CSA The First Tuesday of September!

We're calling this Mondo Tuesday - 'cause everyone is getting some summer squash that is mondo!  The weather seems to be making the zucchini and other members of the group very happy and they're growing like crazy.  Hard to believe that we harvested them thoroughly for Friday and Saturday's Global Market and, a few days later, can find armfuls of large ones again!

As the season marches on, the first of the Winter Squash appears in the boxes this week!  Winter squash, as apposed to summer squash, has an inedible skin.  They are best roasted or baked, although we sometimes steam chunks as a side vegetables and the seeds can be roasted.  Many are as good as pumpkin in pies, muffins and cookies and, of course, they make awesome soup.  We're sharing the first of the garlic today - if you haven't had freshly harvested, local garlic before be prepared for a bit of a flavour surprise!  Way more 'punch' than what you may be used to from the stores.  This garlic is not at all considered cured and ready for storage, but you're all going to use it promptly anyway, right?  Tomatillos are available on the trading table, they're coming but not sure if we'll ever have enough to put them into a share.

Cucumbers are doing quite well.  Amanda and Ed have come up with a few Armenian cucumbers, long, thin pale green cucumbers with distinct ridges.  These are quite different and delightful, with nice cucumber flavour and a dense texture. We closed our eyes and just dropped them in some boxes - don't know how else to split them up! Everyone has some good old slicing cucumbers!  This Thai cucumber salad sounds lovely!  Evelyn and Menno will be making a stop today, too - with some tomatoes!

And...what we all need:  a Zucchini recipe round-up!  Yee Haw!  Tons of great ideas and links!

Everyone is getting the very popular Winter squash spaghetti squash: some have the classic, oval greenish beige version.  Some of you have a round version, with a green and gold 'netted' skin, a variety called 'Little Wonder'.  They taste and cook up the same!  Bake and then pull out the flesh - it's like spaghetti!  It's a very unique winter squash for having flesh that comes out like pasta!  Some people like it with a pasta sauce or salsa, some like it with butter and maple syrup or brown sugar!

The FULL SHARES have a vegetable marrow - which looks rather like the common spaghetti squash.  Marrows have a 'V' carved in them.  This is a classic English vegetable but not well known in other cultures.  On it's own, it's a rather bland, mild green flavour.  It's claim to fame is the way it takes on flavours fantastically: in a stew or saute it will pick up the flavour of your spicing and herbs!  The way I'm accustomed to it is stuffed and baked:  my Grandmother's (and Mother's) recipe involved stuffing marrow with sausage meat.  This is the entree for dinner: just serve slices out!  It reheats beautifully if there is leftovers!  You can stuff them with anything you might use to stuff a pepper, tomato or even a turkey.  PART SHARES have a Japanese Kabocha - a sweet, fine-textured winter squash excellent as a vegetable but also very good in pies and other desserts.

So, in the boxes this week:

FULL SHARES:  3 lbs. Sangre potatoes, garlic, onions, spaghetti squash, vegetable marrow, cucumbers, small bunch of herb, Romanesque summer squash, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes.

PART SHARES:  3 lbs. Sangre potatoes, garlic, spaghetti squash, Kabocha squash, cucumbers, bunch of herb, Romanesque summer squash, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes.

SINGLE SHARES:  2 lbs. Sangre potatoes, garlic, carrots, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, Romanesque summer squash, zucchini, Swiss chard.