Waratah Downs Organic Farm CSA Week #14

We are feeling the burn of this late September heat wave, but most crops are loving it! Peppers are ripening like made, tomatoes continue to ripen on the vine, and everything seems to be extra sweet these days. Realising that this dry spell has made things a little too dry, we have begun irrigating a few of our green fall crops like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce. They just all seemed to be receding a little last week and looking a little bit forlorn. Yesterday morning when we were harvesting chard for the shares, it was nice to hear the satisfying snap of the stem after a morning of watering, as opposed to the somewhat placid feel of the plants when they begin to get a little too dry. It’s the little things that we get joy from on the farm!

Not a whole lot of new crops in the boxes this week, but we are sending along our first round of Butternut squash for the 2017 season. These are one of our most popular varieties of squash, and one I find to be the most versatile for use in soups, pastas, curries, sweet and savoury baking, and a plethora of other fun things. There are quite a few Winter Squash Primers found on the internet these days, here is a good one I found that lists the ins and outs of 11 common squash, including butternut: http://www.thekitchn.com/the-11-varieties-of-winter-squash-you-need-to-know-ingredient-intelligence-157857 Butternut are also very easy to handle in the kitchen, one reason it has come to be a favourite among chefs and big kitchens. The skin can be peeled with a normal veggie peeler, they are easy to split, and the flesh to seed ratio is amazing, as there are no seeds in the neck of the fruit. Here’s a yummy take on the classic butternut squash soup, with a thai twist, from Moosewood Restaurant: https://moosewoodcooks.com/2013/11/thai-butternut-squash-soup/. Also, I’ve tried these butternut squash gnocchi and they are to die for: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/butternut-squash-gnocchi-with-sage-brown-butter.

In weeks to come we can look forward to shares with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and more of the storage crops in case your fridge space is running low and you would like to stash some things for winter months. The weather is not conducive, but I know I am already craving the nourishment of soups, stews and roasts as the fall colours begin to arrive. Things may take a swift turn in a couple of days when we have a prediction of a 3 degree low overnight Friday. We will take the sunshine and warmth while it stays, and soon be switching to toques and sweaters for our morning harvests.

Just a friendly reminder that we have 1Kg jars of locally harvested honey from John’s family. If you’d like some honey, it is $13/jar and can be delivered with your next share. Enjoy your shares this week, and stay tuned for what next week’s harvest brings!

-Waratah Downs Organic Farm Team

-Butternut squash

-carrots

-Salanova

-Onion

-Cauliflower

-Sweet Peppers

-Garlic

-Rainbow chard

-Beans

-Extra Peppers

-Kale

-Magenta lettuce head

-Fennel