Week 18

Hi everyone,
So I've been a little lax about the blog lately- sorry about that, but unfortunately, I don't foresee much improvement anytime soon. Between working at the farm, a second part-time job, keeping up with my own gardens and organizing a local dance festival coming up in a few weeks, I'm kinda swamped.
But I can at least post the week's veggies....
Here we go:
Salad Mix
Arugula
Red Marble Onions (Cipollini type)
Summer Squash
Beans
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Edamame (aka soybeans)
Eggplant
Purple Viking Potatoes (purple-pink skin with white flesh)
Spaghetti Squash (it really does look and taste a lot like spaghetti! I was skeptical, but it's true!)

For the edamame, the way I often cook and it is to boil the pods in salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender, then drain, salt and eat them right out of the shell. A very tasty snack. Andrew, my husband, eats whole platefuls of them at a time :>)

-you can also boil them, then shell them and use them in any dish that is nice with lima beans. I use them in a simple stew made of tomatoes, onions and corn. They're sweet and not too starchy.

Here's a link to another blog with some fun ideas for using edamame.

For spaghetti squash, and really any type of winter squash (the kind with a hard rind- like butternut, acorn, pie pumpkins, delicata, hubbard, etc), The basic method is to cut them in half, remove the seeds and stringy stuff right in the middle, then bake them face down in a casserole pan at 350 degrees until the flesh is tender. Spaghetti squash is supposed to be stringy; so stringy it looks like spaghetti, but most of the others will cook into a nice smooth puree.

Here's another blog with a tasty recipe for spaghetti squash-

That's what I've got this week-
Thanks!
Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm

CSA Week 16!

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of weeks- things have just been too busy to fit in a blog post. But I'll try to at least keep up with the veggie list even if I don't have time to write more!

So I'll get right down to it.
Your bags include:
Salad mix
Summer squash (enjoy it while it lasts!)
Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Red potatoes
Baby Bok Choy
Summer Savory (an herb, especially good with beans)
Yellow onions
Sweet Pepper
Carrots
Beans

The baby Bok Choy is really tender right now, and would be a great last second addition to a stir fry, but only cook it for a very short time! It won't need much.

We've had a bumper crop of peppers this year, and we've given out a lot of sweet peppers and a few hot ones as well. I really like the varieties we offer, but sometimes telling the hot from the sweet can be a little confusing, especially since a few of ours don't look their type.
So let me introduce you to our hot peppers:

 From left to right: 3 Hungarian Hotwax, ranging from yellow to orangey-red, 2 poblano peppers, 2 Jaluv an Attitude peppers (1 green, 1 red) and 1 Czech Black pepper

Hot peppers are rated according to the Scoville scale of hotness, named after Wilbur Scoville. You can see a nifty chart on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

 Hungarian Hotwax, (rated 700-3,000 scovilles), range from yellow when less ripe, to a bright orange-red when fully mature. The hotness really varies-

 

The classic Poblano Pepper- this is the pepper most often used to make Chiles Rellenos. They range from 900 to 2,500 scovilles.

 

 From left to right, a green Jaluv an Attitude, a red Jaluv an Attitude, and a ripe Czech Black. The Jaluv an Attitudes are a cross between a chile and a jalapeno, and the heat is right about jalapeno level. The Czech Blacks, (which are black before they turn red) are just a little less spicy than a classic jalapeno.

To confuse matters, we have a few sweet peppers that are a little incognito: the three below are Cubanelle, Jimmy Nardello's and Carmen. Cubanelle isn't super sweet, but it's meant to be a fry pepper; especially good with onions. But just because they're red and pointy doesn't mean they're spicy!

 

cubanelle

Jimmy Nardello's

Carmen

 Hope this helps you enjoy your peppers without getting an unexpected surprise! Remember whenever working with hot peppers to use gloves, and be careful not to touch your eyes or face! It's really really not a fun experience... believe me. But they're oh so tasty once they're cooked up! I love hot peppers...

Well, that's it for tonight.

Sarah
for Lucky Moon Farm