• Rainbow Potatoes
• Carrots
• Sungold Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• Delicata Squash
• Tomatillos
• Sweet Peppers
• Patty Pan Squash
• Hot Peppers
• Basil

While we are definitely moving into more fall like weather, the last 10 days has been a little extra summer weather. This encouraged more patty pan squash and cherry tomatoes to grow. You have one last taste of these in your boxes this week.

This week’s box contains yellow, red and blue potatoes. I must confess that this is a pitiful potato harvest. Those of you who have been CSA members for many years remember great potatoes from my years farming in Gays Mills. I thought moving to the sandy soils of Rio would mean better potatoes. Well, it really means better potato beetles. Each year they get worse and just destroy my potatoes. I’ve tried a strategy of planting later to avoid the beetles. It worked last year. This year, we planted potatoes even later and still had lots of beetles. I’ll do some more research over the winter, but I’m thinking of dropping potatoes as a crop. I have so much money into seed potatoes, planting and weeding. At this point it seems that we will harvest fewer pounds of potatoes than we planted. It’s quite discouraging.

What we are missing in potatoes is made up in broccoli and sweet peppers. Both of these crops are producing in huge quantities. The peppers can be easily roasted on either a grill or under a broiler. Simply place whole peppers on the grill. Let the skins blacken and turn to another side. When it is blackened all over, remove and place in a paper bag. Let peppers sit in the bag for 15 minutes. Then peel off the skin, remove the stem and seeds. You can eat as is or freeze for later use.

You will also find big basil bunches in your boxes this week. Basil plants get very unhappy when the temperatures hit 35 or so. We may see some of those temperatures this week. So in preparation, we cut down whole basil plants. We left the flowers and all on the plants for you to pick through. This is the time to make a final big batch of pesto and put it in the freezer to eat when snow covers the ground.

This Week’s Recipes

Poultry Pasta Primavera
(Simply in Season)

8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup carrots, julienned
½ cup sweet red pepper, sliced
1 sweet onion, sliced

Five minutes before the pasta is done, add the vegetables to the cooking water. Continue cooking until pasta is done and vegetables are crisp tender. Drain and set aside.

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1½ teaspoons basil, chopped
1 teaspoon oregano (½ teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cooked chicken or turkey
½ cup yogurt
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

In large frypan, sauté garlic and herbs in ½ tablespoon olive oil. Add flour and stir briefly. Add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add chicken and heat through. Add yogurt and cheese. Heat, but do not boil. Serve the white sauce over the pasta and vegetables. Garnish with additional freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Mexican Pepper Casserole
(The Moosewood Cookbook)

4 to 6 sweet peppers
1½ cups thinly sliced onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon each of salt, cumin, coriander
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
4 large eggs
1½ cups sour cream (or part yogurt)
½ lb medium-sharp cheddar, thinly-sliced
Paprika

Slice the peppers in thin strips. Heat the butter and olive oil together in a heavy skillet. Sauté onions and garlic with salt and spices. When the onions are translucent, add peppers. Sauté over low heat for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour. Mix well and sauté until there is no extra liquid. Beat together the eggs and sour cream to form a custard. Butter a deep casserole. Spread in half the sauté, topped with half the sliced cheese. Repeat these layers. Pour custard over and sprinkle with paprika. Bake 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees. Uncover for the last 15 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Riley Writes

I love this time of year. The weather has cooled down and I can run around all day. Plus the food is good at this time of year. I love squash and broccoli. Plus Mom has been making lots of pesto and spaghetti sauce for the freezer. I love both of them. Plus we have been freezing broccoli to eat in the winter. It’s so easy. Cut the broccoli, boil it for 3 minutes (set a timer), then plunge it into ice water. Put it in freezer bags and freeze. It’s great.

