From the Garden this Week, October 21, 2021...

From the Garden this Week…

Endive or Lettuce Heads, Carrots, Hot Peppers, Tomatoes, Basil, Winter Squash, Green Onions, Fuyu Persimmons, Pomegranates and Mystery Item

Coming Soon…Bok Choi

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

All of the winter squash that we grow makes great decoration through the fall, but they are also good to eat. Pumpkins and butternut can be cut and roasted in cubes, but it is so much easier to roast the entire squash and then cut into it once they are cooked. You can also cut the squash in half, and scoop out the seeds first, but it is okay to cook them whole with the seeds inside. You will want to make accommodation for the cooking time. The bigger the squash the longer it will take to cook. You will just want to cook it until you can poke the squash with you finger and it collapses. Once the squash is cooked, you can use the puree for the soup recipe here. If you want to use it for a pie, puree the squash until it is smooth in a food processor. Or try a making a squash mash, like you would mash potatoes stirring in a bit of butter and salt.

Southwestern Winter Squash Soup

2 tablespoons 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.

Coming soon: A Customer Satisfaction Survey

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for a customer satisfaction survey that we will be sending out by email! It is so helpful for us to hear directly from you, our good garden subscribers, so that we can grow and change with your needs!

Fall Salads…

Our fall fruit is great in salads and pairs perfectly with cheese and nuts. The pomegranates add acidity, sweetness and texture. If you don’t like the bleu cheese, goat cheese is a good substitute.

Salad with Pomegranate, Apple and Bleu Cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, minced or 2 tablespoons minced red onion

¼ teaspoon salt

4-6 cups greens, washed and chopped

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1 apple, cut into bite sized pieces

¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts

¼ cup crumbled bleu cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine lemon juice, minced shallot, salt and olive oil, whisking together in a large bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and toss to coat everything, except the bleu cheese, with the dressing. Add the bleu cheese and toss lightly. Adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper if needed. Eat right away.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… By Ronda May Melendez

My aloe is puckering. Yep, puckering. Honestly, it has had it with me. Ready to kick me to the curb, I think. Its leaves are browning and the curling edges are rolling upward. Truthfully, I am a little frustrated with it, too! I am, continually, trying to get it to have those consistently glossy green leaves. You know, the ones that are magazine worthy? It has yet to happen. I don’t think we are speaking the same language. Truly.

It seems that to get that perfect balance of glossy green leaves, one really needs to understand aloe. Too much water, and guess what? Brown leaves. Too little water? Brown leaves...and puckering leaves. Root rot? Brown leaves. Brown leaves, brown leaves, brown leaves! There is little exchange in our communication when I get it wrong. Just BROWN. It is so frustrating when I long for a very different outcome. Especially when I am trying so HARD!!!

Isn’t that how it is sometimes when we are interacting with one another? We have longings for specific things in relationships and particular outcomes. Yet the truth is that we are not communicating well. What we think we comprehend and what we believe we are doing well, sometimes results in others feeling overwhelmed. We review the outcome of their overwhelm and may feel either under or overwhelmed in return. We continue to see the other through filters we have not necessarily challenged within ourselves. Sometimes, we have to do the hard work of self-examination to see if we are willing to dig around, so to speak, to change approaches and then, watch for effects. It takes patience and commitment. I confess friends, at times, patience is not my forte, but my aloe plants call to me to a higher challenge this week.