Many of you who have been members for a long time may remember that the last few years have not been great for winter squash.  But not so, this year! The year of the winter squash has arrived (click here for pictures)!  Bill came back from the first harvest  and reported that there were so many out there that he could hypothetically walk from one end of the field to the other, not touching the ground at all, just by stepping from squash to squash.  That’s a lot of squash and is a big change from last year!  The spaghetti squash are the first to be harvested but you can expect to see a range of squash including acorn, carnival, delicata and butternut in your share every week from now on.  In general, if you can hold on to them for a couple of weeks before eating them, you’ll find them to be even more sweet.  We cure them in our greenhouse so that they should last a while on your kitchen counter!

In addition to being a great year for squash, it seems to be an incredible year for the cabbage worm.  We’re still trying to pluck them off of every head of cauliflower and broccoli, but if you’re really concerned about them remember to soak the heads in salt water before cooking.  They worms, if they’re there, will float off and sink after a couple of minutes. 

We will soon be getting beef (Jake) back from the butcher and will have ground and stew beef for sale. The one-pound packages are wrapped in butcher paper and cost $5 per pound. You can reserve your meat in five pound increments—just email me at info@hatchetcovefarm.com with your order (specify quantity and ground or stew).

If you’ve never cooked with shallots before, you’re in for a treat.  They’re like the teardrop-shaped magical cousins of onions.  They can be used in place of onions in any recipe, but they’ll inevitably make the dish taste that much better.  You’ll get them regularly in your share from now on, but we’ll also eventually have them for bulk sale for those of you who like to hold on to them and use them all winter.

Bulk tomatoes are still for sale (ten ponds for $15).  Starting soon we will have bulk garlic for sale, as well. 

Have a great week and enjoy the bounty!

Reba and the HCF crew    

CSA Week 14 of 18:  Garlic, Red Onion, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Husk Cherries, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, Spaghetti Winter Squash, Shallot, Zucchini/Zephyr Summer Squash, Green Peppers  

This week’s recipes:  Swiss Chard with Tahini, Yogurt and Buttered Pine Nuts, Fresh Tomato Salsa, Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash

Cheese CSA Notes Week Fourteen

The huge winter squash harvest has begun!