Blue Gate Farm News – Volume IV,  Number 23  –  October 2, 2007

 

In this week’s box:

Basil: Genovese

Beans: Yellow/Green Mix or Maxibel

            or

Kale*: Red Russian     

Lettuce: asst.

Potatoes*: Caribe

Sweet Peppers*: asst.

Tapestry Salad Mix

Tomatoes*: asst. heirlooms

* from the upper garden

 

For those with the Herb option: Basil: Thai Magic, Lemon Balm, Sage

For those with the Cheese option:  choice of four flavors

 

Featured Recipes (on back): Patchwork Roasted Potatoes               

 

Rain this week: 0.25” and counting                                                                            

 

What’s up on the farm?

This weekend I looked out to the west, past the upper gardens and saw three dark shapes on the rise of the hill, running around each other.  With the aid of binoculars I found they were wild turkeys, a tom and 2 hens.  The tom was putting on his full show for the ladies, fanning his tail, stomping his feet and running around.  I must say the ladies didn’t look too impressed, but the whole show made my day, what a sight!

 

The theme of this week is Farm Crawl.  We are scurrying around trying to get everything ready for what we hope will be nice, steady crowds and a beautiful day this coming Sunday.  For those of you who missed the Des Moines Register article, the Farm Crawl is this Sunday, Oct 7th, from 11 am – 5 pm.  The day features 5 family farms in our area: Coyote Run, Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch, Reichert’s Dairy Air, Schneider’s Orchard and us.  For more info see the website at www.farmcrawl.com.  We hope to see you there (here).

 

Following the Farm Crawl excitement, we will be hosting our annual CSA Harvest Party on Sunday Oct. 14 from noon to 4:00pm.  The event will kick off with a potluck lunch and then move into touring the farm, a hayrack ride, bobbing for apples, games, cider making and more.  There is also a Pumpkin Festival going on at Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch just down the road, which is always fun to visit.  So we hope everyone can come out for the fall fun.  Please bring along tableware for yourselves and a dish to share with the group. We will provide a big pot of chili and a vegetarian soup along with beverages.  Remember to dress for the weather as we will be outside.  At next week’s pick-up we’ll be asking if your family will be coming so we can get an idea of numbers.

 

Just a reminder that we are still planning to have the final 2007 Summer CSA delivery on Tuesday, Oct. 16th, details on that to follow.

 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean

 

 

Patchwork Roasted Potatoes

3T toasted wheat germ
3T fine fresh bread crumbs
3T fresh grated Parmesan cheese
generous pinch of grated nutmeg
4T unsalted butter
1 pound potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a baking dish. Combine the wheat germ, bread crumbs, cheese and nutmeg in a shallow bowl. Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan. Remove from the heat. Peel the potatoes and cut each in half lengthwise. Then cut each half lengthwise into 4 crescents (a total of 8 slices per potato). Pat the potatoes dry with paper towels, And toss them in the melted butter until well coated. Then roll the potatoes in the wheat germ mixture, and place on the prepared baking dish. Bake until crisp and tender, 45-50 minutes. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and serve. Serves 4

Recipe Source: The Grains Cookbook by Bert Greene