CSA Week 20

Happy last Thursday delivery of the season for our regular share members! Here's what you will find this week in your box:

-Tomatoes:

-Red and Black Krim slicer

-Yellow Pear

-Sun Gold cherry

-Peppers:

-Bell

-Sweet Banana

-Habanero

-Cayenne or Purple Delight

-Sweet Corn

-Eggplant

-Kale or Swiss Chard

-Delicata Squash

-Summer squash or zucchini

-Cucumbers

-Mosquito Plant (potted)

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Brown Sugar Delicata Squash

Ingredients:

-2-3 delicata squash

-1 tbsp olive oil

-1 tbsp maple syrup

-1-2 tbsp brown sugar

-1/2 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)

-Cooking spray

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400. Halve squash lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut into 3/4 inch slices.

-Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

-In a bowl, mix together the oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

-Add squash to bowl and toss to coat.

-Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until squash is tender and beginning to brown slightly.

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Since this was our last delivery for our Regular Share members, I included a couple extra goodies as a thank-you for becoming members this season. You probably noticed that your bag was different- If you have seen me at any of my artisan markets in the last few years, you've seen these before. My Gram and I make these tote bags out of feed bags, and they are my gift to you! These things are super handy and seriously indestructible. I have one that I have had since my senior year of high school, and I even carried books in it in college and it still looks brand new. They make great grocery bags, book bags, or even beach bags.

The other extra this week is a little potted plant. This is a mosquito plant, and will grow into a hanging basket. They grow really fast in warm weather and smell like citronella, so they are great to hang on the porch in the summer. Lindsey Davie, who was my ag teacher and FFA advisor in high school, gave me a few cuttings when she pruned her plants in the school's greenhouse a couple months ago (the same day she saved my sanity by hooking me up with some plug flats this spring after my greenhouse froze) and I've just been propagating these things all season. If you pinch them off just after this node here, where two new little leaves are forming, it will form two new branches from this spot. I like to get several branches going before I let the branches get too long. If you have a branch get long, you can pinch it off at a node where you want, and then stick the section you pinched off in soil and it will take root. Trust me, these things are really hard to kill and root like nothing else!

In other news, the chicks are growing like crazy! They are about half feathered at this point, and solidly in what I like to call their "ugly phase." They are (unfortunately) still chilling in my basement for another couple of weeks. I think I have the predator problem under control, but I want to be positive before I re-introduce them to the brooder house attached to my coop. It's almost time to winterize it anyway, since it's getting quite a bit cooler outside.

Keep an eye out for an end-of-season survey coming your way within the next week. I really value your input- after all, you all are the reason I do this! I may send it via email directly, or I may add it to next week's blog post. Or I may do both! Either way, I really value the feedback and would be very appreciative if you would take a couple of minutes to fill it out. Thank you all so much for hanging in there with me this year!!