CSA for September 4th

A new friend helped with CSA today!

Thursday CSA seems to have no luck this year...when it comes to rain!  Another rainy Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.  Thunder, lightening - the whole show!  But, we're already behind with Thursday's families so when the weather radar looked like it was going to end mid-morning we decided to go for it!  It's mucky - no question.  And the veggies are dirty - no question.  But, there is some awesome stuff ready to go and we got it!

We're into September, I haven't seen any stats but I think this summer has been short on heat and long on rain!  On the Weather Network, the 'High Water Level' is back on due to the rain.  Yeesh!  We have some lovely, lovely tomatoes - all as green as anything.  We can't seem to ripen a tomato this year!  Anybody love fried green tomatoes, let us know - we can make you happy!  We've lost a few cantaloupe due to rot starting where they lay on the ground.

Here comes the winter squash!  We've got our first pick today on vegetable marrow - a traditional favourite with my mother's family - enough for the Full Shares only today.  It can get a little confusing because Brits tend to call small zucchini 'courgettes' and large zucchini 'marrow' but what we have is a different thing called 'vegetable marrow'.  It is a winter squash so you don't eat the skin, although we have one farmers market customer whose family has always eaten the skin on all winter squash!  On it's own, vegetable marrow is rather bland.  It's fantastic, though, at absorbing flavours!  Our traditional family recipe involves spiced sausages removed from the casing - anything from breakfast sausage to chorizo would work, depending on your spice level.  Check out this recipe for sausage stuffed marrow!  You can stuff it with anything you might stuff a pepper or tomato - just think flavourful because the marrow will absorb the flavour!  We've also got a wee pick on Delicata - known as the sweet potato squash for its' resemblance to the taste of sweet potatoes.  It's a favourite of one of our long time members who happens to be allergic to potatoes - it is perfect for making fries!

Finally, here comes the carrots and beets!  We've got a nice little dig on purple and red carrots today - for a little veggie 'bling'!  And STOP!  Don't compost those carrot tops...they're good eating, including a nice, slightly bitter pesto!  Here's a great link with ideas for eating your carrot greens!

Zucchini and other summer squash continue to do well.  Hmmh, Greek zucchini fritters!  Here's a great link to a plethora of links for zucchini recipes: everything from bread to muffins to appetizers with goat cheese!  In Tuesdays' blog post we mentioned the spiralizer - a little gadget that will cut your zucchini or other veggies into pasta or curly fries.  If you've got a mandoline or if you have good knife skills, you can cut your zucchini into lasagna noodles!

Cucumbers are doing well!  Anybody wanting to pickle - let us know.  In the meantime, how about using some for cucumber canapes? Little, bite-size cucumber slices for hors d'ouevres or as a side? Everything from cream cheese to crab to sun-dried tomatoes make awesome bite size delights!  The bigger sizes are perfect for chunky salads like Greek or this chunky cucumber salad.  Cucumber are also fantastic for beauty treatments....no, really!  Here's some great ideas for cucumber facials.

FULL SHARES:  Vegetable marrow, Delicata winter squash, slicing cucumbers, Lemon Ball cucumber, Crookneck, Papaya Pear and Patty Pan summer squash, 1 lb. Romano beans, carrots, beets, Swiss Chard, apples, Red Potatoes,  jalapeno and Hungarian Hot peppers.

PART SHARES:  Delicata winter squash, slicing cucumbers, Crookneck, Papaya Pear and Patty Pan summer squash, 1/2 lb. Romano beans, Swiss chard, carrots, beets, apples, potatoes, jalapeno and Hungarian Hot peppers.

SINGLE SHARES:  Slicing cucumbers, Lemon Ball cucumbers, Papaya Pear and Patty Pan summer squash, Swiss chard, carrots, beets, apples potatoes, jalapeno pepper.

Vegetable Marrow

Vegetable Marrow is a little known, under-used squash. We're giving it it's own place because there is some discussion as to whether it is a summer or winter squash. We personally use it like a winter squash and do not eat the skin. Apparently, if taken very young, it can be used like a zucchini. It is a tradition in my family to grow White Vegetable Marrow and use it as an entree, stuffed with a pork sausage stuffing the same stuffing my family uses in a turkey). It is such a thing in my family that I have had to ship it by Greyhound to my sisters in Alberta, when they were unable to find it there. We have made a small amount of people very, very happy at the Farmers' Market by having it for sale. The vast majority of the population, however, have never seen it or heard of it. We have always grown the White Vegetable Marrow, but after having a few requests, this year we have also grown the Long Green Trailing Marrow. We located the seeds from a British source and had them mailed over to us.

We have not yet eaten a Long Green Trailing, but White Vegetable Marrow is a very mild squash with pale green flesh. It has a texture somewhat like a melon. On its' own, steamed or baked, it is rather bland. However, it takes on flavours beautifully, and is delightful stuffed. You can use any mixture that you might use to stuff a tomato or pepper: ground beef, pork sausage, vegetable mixtures, herbs of almost any kind enhance a Marrow. Our common practice is to cut the Marrow in two, scoop out the seed cavity (which can be chopped up and added to the stuffing), fill the cavity with your stuffing mixture, put it back together or cover both halves with tin foil and bake until tender and easily pierced with a fork.