Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 18-Oct 6, 2005
To view the second harvest for this week, click here
To return to the 2005 Harvest Guide page, click here
WORK HOURS: Please contact Liz ASAP (by phone or e-mail) to confirm a day and time you are planning to work on your share hours. THIS IS IMPORTANT! We need to know in advance that we have help on the schedule.
Green and Colored Bell and Hot Peppers – Bells are great fresh, in salads, or stir fries. Habaneros scorch!
Eggplant – Eggplant has just about had it.
Tomatoes and Cherry Toms – Great fresh, in salads, or on sandwiches, but not so hot in stir-fries, though you can make a mean curry with them. Tomatoes are almost gone. The sun gold cherries are still going.
Leeks – Leeks make the best soup and try green leaves or stems chopped into salads.
Lettuce – Love that lettuce.
Mizuna – This oriental cabbage family green can be cooked or used raw. Very good in stir fries and salads.
Mustard Greens – Use those bitey mustard greens in salads and sandwiches.
Bok Choi -- made for stir fries, but we like ‘em in salads for the green of the leaves and the crunch of the stems. Another good one for tuna fish or cheese sandwiches.
Winter Squash – Butternut Squash is soooo good. Try recipes below. Also they can be steamed.
Pumpkins – From our pumpkin patch. They can be used for cooking.
Herbs – Basil, Thyme and Parsley.
Flowers – This week’s bouquet features zinnias, African marigolds, tansy, asparagus tops, plume celosia, globe amaranth, wild aster and petite wild daisy.
Recipe of the Week : Baked Butternut Squash
* 1 large butternut squash, quartered lengthwise
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
PREPARATION:
Scoop seeds out of butternut squash. Save seeds and roast later if desired. Arrange butternut squash pieces,
cut-side down, in a large baking dish. Pour hot water in the baking dish to a depth of about 1/4-inch. Bake butternut squash at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender.
Try this roasting method for two treats in one:
Seed winter squash.
1. Place seeds on cookie tray. Paint seeds with canola oil and season as desired. Bake at 325
about 15minutes until crisp.
2. Place seeded squash in baking dish with ½ cup water. Paint squash with oil and season as
desired. Cover dish with foil. Bake at 350, about 50 minutes or until tender.
Nothing to report today.
Winter Squash
What word refers to both a sport and a vegetable and is an onomatopoeia? Squash.
Squash is a great word. It is a foreshortened version of “askoolasquash” an Algonquin and a Massachusetts Native American word for “eaten raw”. Squash is fun to say and fun to eat.
Squash is native to the Americas. Seeds were dated as being in Peru and Mexico as early as 4,000B.C.E.
Winter squash is related to the cucumber and melon just like summer squash but it has more complex carbohydrates and has more nutrients than its’ summer sibling. The outside features of winter differ from summer squash too. The outer skin is tough and thick on a winter squash, which guarantees a long storage life. A winter squash lasts 1-4 weeks stored in a dry non-refrigerated space.
Generally, the meat of a winter squash is dense and finely granular. It’s color ranges from yellow to orange. The outside shell is just as fun. Winter squash may take many a whimsical shape and color scheme to the delight of us all. Some look like their names like Acorn and Banana. Buttercup looks like a turban and Delicious looks like a top. Gold nugget looks like a pumpkin and Pumpkin, well you know how pumpkins look! And color Hubbard can be dark green to orange red in all of its’ round warty self. Spaghetti looks like a yellow (European) football.
(Spaghetti takes it’s name from the characteristic of its’ meat which is stringy like spaghetti noodles). Butternut and crooked neck are dusty orange/gold and have elongated pair shapes.
A good winter squash is heavy for its’ size. It is generally high in beta-carotene so its’ juices prevent cell mutation thus it curbs cancer growth and reduces macular degeneration. Winter squash helps maintain blood vessels, bones and teeth.
As for nutrition, here are the top eight: Fiber, Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Vitamin C, Calcium, Niacin, Folate
Winter squash can be steamed, roasted or baked into pies soups or mixed with grains. Acorn makes its’ own great bowl for complementary veggies and grains. Butternut is a great substitute for pumpkin in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe. Winter squash pairs well with cinnamon, herbs, chili, ginger, allspice, cardamom, tarragon, cumin and fruits.
A note on pumpkins: Not all pumpkins are grown for eating. Sugar pumpkins are wonderful for eating but most here in PA are cultivated to last long as jack o’ lanterns and therefore have extra tough skins and very little meat. Check out the type of pumpkin you have before planning to cook it!
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