Pumpkins etched with Care for your Families. Thank you for being a member of our CSA!
The other night when we were working, I had the Happy station playing on Pandora. The songs were those that made you want to sing and dance. So the boys and I were singing and dancing like no one was watching. Their smiles and laughter were contagious, and the stress and our exhaustion from our days seemed to be pushed away.
It reminded of me of picking rock when I was growing up. Those were some long days in the field. Rock picking can be long, hot, boring work, but when we blared the radio on the tractor, the singing and the dancing ensued and laughter followed.
As we push for our fall cleanup to be completed, it’s these moments that I want to freeze in time. Time to be crazy, time to accomplish, time to learn and explore and time to have fun, all as a family.
Remember in the end, your kids simply want to laugh and play with you and dance like no one is watching.
Garden clean-up has begun. The boys used a shredder to break down the plants so that we can incorporate them into the soil.
Garden Science
So are you wondering how the names are created on your pumpkins? It begins at the end of July/beginning of August.
The boys carefully select pumpkins that they think go with the amount of letters in your last name, and a pumpkin that will grow to be a nice size for your front porch.
Then using their great-great grandpa’s wood working tools that were hand carved, they carefully etch out your last names in the pumpkin. This will then appear as a “scar” on the skin of the pumpkin. A great way for the boys to work on their spelling, their letter writing and how to work gently with a young plant.
Boxes of Produce
This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.
Some of the crops are ran under cold well water to take the field heat off of them so they last longer in your refrigerators. They are not washed – just cooled. So wash your vegetables before eating.
Lettuce and Spinach – Enjoy this mix on some BLTs or salads.
Carrots – We are having a healthy crop. Hope you are enjoying them.
Green Beans – A little taste – We were surprised that the new crop of green beans and sugar snap peas were not quite ready. Both are blooming and those blooms will grow into the vegetables. Hoping next week.
Broccoli – Broccoli for your salads.
Kohlrabi – Maybe one more week??
Beets – Enjoy the beets before they are all harvested.
Yellow Onions
Cucumbers – Enjoy the “ugly” cucumbers:) The tail end of the cucumbers.
Peppers – A few green peppers with the small Habanero peppers. Choose a few tonight. Fun facts about peppers.
Tomato varieties abound.
Tomatoes – Tomato varieties included in your boxes: Yellow Girls, Honey Delights, Big Boys, Roma, Fourth of July, Big Mammas, Honey Delights, Amish Paste and cherry tomatoes. The tomato crop is quickly slowing down. Let us know if you would like any to freeze or can.
Potatoes – Midnight Moon and Masquerade in your box this week. Additional varieties will reappear next week. Learn more about potatoes here.
We broke of the bad parts of the corn that had ear worm. Then boiled the good sweet corn for about 8-10 minutes and cut off the corn to freeze and enjoy throughout the year.
Sweet Corn – After finding the earworm in way to many ears, this crop was shredded and will be incorporated into the soil to build soil health. We are looking into our options to prevent this pest next year while providing more sweet corn for your families to enjoy. We did salvage the good part of our ears, boiled them for 8-10 minutes in boiling water, cut the corn off the ears and froze the corn for us to enjoy the rest of the year.
Basil – Pull a plant, replant in your garden or use it fresh.
Melons – Choice of watermelon or cantaloupe. This is the end of the crop. Enjoy!
The boys had a great time harvesting your name pumpkins.
Pumpkins – The boys enjoyed etching your names into the young pumpkins a few weeks ago. So while they may not look exactly perfect, please know they were done with much joy for each of your families by the boys to show gratitude for your families to enjoy this fall.
What a variety of gourds we have this year. These two resembled snakes. We hope you enjoy your share. Look for more next week.
Gourds – A variety of them abound from Baby Boos to egg gourds to Jack-Be-Littles and more. Enjoy your share this week and look for more next week.
The ornamental corn colors are beautiful.
Fresh cut arrangement – Ornamental corn – one bunch for each of you. This crop was beat up by winds and a few storms this year. We plan to increase the amount of plants planted next year.
Recipe of the Week
Butternut Squash
A family favorite! I freeze and use throughout the year in recipes that call for pumpkin.
1. Using a butcher knife, split the squash in half lengthwise. Place in a cake pan, put about 1/4 – 1/2 inch of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for at least an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove from oven. peel off the skin using a knife or turn it over and scoop out cooked squash. Scoop out and remove the seeds – discard (seeds could be cooked using a pumpkin seed recipe).
3. Place cooked squash in bowl with 1/2 cup of stick butter and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix and enjoy.
Squash mixed up and ready to be eaten or frozen. I freeze mine in cupcake tins, after they are frozen I put them in a Ziploc bag and pull them out as needed for meals or when a recipe calls for pumpkin.
Butternut Squash
1 squash
1/2 cup of stick butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1. Using a butcher knife, split the squash in half lengthwise. Place in a cake pan, put about 1/4 – 1/2 inch of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for at least an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove from oven. peel off the skin using a knife or turn it over and scoop out cooked squash. Scoop out and remove the seeds – discard. Or seeds could be cooked using a pumpkin seed recipe.
3. Place cooked squash in bowl with 1/2 cup of stick butter and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix and enjoy.
4. Once squash is mixed up and ready to be eaten or freeze in cupcake tin. After they are frozen I put them in a Ziploc bag and pull them out as needed for meals or when a recipe calls for pumpkin.
