In Summer Farm Share Week 19, the dark green of the Cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae) family of squashes is so rich. When mixed in with the varied hues of red, along with the vibrancy of the paler greens, it can be quite stunning. I had to play with black and white as backgrounds to make the riches pop even more. Who can resist using a word like Cucurbits? All I have to do is see Zucchini and that word pops into my head. Some things never leave your brain after Master Gardner training.
Week 19 of our small summer farm share included (featured photo at the top of this post is a full Vegetarian share)…
Tuscan Kale – 1 bunch
Green Cabbage – very large
Carrots – 1 lb
Cherry Tomatoes – 1 pint
Apples – 7
Green Peppers – 3
Hot Hungarian Peppers – 3
Acorn Squash – 2
Grapes – 1 quart
Green Beans – 1 lb.
Zucchini – 2
My half of our small Vegetarian summer farm share (above photo) and how we used it.
Tuscan Kale – 1/3 bunch – I’ll blanch this and freeze it for soups. I’m not a fan of Tuscan Kale in salads, preferring curly Kale instead.
Green Cabbage – very large – this went to my parents to freeze.
Carrots – 1/2 lb – I’ll use some of these in a chicken and vegetable soup.
Cherry Tomatoes – 1/2 pint – we’re not even wanting cherry tomatoes at this point so maybe I’ll use these with eggs or pasta?
Apples – 4 – these are beautiful but we’re still munching on previous week’s apples.
Green Peppers – 2 – one of these will land in the freezer, the other one got used in with roasted red pasta.
Hot Hungarian Peppers – 3 – neither family can tolerate hot peppers so these went to my neighbor who loves them.
Acorn Squash – 1 – this is stored on the counter for a squash roasting fest.
Grapes – 1/2 quart – I really need to learn how to make juice as I’m not fond of working my way around these tiny seeds. Taste – amazing.
Green Beans – 1/2 lb. – these landed in the freezer before they started to fade.
Zucchini – 1 – this landed in with a bunch of vegetables and sauce to go over fresh Roasted pepper pasta we had frozen.
Extra (not pictured)
2 large heads of cauliflower – 1 for each family. Ours was blanched and put into the freezer to enjoy this winter.
RESULTS (week of October 3, 2016)…
After stating that I rarely make pasta at home, I decided it was about time I got back to it. I love steamed vegetables mixed into Fresh Fork’s tomato sauce, then drizzled over the fresh pasta we get from them. I finally figured out that I just don’t like boxed pasta. The fresh pasta is an entirely different thing. I’m also not fond of sauce so a pint goes a long way. We ended up using the leftover sauce and veggies over the pasta a second night, but we added a slice of Colby Jack cheese to compensate for less sauce. That was amazing!
Since we had several appointments up and down the highway this week, we ate out several times. We always have leftovers when we go out to eat so a meal lasts us twice as long. Most everything else we made was simple like baked fish, baked potatoes and some sort of veggie. I’m really enjoying green beans, cauliflower and broccoli, steamed with just a little salt and pepper. Sometimes its nice to rely on simple meals without making much of a fuss.
What’s your favorite fall meal?
