Spoutwood Farm CSA Harvest Guide: Week 19: October 18, 2007
To return to the 2007 Harvest Guide page, click here
Greetings, Spoutwood Farm friends! Welcome to the eighteenth week of our CSA Harvest season. This week has brought a return to unseasonably warm temperatures, but even with those there’s been no question that Autumn is upon us. The scent of leaf-mould, the changing colors of the trees, the dropping leaves letting us see into forests rather than just looking at them, and above all changes in the garden provide proof positive that Fall is here, even if the weather hasn’t quite caught on yet.
Most of our summer crops are either over, or much-diminished, by this time of the season. We’ve seen the last of the eggplant, but peppers are continuing to produce, as are tomatoes: neither at quite the level of peak season, tomatoes in particular, but they’ll keep going until first frost. And the cool-season vegetables, especially leafy greens, are doing a smashing job of taking up the slack. Quite an assortment of those in our harvest this week!
Please feel free to drop us a line if you discover a new recipe, have any cooking tips, or would like to share your favorite way to eat the veggies from our harvest - email us and we’ll share with everyone else! You might also want to post these to our interactive web presence at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spoutwoodcsa. There you can post messages that all members can read, add photos of your favorite Spoutwood memories, and otherwise contribute to our CSA community here at Spoutwood Farm. Enjoy!
Shareholders – if you have not worked your hours (or all of them) yet for this season: Please be aware that you need to either work them soon (we only have three more weeks, and we could certainly use the help “putting the garden to bed” for the Winter) or “buy out” of them by paying the appropriate sum. Please contact Rob ASAP! If you have worked your hours but are willing to help out, we do have some funds available to pay a few farm helpers to get things ready for the end of the season. Again, please contact Rob at (717) 235-6610 as soon as possible. Thanks!
Tomatoes: Tomatoes are drawing near their conclusion for this year. But they are refusing to go gently into that good night: we still have some, even if they are fewer and smaller than just a few weeks ago. Pick from a rainbow of colorful varieties.
Bell Peppers: Many people don’t realize that red bell peppers are the same species and variety as the green ones, just at a later stage in their development. As they turn red, they become sweeter. Choose from a selection of green, red, and variegated bell peppers this week.
Anaheim Peppers: Long and tapered, compared to bells, these are a mild chili pepper with very little bite to them. Good in fresh salsa, omelets, or many other dishes.
Swiss Chard: This delicious leafy green is available this week in moderate quantities. Chock-full of vitamins, chard is excellent as a cooked green, in salads, or in place of spinach in quiche.
Mustard Greens: A spicy, peppery green that can be eaten on its own or mixed with other greens. Most people prefer mustard cooked, but Rob swears by peanut butter and mustard-green sandwiches! May also be used in a salad (in small doses, for most of us).
Arugula: Arugula is an aromatic salad green, popular in Italian cuisine. In France it is known as roquette, in England as “salad rocket.” Its use goes back at least to Roman times, when part of a typical Roman meal (according to one website) was to offer a salad of greens, frequently Arugula (spelled Arugola), romaine, chicory, mallow and lavender and seasoned with a "cheese sauce for lettuce." Can also be used to make a type of pesto, good over potatoes or pasta.
Broccoli and Cauliflower: Benefit from an “either-or” of these two delicious, extremely nutritious cruciferous veggies. For some reason, broccoli and cauliflower have always stood for fall and winter, for me (Tom). I like them with my mom’s old-fashioned cheese sauce, but there are many ways to enjoy these lovely vegetables, not least of which is raw in salads. Our “bagged” shareholders will get to choose between broccoli (side shoots) and cauliflower (heads) this week.
Cabbage: Another humble yet nutritious vegetable like turnips, and a brassica like broccoli, cabbage also keeps nicely and can be used in many ways.
Lettuce: Lettuce is back again this week. Considering the other leafy green selections, the salad possibilities simply suggest themselves…!
Acorn Squash: Another of our selection of winter squash, and subject of our Vegetable of the Week.
Dill: Synonymous with pickles to some people, dill us a wonderful herb that can lend its slightly sour flavor to everything from fish dishes to hash browns. And of course, can be used in pickling! Some will get this herb, while others will get
Coriander: Also known as Cilantro. Best known these days for adding flavor to salsa, cilantro is a feature of some Asian as well as Mexican cuisines.
Basil: This perennial favorite is back this week! Also nearing the end of its season, but still good for enjoying with the last of the tomatoes, or to make small batches of pesto to warm the winter months.
Bread: For those with bread shares, our wonderful Atwater bread this week is TBA.
Flowers: This week’s bouquet will include a potpourri of wild and cultivated blossoms.
Apples and Squash
Prepare baking dish with 1⁄2 inch water.
Pare apples and cut into small pieces, set aside.
Cut and clean out acorn squash.
Set squash shell side down in water bath.
Paint squash with oil and/or butter.
Fill squash hollow with apples then sprinkle with cinnamon, maple syrup, salt and nutmeg or flavors of choice.
Cover with foil, shiny side down and bake until tender.
