THIS WEEK'S HARVEST
Sunshine Kabocha Squash, Desiree Red Potatoes, Scallions, Cured Yellow Onions, Italian Softneck Garlic, Red Russian Kale, Napa Cabbage, Mei Qing Bok Choi, Cauliflower, Mixed Loose Beets, Rainbow Chard, Red Round Turnips, Bunched White Satin Carrots, Rosaine Little Gem Lettuces, Fancy Fall Salad Mix (Shungiku, Arugula, Mustard Greens, Frisee, Radicchio)
U-PICK
JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN! 1 per share season season limit. (If you are sharing a share, please coordinate with your group as to who takes home your pumpkin.)
Cherry Tomatoes: Still pretty loaded!
Herbs: Italian Basil, Tulsi Basil, Thai Basil, Purple Basil, Italian Parsley, Rosemary, Lemon balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Cilantro, French Sorrel, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Oregano, Thyme, Chamomile, Mints, Anise Hyssop, Culinary Lavender, Lemongrass
Flowers! There some really nice new Zinnia and Cosmo beds to the left of the cherry tomatoes
Frying Peppers & Jalapeños: Gleanings.
Strawberries: Snacks
PUMPKIN PATCH!
Don’t forget to come adopt a Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin, waiting for you out on the farm! Find the double blue flags down in the Eastern-most beds of field 2. 1 per share season limit. If you are sharing a share, please coordinate with your group as to who takes home the pumpkin.
HARVEST NOTES
Sunshine Kabocha Squash: We’ll be distributing a new variety of Winter Squash every week (except one) until the end of the harvest season December 21st. See below to get hyped with a description of each variety. Sunshine Kabocha is one of our personal all-time favorites. Excellent for eating straight roasted. Also excellent in pies, curries, etc. Super sweet, velvety smooth texture.
PRESERVING THE HARVEST
Kim-chi recipes: This week we’ll again have Napa cabbage, daikon, and scallions in the share for making Kim-chi. Try this tried and true classic spicy Kim-chi recipe and/or try this more mellow, kid friendly, white Kim-chi recipe via CSA member Robin Kim. Robin made a vegan version of the white Kim-chi recipe for us last year that was one of our favorite farm preserves of the year. She substituted the salted shrimp and fish sauce with Bragg’s aminos / soy sauce. She also omitted the alliums. It was mellow but still packed with flavor. For jujubes, chestnuts, pine nuts, and rice flour Robin recommends visiting Asiana Market in Cotati or Asia Mart in Santa Rosa.
TORTILLA WORKSHOP!
THE MAGIC OF CORN IN THE KITCHEN AND GARDEN
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND: 10AM - 12PM
Want to make tortillas and tamales from Green Valley corn? CSA member, ecological educator, and deep student of corn, Lindsay Dailey will demonstrate how to grind corn for flour, discuss recipes, and explore the alchemy of nixtamalization which makes corn sticky in order to make masa for tortillas and tamales. While we work, Lindsay and the farmers will talk about the natural history and mythology of corn and discuss planting, growing, and saving seed from this amazing plant in the home garden! And then we'll eat some fresh made tortillas! Yum!
THANK YOU!
A huge thank you to everyone who came out last Saturday and Wednesday to help us bring in over 4,000 lbs of Desiree, Harvest Moon, Fingerling, and German Butterball potatoes! We’re rich! You made what would have been a huge task for us farmers a super fun couple of mornings! It was so nice chatting with you all in the rows and working together. Our hearts (and cooler) are full to the brim!
NOTES & REMINDERS
Clippers: Only you can prevent clipper attrition. Please make sure to put back farm u-pick clippers in the wicker basket after you’re finished.
CSA Pick-up Schedule: Tuesday, 1pm - 6pm // Saturdays, 9am - 1pm // Until December 21st.
