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Week 21 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 21 from Valley Flora! Savoy Cabbage! Spaghetti Squash!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
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What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • Don't be Scared...it's just a SPAGHETTI SQUASH!
  • A Word about Winter Squash
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Yellow Onions
  • Head Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Tomatoes
  • Savoy Cabbage
  • Red Potatoes
  • Cilantro
  • Spaghetti squash
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Radishes
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Radicchio
  • Lettuce
  • Collards
  • Tomatoes?
  • Celery?
  • Hakurei Turnips
  • Acorn Squash
  • Pie Pumpkin
  • Fennel

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Don't be Scared...
This week everyone is getting a spaghetti squash, some of which might fill half your tote and weigh more than your cat, but don't be afraid! Spaghetti squash is maybe the easiest of all the winter squashes to handle, in part because the main way you handle it is pretty hands off: just bake it whole. Aside from piercing it with a knife a few times so it doesn't explode in your oven or pressure cooker, you don't have to risk life and limb try to peel, hack, slice and dice and get it recipe-ready. And if you're afraid to even stab the thing once or twice, pop it into your microwave for 5 minutes to soften it and then pierce it with a sharp-tipped knife. That is, if you can fit it in your microwave...

But speaking of recipes, there are lots of exciting ideas for how to eat a spaghetti squash, more everyday in this new gluten-free era.

If you belong to the Instant Pot or pressure cooker club, this is a pretty clever way to make "spaghetti" and sauce all in the same pot, in under an hour:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/one-pot-turkey-bolognese-with-spaghetti

If you are a sucker for fritters (my hand is in the air right now), then try these:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spaghetti-squash-fritters

And if you love salami and cheese like a good Italian should, this might be right up your alley:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cheesy-baked-spaghetti-squash-boats-with-salami-sundried-tomatoes-and-spinach

It seem like most recipes calling for spaghetti squash use it as a vehicle for cheese, tomato sauce, and other delights. But you know, they also taste pretty good on their own if you want to just cook it naked and keep it simple.
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A Word (or two) About Winter Squash
I haven't given squash season it's proper introduction like I usually do. I assume a lot of you are familiar with winter squash and adept at handling them, but on the off chance that they're an entirely new kitchen adventure for you, here are a few tips:
  • Store your squash on the counter, or somewhere cool and dark with good airflow. Not in the fridge, unless you cut one in half and save some of it to cook with later. Most varieties of squash will store for weeks, if not months. The last variety you'll receive in December - Tetsu - could keep for over a year. I just had a CSA member from last year send me a picture of her 2018 Tetsu, cut in half and still perfect inside.
  • Squash skin is edible, but not necessarily palatable. The exception is Delicata, which has a thin enough skin it doesn't interfere with your eating enjoyment too much. That said, I tend to peel even my Delicatas in order to enjoy the smooth texture to its fullest. Acorns are tough to peel due to their hard ribs, so I mostly cook them in their shell.
  • When cutting into uncooked squash, be careful! If you have a microwave you can precook them for 5 minutes to soften them up and then go at it with the knife. I'm confident with a knife and we don't have a microwave, so my approach is usually:
    1. Peel with a peeler, if it's a peeling type (butternut, delicata, sunshine)
    2. Using my big kitchen knife with the sharpest, pointiest tip, I insert the tip of the knife into the belly of the squash and then carefully work the blade of the knife around the middle of the squash to cleave it in half.
    3. Once I've halved the squash, I scoop out the seeds and put the cut side down on the cutting board so it's stable. Then I slice and dice into whatever shape/size I'm after.
  • If it's a spaghetti, acorn, pie pumpkin or Tetsu, I skip the peeling step but do everything else the same.
And finally, if you want a quick read about winter squash in general - and a guide to all the different kinds - check out this link:
https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/a-visual-guide-to-winter-squash-varieties-article

You won't see all of those varieties from us this fall, but we have grown all of them over the course of the past decade. We've narrowed our squash lineup down to the varieties that taste the best, store the best and yield the best on our farm. I hope you like them!
 
