Turtle Times
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Vol. 14, No. 17, Sept. 8, ‘09 7260 NW 58th St., Johnston 50131 278-4522 (577-9208)
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Rain: None
In the Box . . .
Winter squash ‘Sweet Dumpling’
Onion ‘Courtland’
Raspberries ‘Autumn Bliss’
Green beans ‘Jumbo’, ‘Maxibel’
Summer squash ‘Raven’, ‘Zephyr’, ‘Zucchetta Rampicante’
Tomatoes ‘Brandyboy’, ‘Paul Robeson’, ‘Golden boy’, ‘Amish paste’, ‘Better boy’, ‘Jet Star’, ‘Black Krim’, ‘Pineapple’, ‘Green Zebra’, ‘Evergreen’, ‘Arkansas Traveler’, Nebraska Wedding’, ‘Gilberty’, ‘Myona’, ‘Italian gold’, ‘Celebrity’
Peppers ‘Ace’ , ‘Islander’, ‘Sweet Banana’, ‘Orion’ (green), jalapeno, ‘Tiberon’ ancho, ‘Saigon’, ‘Sunray’, ‘Franks’, ‘Sweet Tolli’s’, ‘Lipstick’, ‘Sweet Chocolate, ‘Yummy’
Basil
Ala carte options: mint, chocolate mint, rosemary, lavender, parsley, tarragon, thyme ($1 ea.), raspberries ($5/pt) if available
Free to those requesting it: sage, basil bouquet
Email (angela@turtle-farm.com) if you want any of these free or ala carte items
Farm Update
Don’t eat your veggies. Well, don’t eat some of them. More specifically, don’t eat your winter squashes and your sweet potatoes that you will be getting over the course of the next few weeks. They need a little curing time to sweeten up their flavors. Keep them in a warm place for a couple weeks if you can wait that long. Then enjoy. We just picked these winter squashes this week, and we don’t have the space (or time) to cure them first for you. These squashes are from the ISU experimental plots. The researchers are pretty sad as there was not a lot of insect pressure for the squashes this year. The farm crew is quite happy (and you should be, too) that there wasn’t a lot of insect pressure this year.
Cool weather and rain can resurrect a green bean crop. That’s exactly what happened to the ‘Maxibel’ beans, which had stopped producing. Now they’re back, at least for a bit. Meanwhile, the new crop of beans is starting to produce. One of them is ‘Jumbo’, a flat roma-type bean. Soon we should have ‘Fortex’ pole beans, and just a few ‘Aunt Ada’s, a short flat bean.
Cohousing Revisited
Several years ago, I introduced the concept of cohousing as a way to preserve the farm after I retire from farming. A community of families would occupy the top 5 acres of the farm that currently isn’t used and would own the rest of the farm in common. We are slowly progressing on this idea. If you would like to know more about Turtle Farm Cohousing Community, see the turtle link in the upper right hand corner on my website, or to learn more about cohousing in general, see http://www.cohousing.org. If you or someone you know might be interested in this venture, we are planning a meeting in early October. Contact me for more information.
Fall Potluck
Mark your calendars for the next potluck—Oct. 4, 4 pm at the farm. In addition to great food, we might be able to glean some of the crops at the farm that are not a part of the October share.
Recipes
Paulette Wheeler sent in this recipe that she loves. It’s from Penzey’s and uses all the veggies that we are getting now.
Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Bruchetta
4 red bell peppers
2 large eggplant
2 large red ripe tomatoes
¼ c. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 small red onion
½ c. shredded mozzarella
3-4 T. fresh basil leaves
½ tsp. pepper
1-2 tsp. salt
Balsamic vinegar
Wash the peppers and eggplant. Core and remove membranes of
the peppers; cut into 4-6 pieces. Peel the eggplant and cut and discard the
top and bottom inch of the eggplant. Cut into 1 inch slices. Place peppers
and eggplant on a baking sheet. Peel and crush the garlic and mix with the
olive oil. Brush both sides of the eggplant and the nonskin side of the
peppers with the olive oil. Grill the peppers 3-5 minutes and then do the same
for the eggplant (the eggplant needs a little less hot fire than the peppers).
The skins of the peppers can blacken and blister, but watch that the eggplant
does not blacken. Remove from the heat and let cool. While they are cooling,
dice the tomatoes and basil, and peel and mince the onion. Place in a large
bowl with the mozzarella cheese, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper and drizzle with
balsamic vinegar. Cut up the eggplant (or mash if it got very soft) and add to
the bowl. Peel the skins off the pepper, mince and add. Adjust seasoning or
add more olive oil or vinegar as needed. Serve on crusty French bread. Makes
about 8 cups.