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Crop Talk
The Newsletter of Great Country Farms
September 21, 2015: CSA Week 17
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18780 Foggy Bottom Road
Bluemont, VA 20135 |
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Delicata Squash
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Technically a summer squash (Cucurbita pepo), delicata is generally classed with winter squash because it is hard-fleshed and harvested late in the year, but it boasts summer squash skin, which is tender enough to remove easily with a vegetable peeler. Also known as "sweet potato squash" for its brown sugar flavor, delicata tastes like a cross between fresh corn and pumpkin pie. Like all hard squash, delicata is high in beta-carotene and vitamin C, relatively low in calories and astonishingly versatile."
Shizuka Apples
 "Shizuka is a large, round or conical, green-yellow apple with a red-orange blush. A late-season apple, Shizuka has the same parentage as Mutsu: Golden Delicious crossed with Indo, a sweet Japanese apple from the 1930s. But Shizuka's flavor and texture are very different. Shizuka has distinctive light crisp flesh similar to Honeycrisp and Jonagold, and it is sweeter than Mutsu.
It is excellent eaten fresh or in a salad, as it is slow to brown when cut. It stores well."
"Shizuka was developed by Tsuneo Murakami in Aomori prefecture in 1969, and released commercially in 1986. Like Jonagold and Karmijn de Sonnaville, Shizuka's popularity has lagged behind its virtues in the United States, in part, perhaps, as a result of its unremarkable name."
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CSA Week 17 ~ September 22-27
Shares this week include:
- delicata squash
- spaghetti squash
- lettuce
- zucchini
- red potatoes
- green beans
- Shizuka apples
- Asian pears
Please protect your share from the heat. Fifteen minutes on a sunny front porch will ruin fragile items like peaches and lettuce. If you won't be home when your delivery arrives, please consider providing a cooler with icepacks to keep your food fresh until you return. Be sure the inner dimensions of your cooler will accommodate a box that measures 19 x 10 x 9 inches.
Seasonal Bonus
To celebrate the harvest season, all members receive a jack-o-lantern pumpkin and a bundle of corn stalks as a one-time bonus. When you take yours home, please put a check mark in the Seasonal Bonus column beside your name.
Remember that there's no CSA pick-up or delivery on Mondays.
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Double Festival Weekend
 This weekend our Apple Gala overlaps with our Pumpkin Harvest Festival. Enjoy inter-generational cider pressing demonstrations with Farmer Bob and Farmer Jake, and then stroll across the lawn to sample hard cider and apple wine from Corcoran Vineyard. Test your directional
 skills in our corn maze, and grab a front row seat for the kick-off of our 2015 pig racing season, featuring color commentary by the irrepressible Farmer Dave. The Pumpkin princess will be blowing bubbles and offering carriage rides, and P-Rex, the pumpkin-eating dinosaur, will re-emerge from seasonal extinction to gorge himself on orange globes. Both the pumpkin patch and the apple orchard will be open for U-picking, so come on out and celebrate the season with us!
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Marnie Montgomery, certified Tellington T-Touch practitioner and owner of The Joyful Dog, a canine education and wellness center in Leesburg, invites you to bring your dog to the farm this fall. She'll be offering three opportunities for you and your dog to play and work together at the farm: Puppies on the Farm, Fun and Focus, and Great Country Games. These are multi-session courses scheduled for Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Sundays in September or October.
 Marnie first came to the world of dog training and T-Touch while searching for ways to help her own dog relax and control his impulses. The combination of bodywork and movement, which are foundational to T-Touch, and the clarity inherent in clicker training and other rewarding techniques, helped him become a delightful companion.
For more information about Marnie, or to register for one of these special sessions, visit The Joyful Dog online. |
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Featured Recipes
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Here's a recipe that pairs sweet striped Delicata squash roasted in balsamic, with bitter winter greens and caramelized onions. I add crispy fried pancetta and red chile flakes for more punch, and top it with plenty of shaved Parmesan. For the greens, try it with whatever you find at the market that's in season; I love it with escarole for its deep grooves and bright hue, but pick from anything hearty and leafy like endive, radicchio, frisée or even kale or chard.
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About a month before Thanksgiving, my parents and I start planning our holiday meals. To keep from going completely crazy we divide and conquer the cooking. (Props to those of you who do the whole meal on your own, how do you manage?) For Thanksgiving, my mother is in charge of the
roast turkey
and
stuffing
(they're the BEST), my father the mashed potatoes, and I the pies. Dad and I split the sides."
Read more here.
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| Week 17 CSA UPICK Bonus: September 22-28 6 apples ~ $4.47 Year to date Upick Bonus Value: $175.73
What is this? Each week we offer a bonus u-pick item for members visiting the farm and this ticker tracks the dollar value of the bonuses. Many members find that month picking adds a nice extra value to their CSA share.
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| This Week in the Farm Market
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Pie Pumpkins
Peppers
Garlic
Okra
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Delicata Squash
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Please Drive Slowly
This is an appeal to slow down when you drive through the tiny village of Bluemont. Recently a Bluemont resident sent an email to several local businesses, informing us that two children were almost hit by a truck in front of the Bluemont General Store a while back. Apparently the incident prompted a police response.
"We want Bluemont to grow and prosper," the resident wrote. "We love the life that new businesses can bring to our sleepy little town, but most of all we want to feel safe, and we want our kids to be safe."
To that end, please drive safely through the village and keep your eyes peeled for children.
Thank you so much!
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