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October Farmstand Hours
 
Every Wednesday & Saturday (rain or shine)
10 am to 1 pm

Fresh Produce
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
Copyright © 2019 Valley Flora, All rights reserved.


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Week 20 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 20 from Valley Flora! Romanesco! Nijiseiki! Sunshine Squash!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
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What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • Fall Faves: Romanesco, Nijiseiki Asian Pears & Sunshine Squash
  • Last Week of Salad Shares
  • Tamales this Week!
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Red Onions
  • Head Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Tomatoes
  • Romanesco
  • Nijiseiki Asian Pears
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Beets
  • Hakurei Turnips
  • Sunshine Squash
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Savoy Cabbage
  • Lettuce
  • Apples
  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers?
  • Hot Peppers
  • Spaghetti Squash
  • Potatoes
  • Fennel?
  • Radishes?

    •  
Fall Faves
No, you are not hallucinating. It's just romanesco cauliflower, in all it's awesome fractal amazing-ness! It also happens to be my favorite fall Brassica: better than broccoli, better than cauliflower, better than Brussels sprouts. We've had CSA members in year's past who couldn't bear to eat it because it was too cool to look at, so here's the solution: get out your phone, take a bunch of pics - maybe some selfies with you and the romanesco together - and then cut into that puppy! I like to try to preserve those minaret-styled florets in their entirety when I disassemble the head - purely for aesthetic reasons - but no matter how you slice it, it's still going to taste fantastic tossed with some olive oil and salt and roasted until crispy-tender in the oven.

Cousin to last week's Chojuro, you're getting Nijiseiki Asian Pears this week. They are light and bright and juicy and refreshing. Not quite as intensely flavored as the Chojuro, but a lot of people prefer them for their tender texture and juiciness. They're easy eating.

Some of you veteran CSA members might recognize the scarlet-orange squash in your share this week called Sunshine. We grew Sunshine in the early years and it was one of our favorites - definitely one of the top three most popular (Delicata, Butternut and Sunshine). We relied on it as our Thanksgiving squash because it stored well, the already-delicious flavor got even more delicious in storage, and you could stuff it like a turkey! But then one year we went to pack the Thanksgiving shares and most of the Sunshine squash had rot spots. We were crestfallen! We grew it another year but had the same problem. We finally gave up on it and have been trialing replacements ever since. The problem is, there just isn't a scarlet kabocha that tastes quite as good or is as pretty to look at. So, this year I decided we'd bring it back and simply give it out sooner, before it gave up the ghost in storage. Nobody at OSU can tell us why it's succumbing to storage rot so much more easily now, but it seems to be a problem ubiquitous to most farms in our network throughout the state.

One of the best things about Sunshine is it's versatility. It has an almost tropical flavor and nice dry firmness when cooked, which makes it a fantastic centerpiece in curry. For soup, I often reach for Sunshine before Butternut. In my pressure cooker, I'll saute up some leeks, drop in a cubed, peeled Sunshine squash, add a couple cans of coconut milk and some water, add a little salt, lock the lid in place, and we have soup for dinner 6 minutes later. You can also make pie with them, or just bake them and eat them as-is (butter always welcome).
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Last Week of Salad Shares
This is the 20th and final week of Abby's Greens Salad Shares. Salad will continue to be available in the coming weeks at the farmstand and various outlets (Port Orford Community Co-op, Langlois Market, Mother's Natural Grocery, Coos Head Food Co-op). Many thanks to Abby for her tireless dedication to producing the most beautiful salad greens in the world!
Tamales this Week!
Tamales are going out in marked coolers this week. Please double check the tags on the bags and make sure you are taking home the dozen labeled for you. Enjoy!
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October Farmstand Hours
 
Every Wednesday & Saturday (rain or shine)
10 am to 1 pm

Fresh Produce
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags and u-pick containers!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
Copyright © 2019 Valley Flora, All rights reserved.


unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

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