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• Beets and Beet Greens
• Sweet Dumpling Squash
• Pea Shoots
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Tomatillos
• Garlic
• Hot Peppers
• Broccoli
• French Green Beans

Cucumbers This week’s box is an intersection of summer and fall veggies. These are probably the last cucumbers and tomatoes you will see for this season. I also had one final planting of beans that was pretty small, but it managed to produce enough to give you all a little taste of beans. Peppers and tomatillos will probably continue for a little while.

This week’s hot peppers are a mild Green Chile, a medium hot Hungarian Wax, a Serrano (hot), and a Poblano (this one looks like a dark green pepper, but it does have a little heat). Sweet peppers this week include 2 red peppers, and 2 other peppers. If the red peppers are not fully red, you can leave them on your kitchen counter for a day or two to let them turn a dark red color.

This week’s box also has several new fall veggies. Sweet Dumpling squash is a lovely, sweet squash. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and bake it at 350 degrees until a fork pierces the skin easily. Some folks add butter and brown sugar while it is cooking, but I find this squash to be sweet enough as it is.

Beets are also making their first appearance for the season. This is a common veggie that many folks think they dislike. Beets get a bad reputation from school lunches. I want to convince you all that these are wonderful sweet veggies. Both the roots and the greens are edible. I’ve included a very easy recipe that uses both. Most people like to peel beets. This is a pretty easy task if you cook the beets first. Then the skins will slip right off. It’s not necessary to peel them though. The skins are very edible as well.

Pea shoots are also new this week. These are young pea plants. These have sprouted up from the spring pea patch that I tilled under. The whole plant is edible and tastes, not surprisingly, like peas. I snip the plant into salads. They are great to chop up and add to sautéed vegetables. I also like to add the pea shoots to scrambled eggs.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
(A Luna Circle Farm original recipe)

Tomatillos
Onions, peeled
Garlic, peeled
Hot Peppers, stems removed
Cilantro (optional)

So if you need a new dish for tomatillos, here’s a pretty easy recipe. The quantities of onions, peppers, and garlic can vary depending on your tastes. Husk the tomatillos and wash. Place on a cookie sheet with the onions, garlic, and hot peppers. Place in the oven and set to 200 degrees. Roast for 2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven and allow ingredients to cool. Put everything (including cilantro if you want) into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You can use immediately or place into freezer containers and freeze. In January, take out of the freezer and thaw. Use on pork or chicken dishes. It’s also great on black bean burritos. This salsa tastes great and will remind you of summer.

Broccoli Salad
(Simply in Season)

3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup raisins 10 slices bacon (fried, crumbled)
½ cup red onion
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
½ cup cheese (shredded; optional)

Mix together in a large bowl. Set aside.

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
¾ cup plain yogurt or mayonnaise

Combine sugar and vinegar and stir to dissolve. Stir in yogurt until well blended. Pour over the broccoli mixture and stir together. This recipe is known to turn broccoli-haters into broccoli-lovers. In fact, I think this is the only way my brother will eat broccoli.

Whole Beet Skillet
(Simply in Season)

4 medium beets with fresh greens

Cut greens off beets, leaving about 1 inch of greens on beets. Place beets in large saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beets are tender when pricked with fork, 15-30 minutes, depending on size. While beets are cooking, remove stems from beet greens. Chop stems in 1-inch pieces. Chop greens separately. Drain the cooked beets and rinse with cold water. Sip the skins off the beets. Cut in slices. In saucepan sauté stems in 1-2 tablespoons butter until tender. Add greens and sauté until bright green and just tender. Add sliced beets and heat through.

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons ginger root (minced)
1-2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Stir in and serve immediately.

This is the 16th week of the CSA season. We have 4 more boxes after this one. Have a good week everyone.

