can find out more about it by checking out Think Local Umpqua's blog at http://thinklocalumpqua.blogpot.com

Also we would like to offer holiday gift cards for friends and family that can be redeemed at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market next season or if you'd like a gift card redeemable for a CSA share you could give the gift of wonderful, healthy produce and at the same time support your friendly, local farmer! Email us for more details on this! portersuzanne@yahoo.com

Here's to four more CSA deliveries!

Suzie & Asinete with the help of our volunteers extraordinaire~ M.A, Violet & Robin


“Recall that whatever lofty things you might accomplish today, you will do them only because you first ate something that grew out of dirt.” Barbara Kingsolver




Harvest This Week Includes:

Red Kuri Winter Squash

Butternut Squash

Garlic

Red Zeppelin Onion

Bull's Blood Beets

Rainbow Chard

Potatoes (we're not sure yet which variety to put.. surprise!)

Dill (good with those taters!)

Radishes (Easter Egg or Daikon)

Tomatoes (Black Krim and Sweet Cluster)

Recipe Ideas

Red Kuri Squash Gratin (Gratin de potimarron)~recipe and article courtesy of the Boston Globe.
Serves 4

Like many varieties of winter squash, red kuri squash (also known as Japanese squash, orange hokkaido, or uchiki kuri squash) offers a promise of nourishing dinners. With its bright orange skin, and small teardrop shape, you'll easily recognize kuri; inside, the firm flesh has a creamy chestnut-like flavor. Baked, braised, steamed, or pureed, this squash tastes wonderful; serve it as a side dish or use it as a base for soups. For this simple gratin, you don't need to peel the squash. Roast, steam, or boil it with potatoes, then puree them, and stir in grated zucchini. Add ricotta, parsley, and a flavorful cheese (blue works well), or a milder one (Fontina, which melts nicely). After half an hour, you have a delicious side dish that will make you rejoice over fall's harvest.


Butter (for the dish)
1 small red kuri squash (a generous 1 pound), seeded and sliced
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 small zucchini, grated
2/3 cup ricotta
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for the top
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated Fontina or crumbled blue cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter, cut up (for the top)
1. Set the oven at 400 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

2. In a large saucepan fitted with a steamer insert, combine the squash and potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and steam over high heat for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a skewer.

3. Using a food mill or ricer set over a bowl, work the vegetables to form a puree. Or mash them with a potato masher until they are coarsely pureed. Add the zucchini, ricotta, nutmeg, parsley, 1/4 cup of the Fontina or blue cheese, and plenty of salt and pepper.

4. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Smooth the top. Add the remaining 1/4 cup cheese, butter, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving. Béatrice Peltre
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

Red Kuri Squash Risotto~ I actually made this one and it was delicioso!

1 red kuri squash (or butternut)
1/4c olive oil
2c Arborio rice
4c hot chicken or veggie stock
1/2 c grated parmesan
1 onion
1/2 c white wine
1/2 stick unsalted butter

Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on the squash and roast it in the oven at 380F for about 1hr. Meanwhile, cook the onions and rice in a pot for a few minutes until the rice is toasty and opaque. Add wine and stock slowly as the rice absorbs it, for about 15 minutes until al dente. Stir in butter and cheese and squash last. Add salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.

Oven Roasted Potatoes With Fresh Dill

Ingredients

12 small roasting potatoes
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coarse salt
2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. fresh black pepper
Freshly chopped dill to taste

Directions

Wash and dry potatoes thoroughly. Place in a large rectangular baking dish. Add olive oil, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper and dill. Toss until potatoes are completely coated with olive oil.

Bake in oven at 35o° for 1 hour or until potatoes have formed a crispy golden crust.