From the Garden this Week…

From the Garden this Week…

Carrots, Beet, Lettuce Heads, Cucumber, Sage, Thyme, Radishes, Sweet and Hot Peppers, Sugar Pie Pumpkins, Arugula and Spinach

Coming Soon… Green Onions, Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week the changing seasons brings a combination of summer and fall produce. We might have some small quantities of certain items as we finish certain crops and start harvesting new ones. We are sending sugar pie pumpkins to everyone this week. They will make great decorations for the holidays and you can leave them inside or outside in a shady place. When you are ready to cook them, cut them in half, remove the seeds and then place the halves on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side down. Bake at 400 °F for about and hour. The pumpkin should be soft when you press on it with your finger. I cooked one this week and found it to be a little stringy so I pureed it in my food processor for a few minutes. You can do this or skip it depending on your preference.

Pumpkin Sage Pasta

8 ounces uncooked fettuccini, linguine or spaghetti

1 tablespoon salt, for the pasta water

1 tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

2 cups pumpkin puree - not pumpkin pie filling

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch ground cayenne pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and the fettuccini. Cook the pasta stirring occasionally until the pasta is al dente. Remove the pasta from the water, reserving 1 cup of pasta water and the cooked pasta. In a large sauce pan, add the butter, garlic and sage leaves. Cook on medium heat until the garlic and sage are fragrant, but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir well. Add the milk and continue to stir until the sauce has thickened. Add the pumpkin puree and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Then add the cooked pasta and Parmesan cheese. Add a bit of the reserved pasta cooking water to thin the sauce if desired. Serve right away.

Purple Bags and Recycling

If you have any purple bags, please return them along with any containers that we can wash and reuse.

The plastic bags are the best way for us to send out the produce and at the same time keep it fresh and sanitary.

Unfortunately, we are not able to recycle or reuse the plastic bags, they don’t need to be returned

Sweet and Spicy…

I do love sweet and cinnamon with my pumpkin, but I think it is more interesting to take advantage of the naturally sweet pumpkin by mixing it with a little bit of heat. This southwestern soup can be made with the puree from pumpkin, butternut or acorn squash. Cook the squash first, at 400 °F, for an hour.

Southwestern Winter Squash Soup

2 tablespoon oil

½ large onion, chopped

2-3 small bell peppers, chopped

1-2 hot pepper, chopped (optional)

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons oregano

¼ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups butternut squash puree

1-2 cups water or stock

In a soup pot sauté the onion and peppers in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the hot peppers, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt, stir and continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes. Add a little water if the vegetables start to brown. Add the squash puree and 1 cup of water. Puree with an immersion blender to blend in the vegetables, add additional water if desired to reach your preferred consistency. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…by Cindi J. Martin

Our Wellspring Charitable Garden is full of surprises.  One year we found a pregnant floppy eared bunny amongst our rutabaga plants!  This year I found a dried-up plant that I had discarded and left for dead between the rows.  It had somehow found what it needed and come back to life.  This was a particular surprise because being discarded in the middle trench of two vegetable rows meant that it had been stepped on multiple times as we walked the rows, picking off caterpillars and spraying plants BT last week.  I marveled that it was both broken and healthy.  I decided that I would find a new home for this vulnerable yet courageous plant.  I marveled at its resilience.  Stooping down to take a closer look, I could see that the plant had absorbed water into the roots lying on top of the soil in the trench.  The water run-off from the rows pooled and became a source of nourishment.  The wilted and dying plant became strong enough to stretch its leaves toward the sunlight, repair itself, and even catch my attention.  I gently picked up the transformed plant and placed it in a semi-empty row with lots of room to grow. 

How about you?  Have you ever felt discarded?  Has anyone ever given up on you because you seemed so broken?  Maybe you have even given up on yourself!  We have a God and Creator who cares for us in tender ways.  He notices you.  In fact, God knows the very number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30).  Though we may feel quite alone, Jesus promised that He would never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  The Gospel of Matthew says that God notices when one sparrow falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29).  The Prophet Isaiah says that even a bruised reed God will not break nor extinguish a smoldering wick (Isaiah 42:3).  God has equipped human beings with incredible resilience.  There are things in harsh environments that we can use to nourish ourselves back to health.  At the right time, we may find that God has transplanted us in a spacious new place, with plenty of room for renewed growth and vitality.