Volunteer Wednesday: Interested in some farm therapy? Come out on Wednesday mornings to help us tend the garden and farm together. Come find us in the garden or out in the main fields on Wednesdays from 8:00am 'til 10:00 am. All abilities welcome, we’ll find something comfortable for you to do!
FARMER’S LOG
AN ODE TO WINTER SQUASH
Last week, we penned an Ode to the Potato. In a couple weeks we’ll serenade corn. Both are New World crops who changed the world and inspired poets.
But this week we set aside for the fairest of them all. She is the beloved oldest of the Three Sisters. She takes on infinite forms — voluptuous to svelte; burning red to soft green. She has been kindling a bashful, loyal love in humanity’s heart for 10,000 years. Ladies and gentlemen, the Winter Squash.
The ancestral plants of what we call squash (the species including zuchinni, melons, gourds, cucumbers, pumpkins and all winter squash) are millions of years old and native to the New World.
The earliest evidence for human domestication dates back 10,000 years to Southern Mexico… earlier than the domestication of corn or beans.
Word travelled fast and inspiration abounded. By 2,000 B.C., squash had became a part of life for almost every Native American culture from Southern Canada to Patagonia — varietals were kept and cherished for everything from the protein rich and medicinal seeds of some, to the sweet flesh and tough, winter hardy skins of others. Botanists note at least six separate domestication events by Native peoples in the New World. (The English word “squash” comes from the Narragansett word, askutasquash, meaning fresh vegetable, and similar words can be found in the related languages of the Algonquian language family.)
Here at GVCFarm, the human + squash love affair burns bright... and we have at our fingertips the unparalleled modern library of heirloom squash seeds to play with. Over the winter, Kayta hunkered down by a roaring fire with a seed catalogue and a good cup of coffee and laid out a season-long love sonnet to squash.
We felt the summer wind with a cool slice of Striped Armenian cucumber. We dined by candlelight over pasta with Costata Romanesca Zucchini. Once we tasted a Sarah’s Choice Cantaloupe, we could never forget. But in the Winter, our true love came — the Winter Squash.
We’ll have a new squash for you to get to know every week (except one) until December 21st.
2019’s Winter Squash varieties: Top Row from L to R: Bonbon Buttercup, Butternut, Sunshine Kabocha, Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin, Racer Jack-O-Lanter Pumpkin /// Bottom Row from L to R: Jester Acorn Squash, Tetsukabuto, Musque de Provence, Autumn Crown, Delicata
Bonbon Buttercup: A cute little buttercup variety with a light green belly button and orange, creamy, rich, sweet flesh
Butternut: The classic, reliable, bring-em-home-to-daddy squash with a nutty charm
Sunshine Kabocha - The village beauty. A gorgeous fiery red Kabocha squash with sweet and flaky flesh. Kayta's favorite. Exceptional for pumpkin pie or straight roasted eating.
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin: The supreme pie pumpkin in lacy, netted lingerie. The only pie pumpkin that can compete with a Sunshine Kabocha. We'll distribute this one around Thanksgiving with our go-to pumpkin pie recipe.
Racer Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin: A classic Jack-O-Lantern to help you celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. Don’t forget to try roasting the seeds!
Jester Acorn - The sweetest Acorn squash we've ever tasted. A good Jester can be among the sweetest of squashes. David's favorite.
Tetsukabuto: A Kabocha/Butternut cross called the “apocalypse squash” for its vigor and ability to a produce sweet, nutty and versatile squash under adverse conditions.
Musque de Provence: Our “feed the village” squash this year, these gorgeous giants with gold green streaked ribs are decorative, delicious, and long-storing. Beloved and sold in wedges in French farmers markets.
Autumn Crown: It's our first year growing this miniature Long Island Cheese pumpkin, which is reported to have great flavor and give off the aroma of sweet melon when cut.
Delicata: A real heartbreaker. The sweetest. Easiest to cook, even easier to eat.
We hope you fall in love (or at least in lust) with a squash this fall!
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
