CSA For September 26th!

A touch of frost on the Buttercup squash!

Not the kind of day we'd prefer for getting ready for our CSA families!  Raining when I got up, we got a little window-of-opportunity mid-morning, then rain again, then stopping early afternoon.  Fortunately, we had winter squash already harvested; cucumbers, carrots and tomatillos may be mucky! Fall is so apparent in the garden - a touch of frost on the leaves, cucumbers are starting to grow in odd shapes and hardly any flowers are apparent so it's probably the last taste of cucumber this season.  The summer squash are finally slowing down, but they are not done until hard frost, which is not in the forecast.  We're also seeing more 'nibbling' by wee creatures, admittedly some by our free-ranging chickens but also mice, raccoons and others are stocking up for winter!

Today is the second-to-last share for Thursday's families!  At the final share next week we hope to stock you up with some winter squash - so it will be a heavy one!  Today has some weight to it, too!  We'll also share tomatoes with everyone next week - ripe or not!  You can ripen them on your counters - just turn them everyday so that they don't get soft spots where they sit!

It drives me absolutely crazy, this time of year, when recipes are posted online that call for a can of pumpkin puree!  This is the time of year to use fresh....and CSA members should definitely be roasting some of their Winter Squash and freezing one cup portions for yummy baking all winter!  We freeze them in the small, zip-top bags - they stack so nicely in the freezer and don't take up much room.  Nonetheless, this recipe for Pumpkin oatmeal cookies sound delish!  We'll be using regular whole wheat flour, regular brown sugar and they should still be awesome!  This Pumpkin Sheet Cake with cream cheese icing also sounds good - and easy!  Both these recipes would be awesome with Kabocha squash, a little more nutty flavor with Buttercup or Hubbard!

Here's one to bookmark: a link of links to a myriad of winter squash recipes!  The Pumpkin Fritters with salted caramel sauce sound divine - Kabocha squash would be awesome in that one!  The pumpkin pretzels sound fun, too!  There's just a ton of great links for everything from appetizers to soup to dessert!  And if you love a hot breakfast, try this Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal!  For dinner, here's a Chicken Pot Pie with Squash and Bacon!  Also found this recipe for Hummus made with Winter Squash - perfect for Sunday football games!  The recipe is using Delicata, and I'm not sure we'll have enough to share but you can, as always, substitute another winter squash.  Hopefully next week we'll have at least a few Delicata on the trading table!

If you've got tomatillos to deal with here's an easy and yummy recipe for Roast Tomatillo Salsa!  Tuesday member Reta did a version of this and is a big fan.  Jes got to sample it and is now a big fan, too!

So, in the boxes today:

FULL SHARES:  Winter squash Hubbard (the pointy orange one), Kabocha (the round orange one), spaghetti and acorn, summer squash either Patty Pan or Crookneck and zucchini, cucumber, apples, peppers including jalapeno, Hungarian hot wax and Thai chili, carrots.

PART SHARES:  Winter squash including Hubbard, Kabocha and spaghetti, summer squash Moroccan and zucchini, cucumber, apples, peppers including jalapeno and Hungarian hot wax, carrots, tomatoes.

SINGLE SHARES:  Winter squash Hubbard and spaghetti, zucchini, apples, jalapeno and Hungarian hot wax peppers, carrots, tomatillos.