from Wellspring Charitable Gardens this Week - October 6, 2022

From the Garden this Week… Purple “Green” Beans, Butternut Squash, Cucumber, Eggplant, Arugula, Radishes, Garlic, Parsley, Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Aloe Vera Spear, & an Apple

Coming Soon… Green Lettuce, Fuyo Persimmons, Pomegranates

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

Anthocyanins are the purple pigments found in plants. They protect the plant from stressors like excessive light, heat, and cold. Our purple “green” beans have been selected to have more purple pigments naturally. They do cook and taste just like a regular green bean. You will notice that the color changes when exposed to heat. If you want to get more of the anthocyanin pigment, enjoy the beans raw. You can slice them thinly and toss in a salad. If you want to cook them, here is my favorite green bean recipe.

Sautéed Green Beans

½ pound of beans, ends

removed, cut in half if

desired

1 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter or oil

1 tablespoon white wine

1-2 tablespoons water

salt and fresh ground

pepper, to taste

* In a large sauté pan with a lid, cook the beans, garlic, salt, and butter/oil over medium heat, for about 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic starts to brown. Add the white wine and continue cooking uncovered until the wine has evaporated. Add the water and cover the pan, cooking about 3-4 minutes more until the beans are cooked through. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Eat right away.

Tasty Heirloom Butternut Squash Soup

by Cindi J Martin

Prepare a garnish with 1 tsp. of lime zest mixed with 1/2 cup sour cream. Set aside. Roast 1 large heirloom butternut squash at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, cool, and scoop out the flesh and measure. If you have a Vitamix type blender, you can add the skin of the butternut squash to the blender for extra thickness. The orange-greenish heirloom squash skin is not tough. Roast or discard seeds.

In a large pot, melt 1 tbsp. butter or olive oil and add and sauté 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic. Add equal amounts of vegetable or chicken stock and pulp of the butternut squash (2-3 cups each), 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (opt), and 2 tbsps. fresh grated ginger root.

Place in small batches in a blender and mix until smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of peanut butter, the juice of 1 lime, and 1 tbsp. honey. Taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a dollop of the reserved sour cream lime mixture, a few pieces of chopped tomato, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. Enjoy your nutty-buttery taste of autumn!

Whole Roasted Squash

They easiest way to cook a winter squash, like our butternut or pumpkin, is to cook them whole. Place the whole squash on a baking pan and roast at 375°F for 50-70 minutes, depending on the size. The larger the squash, the longer it will take to cook. You will know that the squash is done when pressing on it leaves a dent. Remove it from the oven and let cool slightly. Cut the squash, scoop out the seeds, and then save the puree. Use the squash puree, just like canned pumpkin, 2 cups equal 1-15 ounce can. If you are making a pie and want a super smooth texture, after cooking, process the squash in a food processor until smooth.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul… Stink Bugs

by Cindi J Martin

The marmorated stink bug has devastated some of our tomato plants and impacted the fruit of our harvest this year. Six years ago, I asked Anna Hazen, a gardening expert and founding member of our CSA, what could be done about this pest. She recommended that I squish them when I see them. I cringed. “Isn’t there something we can just put on them to kill them?” I asked. She then recommended that I vacuum them up with a Dustbuster. I know garlic or mint spray would certainly repel them, and organic pesticides - Spinosad and diatomaceous earth - would kill these critters outright, but there is nothing like the natural pesticides called Vigilance and Diligence to keep them out of the garden. I must admit, though, early in the summer I was not vigilantly scanning plants for this bug nor was I diligently squishing them when I first found them.

I can’t help but think that life is like a row of tomato plants, you get a stink bug infestation sometimes. We see a bug here and there, but we don’t want to get our hands dirty dealing with the problem. We may even seek the advice of an expert but cringe at doing the thing that is advised. We look for an easier way out. Dealing with a problem might raise a stink, so we avoid it. We avoid asking our spouse about the distance we are feeling in our marriage. We do not want to hear that he or she has been experiencing an increasing sense of disillusionment. We don’t risk checking in with a friend about a sense that we have offended them because we don’t want to admit we have shortcomings that hurt others. We hesitate to investigate the way our children are using social media and the internet, fearing we might have to confront toxic attitudes or disturbing behaviors.

This shriveled, rotting tomato I found in our garden illustrates the impact of neglect and avoidance related to stink bugs. It is a nausea-inducing reminder that a lack of vigilance and diligence in the garden of our lives exposes us to pests that literally suck the life out of us and spoil the fruit of our relationships. May God give each of us courage to face stinking pests with faith rather than fear. “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:30)