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In the Box

• Edamame
• Spaghetti Squash
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes
• Scallions
• Broccoli
• Tomatillos
• Parsley
• Sweet Peppers
• Eggplant
• Cucumbers
• Hot Peppers
• Patty Pans

This week’s box has a couple of new items in it. The fuzzy pods are edamame. Edamame is a soybean that is eaten in the green stage. It is often served in Japanese restaurants. While you can find some recipes for edamame, the best way to eat it is very simple. Boil the pods in salted water for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep trying them until the beans pop out of the pods. In fact they are best to pop out of the pods and into your mouth.

Spaghetti squash is also new this week. If you have never had a spaghetti squash, it is best to think of it as pasta instead of a winter squash. It gets its name because the squash comes out in strings that resemble spaghetti. Use it instead of pasta with a marinara sauce, pesto or macaroni and cheese. I’ve included a recipe that is one of my favorites.

As the seasons are changing, so are the crops. Fall broccoli is coming in strong. We have been busy harvesting the winter squash. But, this will be the last you see of patty pans and zucchini. Cherry tomatoes are taking a week off as their production has dropped dramatically. Cucumbers and eggplant are waning. Peppers are finally turning colors. I hope the fall frost will be a few weeks yet so you can have many of our lovely red, orange and chocolate peppers.

Speaking of peppers, in this week’s box you got 1 or 2 heirloom peppers. One is a little round red pepper called Alma Paprika. The other is a long, skinny, sweet pepper called Jimmy Nardello. It looks like a hot pepper but it is very sweet. The story is that Jimmy Nardello’s mother smuggled these seeds into the country in her clothing. (Many seeds made it here in the possessions of immigrants). But the family kept this pepper alive and continued to save the seeds. Thanks to this effort, we have these lovely peppers today.

This Week’s Recipes

Harvest Nachos
This recipe is from member Cynthia Henson. Here is what she wrote:
“I made something rather nice last night and want to share it with you. I surveyed the produce on hand, realized I really needed to consume patty pan squashes and zucchini. I thought this was pretty good.”

• Chopped, steamed and well drained patty pans (5) and zucchini (4)
• 1 chopped jalapeno
• 1 Hungarian wax pepper
• 2 Garden Salsa peppers
• 1 chopped onion
• 4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped and drained (reserve juices)

Pile all this on top of corn chips in a baking dish. Add lots of fresh cilantro. Lightly beat two eggs in the reserved tomato juices and pour onto nachos. Add cheeses of type and amount as desired. I used parmesan and asiago, which I love. Garnish with a few more tortilla chips, broken to desirable size if needed.

Bake until eggs are done and cheese is melted/lightly browned.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole
(The Moosewood Cookbook)

• 1 6 to 8 inch spaghetti squash
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 medium cloves crushed garlic
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• ½ lb fresh, sliced mushrooms
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon (or more) fresh basil
• Dash of thyme
• 1 cup fine bread crumbs
• Parmesan cheese for the top
• Olive oil for sauté

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Bake it, facedown, on a buttered tray for about 30 minutes, or until easily pierced by a fork. Cool until it can be handled. Scoop out insides.

While the squash bakes, sauté the onions and garlic with salt, pepper, mushrooms and herbs. When the onions are soft, add freshly chopped tomatoes. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates.

Combine all ingredients. Pour into buttered 2-quart casserole. Top with lots of grated Parmesan. Bake at 375 degrees, uncovered, about 40 minutes.

Riley Writes

We had the best time on Saturday night. About 45 people came to the farm to see me. Some of them were just my size and I like playing with them the best, but sometimes I forget that my tail is so long that I smack the kids in the face. Sorry…

My dog buddy Jaime was there and I got to meet a new dog friend, Ribsey. I had fun meeting everyone. We set up food in the greenhouse and had lots of good dishes to eat. Nobody dropped as much food as I would have liked and the tables were too high to steal food. But I got to lead a tour of the fields and show people how well I play Frisbee. The night ended with a fire and toasted marshmallows. While I don’t like fire, I do like marshmallows…

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In The Box

• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Eggplant
• Walla Walla Onions
• Sweet Basil
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cutting Celery
• Tomatillos
• Hot Peppers
• Sweet Pepper
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini & Patty Pans

The last week was a true Wisconsin weather week. We had our hottest day of the season, followed by several of the coldest days since May. The plants that like hot weather are feeling the chill. I think this will be the last of the melons. Tomatoes, zucchini, patty pans, and cucumber production is slowing way down. Soon it will be time for winter squash. We have been very busy harvesting the squash.

