HOW IN THE WORLD TO USE ALL THIS YELLOW SQUASH.
The squash plant is a vigorous fellow (or fella, respectfully). Often, we'll get three of four yellow squash per plant, per picking (not per week). So if we have a hundred plants, by my math we wind up with at least half-a-bazillion squash every week (or thereabouts).And so we bring it all to market and at first the shareholders are excited to see something summery, then after a couple weeks they begin to look fatigued. "More squash, huh?"But squash is underrated. It has a lot of versatility in the kitchen––no doubt about that. It can be used raw, cooked, baked, fried, sautéed, stuffed, broiled, pickled, etc., etc., etc.. In fact, you can even use squash in cookies and breads like you would zucchini. The flavor is milder, but we like it that way.So let's just throw out some more specific dishes so you are not throwing out your squash. First, try grating it raw into a salad with some sweet peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes. Toss all that in a light vinaigrette, and top with some grated cheese. Whose to stop you from adding some bacon or a hard-boiled egg? Not us. Grating the squash, in fact, is a great (sorry) way to use it. Grate it into tacos, grate it into coleslaw, grate it overtop of a casserole. Just look at whatever you're cooking and think, "How can I squash this?"I really like to slice the squash and toss it in olive oil, salt and pepper then broil it or grill it. Let it crisp up a bit under the broiler. Add a little bit of thyme and grate some parmesan overtop then stick it back under the broiler for another minute. Get your camera ready––your kids will fight over it.Squash, like okra, also makes a good, dehydrated, veggie-chip snack. Slice it thin, dehydrate it, then toss it in some salt and herb mixture. There is so much flesh involved with this crop that the cook is only limited by his or her imagination when using it.Squash fan already? Tell us how you use it!- Jesse.
FALLING.
And suddenly, it's fall! We were harvesting beautiful tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash yesterday, and tonight it is going to be 37 degrees. Might get our first frost!We have a garden full of winter squash - butternuts, acorn, sweet dumpling, pumpkins, spaghetti - and our greenhouse is FULL of sweet potatoes curing. I love the colorful bounty of summertime, but there is nothing like the feeling of having a winter's worth of storage crops laid by. As the season winds down, we are slowly preparing to head into hibernation and wait for this little bub to be born.What are your favorite parts of fall?- Hannah.
NEW ROOMMATES.
With cold temperatures in the forecast (25 degrees to be exact), we had to spend this past Thursday doing a very extensive relocation project. Remember all those butternut squash we stored in the loft of the barn? Well, those guys don't do so well in during freezing temps...so we had to move them. Indoors.Nearly 300 of them went into the Smith's cabin, under the beds of their children. And the rest (along with an abundance of acorn squash and pumpkins and ginger and sweet potatoes) came into our house.It is kind of lovely to live among your food. To be surrounded by bookshelves and windowsills nearly overflowing with food. This is literally what we will eat this winter - there won't be much else growing once January sets in. I feel comforted by the sight of this produce, crowding our tiny cabin, a visual reminder of food security and the rewards of a bountiful season.- Hannah.
IN SHORT...
Here is an abbreviated version of this week on the farm....The chickens are happy and healthy. We're experimenting with some worm farms, using a few old windows, to supplement the protein needed for the chicken's diets. The bees are flourishing - I already had to add another hive body onto each! They are quite productive! There are lots of yellow squash getting bigger every day, plenty of green tomatoes, flowers on the green beans and zucchini. We planted corn, more melons, more cucumbers, pumpkins, and tons of beans - including some heirloom pole beans called "Reverend Taylor." Today, we finished setting up some bamboo trellising for them. These, plus the canopy of sheets shading our kale and chard, secure our garden as being completely insane-looking. "Anything you do that makes your neighbors think your crazy," our papa farmer, Eric, used to say, "probably just means you're doing something right!"- Hannah.
