CSA Newsletter, Week #9

This week you share will include:

• Yellow Carrots
• Sweet Yellow Onion
• Cilantro
• Salad Mix
• Garlic, Polish Jenn
• Zucchini & Summer Squash Variety
• Japanese Cucumber (We only have enough for some of you this week, next week we'll give them to another group, and then another group after that.  Hopefully the plants will soon give us enough to give them to everyone at the same time.)

We are growing 5 varieties of Zucchini & Summer Squash this year. 

(Left to Right)

Zephyr Summer Squash - slender with a light green blossom end.  Firm texture when small.

Costata Romanesco Zucchini - an Italian zucchini with prominent ribs, holds it's flavor and texture well as it increases in size.  Good as a "stuffer" zucchini.

Yellow or Golden Zucchini - bright golden skin with white flesh.

Black Zucchini - dark green skinned and mild flavored.

Patty Pan or Scallopini (also a summer squash) - round shape with scalloped edges.  It's tender flesh can be scooped out, mixed with other ingredients and reinserted for cooking.  Also know for it's decorative appearance.

As I was out harvesting today, I asked my fellow farm workers how they would describe the taste of zucchini and squash.  I also asked them to describe the difference between the two.

What I mostly got was a "Hmmm", "Uhhh" and "I'm not sure".  It made me feel so much better.  Quite frankly, that's how I feel too.  Unless you were to line them all up in a row and do a blind taste test, I'd say they all taste about the same.  But even then, I'm not sure how to describe how they taste.  The seed catalogs use words like "delicious nutty taste"  and "mild flavor".  What does that mean?

One worker with an obviously more developed palate than mine said "Zucchini takes on the flavor of the ingredients you are cooking it with, while squash has it's own taste".  OK, I agree with this.

So, how would YOU describe the taste of zucchini and squash?  Do they taste the same or different?  I'm thinking I need to do some experimenting to get to the bottom of this. 

Or maybe I just need to get out more.

Speaking of tasting squash...  Shain's been cooking again.

He just had to make some beer battered onion rings and summer squash.  They were quite tasty. 

If the onion crop turns out to be anything like it was last year we are all in for a big treat.  We planted two kinds of sweet onions again this year, red and yellow.  They are ready to start harvesting this week and they'll keep getting bigger. 

Now, just in case any of you are wondering if I ever spend time in the kitchen, the answer is "yes".  I just don't want to get in Shain's way.  I don't want him to feel intimidated.  I don't want to ... cook.  Hey, I'm being honest here.  And I'm usually still out working, or doing laundry, or writing this newsletter, or calling our accounts, or ... something.  I'm a busy girl.  Besides, Shain likes to cook.  How can I take this joy away from him?

But the other day I did venture into the kitchen.  Truth be told, I was trying to find something in the fridge and I went a little crazy because the fridge was so full of produce that I couldn't find what I was looking for.  So I took out all the left over veggies and determined they needed to go.  I needed to cook them NOW.  So I did.  I cleaned up a big bowl of various items like turnips, fillet beans, beets, carrots, snap peas and whatever else was there.  I put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled them all with a little olive oil, and put them into a hot oven.  My family's comments were not positive.  They were certain I was only making a mess and had no intention of eating my "roasted leftovers".  They must have been hungry, or curious, because the veggies I cooked up didn't even last long enough for me to take a picture.  So there you have it.  I was a success in the kitchen. 

Oh, and on top of all those veggies, I had the most delicious Roasted Tomato & Garlic Mayonnaise Sauce.  Then I had the same sauce later on a hamburger.  Then on a BLT.  Then last night when we were eating the battered onion rings and squash, I wanted more sauce.  It was that good.

I've done it again.  I've made myself completely hungry while writing the newsletter.  Shain...where are you?  I'm hungry. 

Here's a pretty picture to end with.  You'll be getting yellow carrots in your share this week.  These carrots are less sweet, more fibrous and dense, and are more suitable for cooking or roasting, during which they will maintain their firm texture.   

Have a great week.  Enjoy!  Tara :)