Many thanks to our awesome CSA members who spent their Sunday afternoon helping us plant 2,400 feet of garlic for next season! As you can see from the pictures above everyone seemed to have a great time and the old adage of "many hands make light work" rings true! There were a few things about garlic which I forgot to add in last week's blog. For one garlic is the most important crop that we save our seed from each year to replant. The taste of garlic actually improves as it is grown on the same soil year after year. Die hard garlic enthusiast claim the subtle flavors from the soil can be tasted in the garlic much the way a wine aficionado can swirl wine in their mouth and describe the soil it was grown in by the subtle notes in the wine.
The garlic we planted on Sunday was given to us two years ago by our good friends and fellow CSA farmers Norm and Cinda Lehne who farm out Garden Valley Blvd. For the first year or two of our CSA season we really relied on Norm and Cinda for support and growing advice for this climate that was new to us. We traded items back and forth in our CSA (we grow crops they do not and vice versa). Finally we seemed to get a handle on when to get things in the ground so we were able to make it the full 26 weeks with the items we had grown on the farm that we did not need to go pillage Norm and Cinda's fields in search of extra produce to fill that baskets.
Every year around this time we catch our breaths, survey the fields and the storage sheds and hope we have enough product left to make it through the remaining CSA weeks. For the last few years we have pulled though.. this year because the summer birth of Tione we are a little more anxious than usual. One huge bonus is that we have not yet had a frost and we hope that the warm, sunny weather will last as long as possible!
This week you will notice an extra goody in your CSA share and that is the addition of Asian pears that a fellow CSA member told us about. Asinete and I picked them Monday at an organic pear orchard out on Del Rio Rd outside of Roseburg. The man who had planted and tended the trees had passed away and there was no one left to tend to and harvest the fruit. The orchard had been open to u-pickers but there were still soft, rotting fruit in a thick layer all over the ground. It made it hard to pick as we slid around in the pear slurry. We are happy that these will not be wasted and we hope will be relished by you!`
Enjoy and we will see you next week! Five more weeks to go!
Suzie, Asinete, Tione, M.A, Sally, Grandma GG and Violet
Harvest This Week Includes:
Asian Pears (will keep best in your fridge)
Carrots
Watermelon
Kale (Red Russian or Winterbor) *kale chips recipe below yumm!
Red Meat Radish
Shallots
Onion
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Boothby Blonde Cucumbers
Cilantro
Tomatoes (not pretty but all we could muster)
Delicata Winter Squash
How to Cook It
Winter squash is different from summer squash in that it has a hard rind on it that allows it to be stored at room temperature for months at a time. There are many different varieties of winter squash and most need to be cured (well dried for several weeks) before eating but delicata is one of the few you can eat without curing. Winter squash is chock full of vitamins and minerals!
Classic Baked Delicata Squash
1 Delicata squash
1 tablespoon Butter
2 tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
Pinch of salt
A pinch of fresh ground pepper (optional)
A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Using a strong knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Spoon out seeds and stringy bits in the center of each half. (save the seeds!) Place each half in a baking pan, cut side up. Rub 1/2 Tbsp. butter on the inside of each half. Add a pinch of salt (and black pepper and cayenne if you wish), add 1 Tbsp brown sugar to each half, then drizzle each half with maple syrup. Adding a little water, about 1/4 inch, to the bottom of the baking pan will help keep the squash from drying out.
Bake for an hour, or until the squash is very soft. When serving, if there is any of the sugary butter sauce left, spoon that over the squash.
Serves 2
yield: Makes 6 servings
This is my favorite way to cook winter squash. You peel, and slice it, then cook it in a skillet with cider and winter herbs.
adapted from Bon Appétit
Ingredients
2 medium delicata squash (about 2 pounds) or other firm winter squash
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup very coarsely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider or juice
1 cup water
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
print a shopping list for this recipe
Preparation 1. Squash. If using delicata squash, peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut each piece lengthwise in half again, then crosswise into 1/2-inch -thick slices. Other types of squash should be peeled with a chef's knife, seeded, cut into 1-inch wedges, then sliced 1/2-inch thick.
2. Herb Butter. Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over low heat. Add the sage and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs. Cooking the herbs in butter mellows their flavor and improves their texture.
3. Cooking the squash. Add the squash to the skillet, then the apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat at an even boil until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper, and additional salt if needed.
Vegan Cheesy Kale Chips (guaranteed delicious!)
First you will need to make the sauce to coat the kale chips. We just use a regular old blender which works fine!
CASHEW CREAM
1 cup raw cashews. Rinse the cashews under cold water. Place the cashews in a glass bowl, cover with 1 - 2 inches of water, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Remove from fridge, rinse with cold water, place in blender and cover with
1 - 2 inches of water. Turn the blender switch to high and blend until cashew mixture is completely homogeneous.
Step 2: season the Cashew Cream. I added about a teaspoon each of garlic powder, cayenne pepper, freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt, but you can season however you want. A few tablespoons of nutritional yeast add the "cheezy" flavor. Pay a visit to your local health food store for nutritional yeast. (You can often buy it in the bulk section by the scoop and it makes a great popcorn topping!) A lot of recipes called for bell pepper, which would add some great nutrition and flavor.
Step 3: Rinse the kale and tear it into smaller (but not too small because it will shrink a good deal when you bake it) pieces. Pat or spin it dry so the "cheeze" sticks.
Step 4: Coat the kale with the cashew cream mixture. Just pour it on top and toss it with your hands in a large bowl.
coat the kale in your "cheezy" cashew cream
Step 5: Spread the kale thin on a parchment lined cookie sheet (2 sheets should be enough for 1 bunch of kale). Bake at 375 until crispy, wait 15 minutes and then flip with a pair of tongs and bake for another 10-15 minutes until crispy.
Eat right away or else keep sealed up tight as it quickly loses its crisp!
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