What's in the box?

bell peppers
onions
potatoes
vitamin green
salad or scarlet turnips (medium and large)
cauliflower or broccoli
musk melon or cantaloupe
lacinato kale
sweet dumpling winter squash (large and medium)
acorn winter squash (large and medium)
delicata winter squash (small)
sage

Notes on the box.

More of the likely underripe melons. If they don't smell ripe yet, allow them to sit on your counter until it smells sweet and fruity. Or you can try them in a more savory recipe like the Cantaloupe, lime, chili salad below. Or in a recipe that adds more sweetner, like a sorbet or a smoothie.

You may have quite a pile of potatoes adding up. My favorite way to cook them is to cut into large dice, par-boil them until just fork tender, drain them, put them into a cast iron skillet with lots of butter and salt, and roast until browned in a 450 degree oven. If they don't al get eaten at dinner, they are great added to scrambled eggs in the morning.

Vitamin green is also known as choy sum. It's good added at the very end of a stirfry or added to soups.

Winter Squash season has begun! Your squash does not need to be stored in the fridge. You can set out and start making a festive fall arrangement as you work your way through these beauties. We will be giving Winter Squash through the remainder of the season and we have several different types. But the cooking of any of them is pretty much the same idea... Carefully cut the squash in half from stem to end. Scoop out seeds. Place cut side down onto a greased or oiled baking dish. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep water). Bake at 400 until you can easily stick a fork into the squash through the skin (20- 40 min depending on the squash). Serve with butter. All of the squash this week (sweet dumpling, acorn, and delicata) have skin that is edible, though the acorn skin can be tough. Squash with edible skin are great for slicing into thin cresent shapes, coating with spices (chili powder, curry, cumin, or whatever you feel like) and roasting. I'll link a recipe below.

Cheese Shares.

This week we have a young jack style cheese we are calling Aquila. It tastes clean, milky, and grassy with a creamy paste. It's very easy to eat!

Want to try our cheese at an exciting spot in Minneapolis? GYST fermentation bar just got a couple of wheels from us to add to their amazingly gorgeous cheese plates. Yay!

Recipes.

After School Cantaloupe Smoothie by Otto

Remove seeds and skin from 1/2 a cantaloupe. Chop and put in blender (you may chop and freeze and then use frozen for an icy cold smoothie). Add a scoop of honey or vanilla yogurt, or plain yogurt and add honey to taste. A pinch of cinnamon or cardamom (optional). Add milk. Debate adding peanut butter, but decide against it. Blend until smooth. Yum!

Chili Lime Cantaloupe

medium cantaloupe
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about ½ lime)
1 Tbsp honey
salt to taste
crushed red pepper to taste

Cut the cantaloupe in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut off the rind. Once the rind is removed, slice the melon into thin pieces.
In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice, honey, salt, and crushed red pepper. Stir until the honey is dissolved.
Add the sliced cantaloupe and toss to coat the melon in the dressing. Serve immediately, or chill until ready to eat. Give the melon a brief stir before serving.

Cheesey Baked Cauliflower Tots

Roasted Salt and Pepper Delicata Squash (you can also use sweet dumpling or acorn)

On the farm.

Ahhh, transitions. We are transitioning into fall, and the weather has been all over the place. It was so hot and humid, then suddenly cold and super rainy, then warm again... We have had plenty of rough Springs, but this season, Fall seems to be hitting us with some disease, crops lost due to too much rain or overtaken by weeds when it was too wet to cultivate, and uneven ripening. This morning, we've had close to 2 inches of rain since 2 AM already, so things aren't looking good for our already waterlogged spinach. During the thunderstorms last night, there was also some hail. We haven't been out to the field yet to see the damage, but hopefully it's not too bad... we have spinach, lettuce and salad mix, radishes, cauliflower, greens, broccoli and cabbage out in the field that we are hoping didn't get too beat up. In the coming weeks we will also Winter Squash, onions, garlic, potatoes, greens, and peppers for as long as the frost holds off. I think in the blog last week I said there were 4 weeks left, but it's actually 4 more after this weeks delivery. Still plenty of veggies to come!

The farm party will be next week, September 26th. We really hope you can make it! We will provide meat and cheese and ask that you bring a side or desert to share. Feel free to BYOB. Kids and guests are welcome! Unfortunately, our dogs aren't friendly with other dogs, so we ask that you leave your fur family at home.

Gold and orange on the farm this week...

Week 14; September 17, 2015