The only unknown item in your boxes this week is an herb called cutting celery. True celery is a difficult plant to grow. It requires lots of water and blanching (covering the sides) to keep it a pale green color. I’ve found this herb to be a good substitute. It looks like parsley, but tastes like celery. Chop it up to use in tuna salad, egg salad, pasta salad or green salads. It can be used in soups as well. Use the leaves and the stems.

It’s Party Time!!!!

This Saturday, the 13th, is our fall farm gathering. We will get started at 4 pm. We will have a potluck dinner. The farm will provide plates, cups, utensils, and hot and cold beverages. Please bring a dish to share. (It doesn’t have to be a vegetable dish. Chocolate is a great alternative). If you would like alcohol, feel free to bring it along. And if you have a folding chair, please bring it along as we only have a few.

The evening’s activities will also include a farm tour, a campfire with marshmallows and the Farm Olympics. It looks like the weather will be good and the mosquitoes will be absent.

Directions to the Farm

From Madison: Take Highway 51 (Stoughton Rd) north. About 15 miles north of Madison, turn right onto Highway 60. Follow for 5 miles. Look for signs for County Highway C, but don’t turn on it. Take the 2nd left after Hwy C onto Old F Rd. Follow for 2 miles. The road jogs first right, then left. After the jog, take the first right onto Moore Rd. Follow for 1½ miles. Turn left onto Severson Rd. The farm is the first place on the left.

From Portage: Go east on Highway 16, past Rio to Otsego. (Otsego is just a wide spot in the road so don’t miss it). Turn south (right) onto Otsego Rd. Take the 2nd right onto Breen Rd. Go about 1 mile and take the first left onto Severson Rd. The farm is the third place on the right. Look for the red barn that is right on the road.

This Week’s Recipe

Monday Night Pasta

This recipe comes from member Linda Levi. Here’s what she said: “I thought I would share with you one of the fun recipes I make with your veggies. I would love to see some of your members’ every day recipes.”

1 lb. ground turkey, beef, lamb or veggie meat
3-5 cloves garlic
3/4 pound of whole wheat spaghetti or other pasta
Whatever veggies are still left from your box. Our favorites — onions, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes
Olive oil
2 T half and half

Start pasta water to boil. Heat a large skillet with about 1 T olive oil. Add ground meat with some salt if you wish. Start browning the meat as you start to chop the veggies. (If using veggie meat, wait until you have chopped some veggies before beginning to brown the veggie meat.)

Start with the veggies that take the longest to cook (onions and peppers are a good start). Chop these veggies and add them to the skillet with the meat. Move to the next longest cookers (perhaps eggplant or broccoli) chop these and add to the ground meat. Somewhere around now, the pasta water will be boiling. Add pasta to pot and set timer.

Continue with chopping your softer veggies (zucchini) and add them to the skillet. If you have tomatoes, don’t add them yet. Some of the veggies will get a little mushy - don’t worry - this will be your pasta sauce. Stir contents of the skillet often. Break up the meat to make sure it cooks through.

After the pasta has been boiling for at least 5 minutes, add about 3/4 cup of the starchy water from the pasta pot to the skillet. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet. Turn down the heat and cover your skillet. Chop your tomatoes if you are lucky enough to have some left. The paste tomatoes work best.

About two minutes before draining your pasta check to make sure the meat is cooked through. Turn off the heat. Add your tomatoes and 2 T half and half to the skillet. Stir and cover.

Drain your pasta when it is ready. If your skillet is large enough, add your pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. Otherwise combine in the serving dish or your pasta pot.