Apples and Acorn Squash II
Ingredients
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 small acorn squash, about 6 inches in diameter
2 teaspoons trans-free margarine
Directions
In a small bowl, mix together the apple and brown sugar. Set aside.
Pierce the squash several times with a sharp knife to let the steam escape during cooking. Microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn the squash after 3 minutes to ensure even cooking.
Place the squash on a cutting board and cut in half. Scrape the seeds out of the center of each half and discard the seeds. Fill the hollowed squash with the apple mixture.
Return the squash to the microwave and cook until the apples are softened, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the squash to a serving dish. Top each half with 1 teaspoon margarine and serve immediately.
Baked Acorn Squash
Ingredients
2 small acorn squash, about 2 pounds total weight
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
Cut the squash crosswise into rings 1/2-inch thick, leaving the peel intact. Scrape the seeds out of the center of each ring and discard. Place the rings in the prepared baking dish in a single layer, allowing them to overlap slightly. Brush with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the olive oil, and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the garlic and pine nuts with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Sprinkle the garlic and pine nuts evenly over the squash rings and continue baking until the squash is tender and the pine nuts are lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes longer.
Season the squash rings with the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Serve immediately.
Bioneers Conference: This Friday (tomorrow) Tom will be representing Spoutwood at the “Baltimore Bioneers: Cultivating Change, Inspiring Solutions” conference, to be held at the Maryland Institute College of Art this weekend. From the website:
Bioneers is a forum for connecting the environment, health, social justice, and spirit within a broad progressive framework. The Bioneers conference has been held since 1990 in San Rafael, CA, with satellite locations throughout North America, including now the Baltimore Bioneers.
Over the course of three days, the 2007 Baltimore Bioneers program will feature an unforgettable array of some of the most insightful, inspiring innovators working to change the region and the world. We will witness how the power of collaboration across all disciplines can solve problems that some think are unchangeable. We will realize that we are the leaders we are looking for and we will make our vision for restoring the Earth a reality.
Mother Earth Harvest Fair Wrap-Up Meeting: To be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 21st – please attend if at all possible, especially if you were helping out at this year’s MEHF! We need all your ideas and suggestions to make Mother Earth Harvest Fair bigger and better next year.
Farm Based Education Sympoium: From November 8th - 10th, Rob, Lucy, and Tom will all be attending the 3rd annual Educational Farm Symposium, held this year at Shelburne Farms in Vermont. The Symposium is a project of the Farm Based Education Association, whose mission is to inspire, nurture and promote farm based education. As many of you know, we are working on developing educational programs at Spoutwood, and are looking forward to this opportunity to network with and learn from others in the growing – and exciting! – field of farm-based education.
We would be particularly grateful for a strong turn-out of shareholders on Thursday the 8th of November, our last Harvest of the season, since the staff will be away, and consequently harvest that day will be headed up by brave and experienced volunteers among our shareholders. We have the utmost confidence in them, but nonetheless they will need all your help and support!
Acorn Squash
Yes, we have sung the praises of winter squash in general this season…but, let’s do it again. This time we’ll showcase acorn squash, exclusively. For, indeed, acorn squash is my very favorite of all winter squash varieties and after you try it, acorn squash may become your favorite too.
Acorn squash looks like a dark green acorn with a bit of goldie-orange streaking. This gorgeous shell is as hard as armor, but, the orange flesh within is worth the challenge of cutting through it. The buttery-nutty flavor of the cooked flesh may be enhanced by painting the flesh with a little oil then adding a sprinkling of any variety of herbs and spices.
A serving of acorn squash provides Vitamins A, and C, Potassium, Beta carotene, Fiber, Manganese, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin B Complex, Copper, and Tryptophan. It’s like the perfect healthy Thanksgiving dinner wrapped into one veggie!
While enjoying the nutty flavor, you can be preventing heart disease, fighting arthritis and cancer plus supplying nutrients for optimal brain functioning. That’s a “power meal” if ever there was one.
Acorn squash is not only tasty and nutritious… it’s aesthetically pleasing as well. An acorn squash cut in half from stem to bottom then, cleaned of seeds, produces a pair of lovely yet, sturdy, matching serving bowls. These individual serving bowls will be sturdy enough baking dishes for an entrée. When roasted they will be study enough vessels for serving soup, bisque or a creamed chowder or Newberg. Then again, they are delicious eaten seasoned and empty as well.
Eatable bowls! Gotta’ love that.
Don’t forget the seeds! Save and clean seeds. Set them on an oiled cookie sheet with salt and seasonings in a 250-350 oven until crisp. Let cool, the, enjoy.
To Roast:
Set oven to 350. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut squash in half then clean out seeds. Paint with light oil (olive, grape seed). Season as you wish (Any combination of salt, pepper, lavender, cinnamon, oregano, curry, etc.). Turn painted seasoned halves flesh side down on parchment and bake until tender (about 40 minutes).
Serve alone or as vessels for another part of the meal!
Try browning turkey sausage and crumbling the meat over squash.
Try filling squash with wild rice, stir fry or soup du jour….
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