As this season winds down, we are looking forward to a good harvest, and full shares the rest of the way. The winter squash continues to come out of storage and into your kitchen, and if the weather continues to cooperate, lots of fresh green vegetables are to be harvested from the field.
This week you will see some nice acorn and butternut squash in the shares. There are two types of acorn; the familiar green type and a verigated variety called Carnival. They are one of the simplest vegetables to cook and eat, as this recipe demonstrates.

Baked Acorn Squash
One nice thing about acorn squash is that when you cut it in half, you have an edible bowl. Bake it, and all you need is a spoon to eat it. Cutting them in half at the start is the hardest part. It sometimes helps to stab the squash and slowly work the knife through it, rather than trying to cut it in half like an onion.

Ingredients:
2 acorn squash
olive oil
sorghum, honey, or maple syrup
salt
butter

Method:
– Cut the squash in half, from stem to base. Scoop out the seeds (save to roast if you like).
– Poke with a fork or paring knife 25 times to tenderize.
– Wipe each squash with a small amount of olive oil (I just rub it on with my hands).
– Drizzle about 1 tsp of sorghum, honey, or maple syrup on each. Add a small piece of butter to each. Sprinkle with salt.
– Bake at 350 deg F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until tender and golden brown on top.

The options for how to “baste” the squash when roasting are many. Sage is a good herb to flavor squash. Goat cheese adds even more creaminess to the dish. What have you tried?

Bulk List
Don’t forget to check out this week’s bulk list. We have extra beans, okra and hot peppers.

The submissions are short of expectations, but still coming in for the Fair Share Farm Art Project. We hope you are still thinking of showing the world what you think of food. We have extended the deadline until the end of October. So, if you were going to enter but felt you didn’t have the time, now’s your chance to catch up on things.

Even if you don’t enter, you are encouraged to view the entries for fun and inspiration. Click here to find out what a cherry tomato rainbow is, as well as to see a tomato quilt and some fine drawings.

The shares they are a’changin’ right now. We are starting a shift from the fruits of summer to the heartiness of the fall crops. Here are a couple of suggestions for you.

Collards: A green often boiled until it’s super soft, try Collards with Onions over Rice, or last week’s Kale with Vinegar and Egg, substituting collards. If you are a meat eater, it’s great to saute your veggies in bacon grease instead of olive oil. Mmmm…baconey.

Radishes: Try a radish sandwich. Some good quality bread, butter, salt, lettuce or arugula and radish slices is a known winner. Check out Google for some images to get you thinking.

We hope the rest of the items in the share…tomatoes, potatoes, onions, lettuce…are ready for use in your favorite recipe and need no such suggestions this week.

Farm to Table
We love the fall, and the harvest that it brings. But the vegetables don’t plant themselves. Here is a little stop action action from August 23rd, when the kohlrabi went in the ground. They are doing quite well at the moment, green and happy, and much larger.

A sharper version of this is on YouTube.

In the Spring we often tell ourselves “if we can make it to Labor Day, things will be a lot easier.” I don’t know why we think that, because this is always one of the busiest and best times of the year.

Preparing the fields for winter, harvesting Missouri grapes, stocking up, feeding the CSA. We enjoy being tired out by such good things. And look forward to some good rest.

Marjoram
A new fresh herb choice, it is a favorite in our kitchen. Marjoram is very versatile. It brings body to vegetables such as summer squash, turns tomato sauce into pizza sauce, and imparts a wonderfully savory flavor to meats.

Its aroma is quite intense. It is also known as wild oregano. Store bought oregano can be a mix of oregano and marjoram.

Pickled Beet Juice and Greens
The cooking of greens often involves the addition of a liquid, to help steam them and create a sauce. This liquid is often water, wine, soy sauce or vinegar. For us pickled beet juice beats them all (pun intended).

A recipe such as Kale with Vinegar and Egg is a great one to try this out on. Just substitute about 1/3 cup of pickled beet juice for the vinegar and water.

Yet Another Front
The sky is a constant show at the farm. This cloud bank to our north probably extended all the way to St. Joe. Looked like a giant dust cloud. It quickly moved on its way.

If anyone ever asks what CSA members do at the farm on a work day, just point them to this video. Believe me, a lot of work got done in a very short time thanks to the membership. Go team!