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In the Box

• Cantaloupe
• Brusselini
• Eggplant
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Tomatillos
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Pepper
• Cucumbers
• Scallions
• Basil
• Italian Red Garlic
• Zucchini & Patty Pans
• Watermelon (Tangerine, UW East Clinic, USDA, and Toepfer Ave sites)

The melons have arrived - better late than never. They got transplanted about 3 weeks late due to all the June flooding. But they are coming in strong and they are delicious. The cantaloupes are sweet and fruity. The watermelons are heavenly. We have red and yellow watermelons, so don’t be surprised if you cut one open and find yellow flesh.

Watermelons are very tricky to harvest. With cantaloupes the stems slip off the fruit when they are ripe. But watermelons do not have an easy method for determining ripeness. There are several ‘tricks’. One is to look for the closest tendril and see if it is brown. Another trick is to put a dry straw on top and see if it spins. I haven’t tried that trick. I use my Grandpa’s trick of thumping the melon and listening for a hollow sound. (He had another trick of cutting a triangular wedge out to see if it was ripe. I only use that method when I’m going to eat the melon!).

Sometimes, I guess wrong with the thumping method. So, I apologize if your melon isn’t perfectly ripe. Surprisingly, a little salt will bring out the sweetness.

Now I know that most of you saw the second item on the list and said “Brusse…what?” Brusselini is the top of the Brussels sprouts plant. We remove the tops to encourage the sprouts to grow larger. A couple of years ago, other farmers started selling the tops instead of just throwing them on the ground. They have a similar flavor to collards. I have included a recipe below.

This week’s hot peppers include a green chile (mild), a jalapeno (hot) and a Hungarian wax (medium). You also got a poblano pepper. They look like a dark green pepper, but they do have a little heat to them.

This Week’s Recipes

Braised Brusselini with Sweet-and-Sour Sauce
(Farmer John’s Cookbook)

¼ cup water
¼ cup sweet sherry
3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
2 pounds brusselini, stems removed and discarded, sliced crosswise
Rice vinegar

Bring the water, sherry, soy sauce or tamari, sugar and five-spice powder to a boil in a large, heavy pot. Add the brusselini; cover. Reduce to a simmer and cook until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary to keep mixture from drying out. Uncover the pot and continue simmering until the mixture no longer resembles a soup, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in a dash of rice vinegar. Season to taste with more sugar, soy sauce, or rice vinegar. Note: Chinese five spice powder is available in most large grocery stores. It is a blend of fennel, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and peppercorns. You can mix your own blend for this recipe.

Late Summer Bruschetta
(From Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd Edition)

2-3 large tomatoes
1 crunchy sweet pepper
1 medium sweet onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Small handful fresh basil, chopped
Crusty bread
Shredded Mozzarella or grated Parmesan (optional)

Chop the vegetables into a midsize dice. Combine with garlic, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, and basil. Slice bread. Brush with 1-2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle on cheese, if using. Broil bread for several minutes until bread or cheese browns a bit. Top the sections with some of the vegetable mixture. Makes 4 servings.

Riley Writes

I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to write. I’ve been very busy prowling my territory and keeping invading critters out. Lately, I’ve been after the grasshoppers, but I’m outnumbered. I snap and snap, but I can’t catch them all. I’ve also been busy begging for watermelon. Usually one or two damaged ones get cut open for the crew and I really work my eyes to get a bite. They try to give me the rinds, but I know the middle is the best part. Mandalay, one of the kitties, has a new collar with a bell. She is a mighty hunter, but lately she has been getting too many birds. So now she warns the birds when she gets close. We get to hear her as she trots around the farm and rolls around on the wash shed floor. Think of me when you eat your melon.

Fall Farm Frolic

September 13th is our fall farm party. We will start at 4 pm. There will be a potluck dinner, farm tour and some fun and games. I hope you will join us.

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