Hellgate CSA

Don't forget the next order deadline is October 8th at midnight, delivery on October 13th. Please remember to place your order on time, as late orders can be a disruption to all farms involved.

In case you don't want to just eat the grapes we received this week, think about making this super-easy, tasty juice.

Vegetable Share
leeks
lettuce (Boston and another kind)
broccoli
tatsoi
string beans
summer squash
sweet peppers
 
Herb Share
mint
italian parsley
 
Fruit Share
Mutsu apples (3 lbs)
Bosc pears (3 lbs)
Black grapes (.75 lbs)
 
Flour, beans, and cornmeal today, too!

October is here and our summer crops are coming to an end. Basil and the few tomatoes we had are gone. We will still have eggplant, peppers, summer squash and beans for several more weeks.

Our broccoli has begun as have several types of kales. We dug our sweet potatoes this week and will be bringing them in starting next week. They look very good. We hope to have lettuce all the way through to the final delivery week. Radichio and fennel are looking good for harvest in a couple of weeks. All of our Fall greens are doing well as cool weather does them well.

We got 3 lbs of pears this week! If you're wondering what to do with them, may I suggest the following recipe, adapted from Pam Anderson's USA Weekend column recipe.

1 tablespoon butter per pear

1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar per pear

however many pears you want, halved and cored (and peeled, if you want). 1 pear per person.

Tomatillos are a fruit related to tomatoes and have a husk covering them. They can be many colors when ripe including purple, red, green and yellow. If left in the husk, they last in the bottom of your fridge's crisper for up to a month! You can also freeze them whole or sliced. Additionally, you can use them in salsa which you can preserve through canning and/or freezing. Given that the share this week will include a number of possible salsa ingredients, here is a recipe from Epicurious.com for tomatillo salsa:

Tomatillo salsa

Vegetable Share
string beans
cilantro
lettuce
eggplant
scallions
tomatillos
hot peppers (jalapeno)
sweet peppers
 
Fruit Share
McIntosh and Gala apples
Bartlett pears
 
Meat & Dairy this week, too!

Hello to Fall –

Tomatoes—the Late Blight Catastrophe, the Controversies, the Culinary Joys

Food Systems Network NYC will be holding a panel to celebrate the tomato and explore the tomato blight crisis and the impact on local farming. Local farmers from upstate and from the city will talk about their tomato crops or losses due to late blight. A local agriculture expert and others will also contribute their views at this forum, the Network’s first evening program. 

Red Basil leaves actually are a deep purple color and have a stronger, spicier flavor than regular green basil leaves. Some notes I've read suggest a hint of clove to the flavor and that a traditional basil pesto recipe may not be the best use of this herb. Basil butter is mentioned a lot as an interesting use for this basil variety. Basil butter can be kept in small containers in your freezer for future use throughout the fall.