A larger version is on YouTube.

Enjoy Some Fried Food
Not a normal suggestion from an organic farmer, but one that I think will delight your palate this week. It comes from my father’s side of the family—zucchini fritters. We know we have been giving you a lot of beautiful summer squash and zucchini and you may be running out of ways to cook it. This is a definite crowd pleaser.

It is a modification of my Aunt Betty’s recipe. I made it for brunch on Sunday to feed three of my sisters who were visiting. They agreed that the fritters had a taste that reached back in time to when we used to travel to South Bend, Indiana to visit my Dad’s folks.

Sorry I don’t have a picture of the fritters, but I do have one of my sisters at the farm. Left to right; Jeanne, Margy, Cathy, me, Rebecca

Zucchini Fritters
A fritter starts out as one thing; a pancake like batter with zucchini and seasoning. You simply fry it in a 1/2 inch of oil until browned on both sides. The aroma of it cooking is worth it.

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup grated cheese (parmesan, goat cheese, mozzarella…)
1/2 cup water
flour to make a pancake-like batter (thick)

Method:
Mix together all of the ingredients except the flour. Add flour to form a thick batter.
Heat 1/2 inch frying oil in a pan.
With tablespoon, spoon batter into the oil to form patties. Fry until browned on both sides.

Sweet Potato Vines
This little cooling spell has made it feel like Fall is around the corner. It reminded us of how long we have been without greens in our meal. Well, the farm provides, as we currently have a sea of sweet potato vines growing.

Our knowledge of their delicious nature, nutritional facts and growing requirements has been increasing over the past several seasons. Among the new things we’ve experienced is eating the sweet potato vines.

We sauteed some up tonight with a little oil, garlic, onion, salt, and vinegar to re-aquaint ourselves with their mild flavor. It made a small side-dish. It’s nice to work it into a main dish too. Add it to your favorite tomato sauce and cook until tender. Or add some fresh to a salad.

Treat it like you would spinach or any other green. The stems are also edible, so chop them up and add them to the dish, not the compost.

When storing, DON’T PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE. The sweet potato is a tropical plant and the coolness of your fridge will kill it quickly. Instead, store it in a jar of water on your counter.

For a great recipe I suggest going to Emily Akins’ blog. If you don’t have all the ingredients for her Sexy Stir Fry, substitute as the share allows.

Submissions are slow, but behind the scenes we are seeing the CSA lumber to life. Interest in the Fair Share Farm Art Project is growing. We know of several pending artworks for display in our gallery.

As a CSA member you are among those that know the most about food. You’ve picked you own beans, and dug your own carrots. You’ve visited the chickens, pigs, sheep and cattle that you buy. You’ve helped harvest and distribute food to over 120 families. So who better to describe their feelings about food in art?

Just click on the happy girl with the big carrot for all the details.

Sorry, there are no items available for bulk this week.

Summer is passing in the fields, though some crops have just started. The okra has liked the African weather the last month, and is starting to flower and fruit. The stem of the pod is the same as the stem of the flower. After pollination the pod starts growing up from the base of the flower, shedding the pedals and making some wild looking food.

For the eating part we turn to a recipe from Jan Glauberman. We can attest to her knowledge of okra, having watched her make this dish, and tasted its virtues. We also made it ourselves tonight and remain impressed.

Wok Fried Okra
Water is the enemy of okra. Cooking okra with water will bring out the slimy texture we all hate. Okra needs to be cooked with dry heat and the easiest way I have found is to cook it in the wok with a little oil.

Wash and dry the okra. I leave the cap on but cut off most of the stem, then slice into 3/4 quarter inch pieces. Heat the wok on high and add 1/2 to 1 Tbl of oil, corn or canola works well with the high heat. Just before the oil starts to smoke add the okra and saute, stirring frequently.

It takes about 10 minutes at most and the okra will start to get black edges and soft. Add a sprinkling of kosher salt, stir and it’s ready to eat. I like to add 1/2 tsp of an Indian spice mixture called Pickle Masala after I stir in the salt. It can be purchased at the local Indian market.

If you want to make your own, there is a good recipe at Simply.food. Just type in Pickel Masala. This is about the easiest way to cook any vege. Woks rule!

Thanks,
Jan =