In the share this week
1 small butternut squash
1 lb tomatoes
1 lb green beans
1/2 lb sugar snap peas
1 lb yellow onions
1 bag spicy salad mix
1 bunch sage
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
We had such a lovely time at our open house this past Sunday! The weather was just perfect for showing folks around the farm and the kids had a blast painting tiles. I think we'll likely end up using them for a back splash behind our sinks in the new pack shed. Even though we still have work to do to get the pack shed fully functional, I'm feeling so grateful to have this building as a gathering spot right next to the farm. It often feels like progress can be so slow on many farm projects, but when you look back over the nearly 9 years that we've been here, it's amazing how much we've been able to accomplish. I felt really good about this mid to late September timing for a farm gathering, so I think we'll probably stick with that time frame in future years. We are always trying to think about how to make these gatherings more fun and meaningful and to get more members out to meet one another. I know everyone has busy lives and Covid is also still a concern at the moment, but if you have any ideas about how to make our farm gathering more accessible for your family, let us know!
Wow - I think the share this week is really fantastic. We have many fall crops coming on, mixed with late summer goodness too. We are harvesting the last of the green bean plantings this week and we'll have roma beans next week before beans are totally done for the year. The tomatoes just keep on trucking and have had their best year ever. Our fall sugar snaps are coming on strong this week. If you don't just eat these fresh as a snack, you might want to try them in a stir fry. I also think you could add the spicy salad mix greens (a mix of baby mustard that can be eaten raw or cooked). Here's a recipe that gives you an idea of something like that where you could substitute your spicy greens for the collards:
The spicy salad mix is looking awesome this week and it's truly not very spicy. Some types of mustard greens are hotter than others, but this blend is fairly mild. I love the nutty taste of these greens and enjoy the fact that they are versatile enough to eat raw or cooked. Let us know what you think!
We have one more butternut squash for you this week, along with sage as an herb. If you've never had a pasta made with butternut and sage, you must try it! There are tons of recipes out there and this is just an example. You could also lightly wilt the mustard greens on this dish to good effect. When we've made this in the past we have included chopped toasted hazelnuts too:
If you don't plan to use you sage leaves fresh, this herb is very amenable to drying. Just hang your bunch upside down and the leaves will dry nicely. We just leave our dried bunch hanging like that and break off a leaf or two whenever we need sage. It's a great herb for many fall dishes, especially that thanksgiving stuffing!
Hope you all have a great week!