White House Gardens Week #12, September 2, 2010

Usually, when I begin this newsletter, it is 10:00 pm and we have just finished packing your boxes.  Tonight we were done an hour early, mostly due to the fact that shareholder Rob Bowser came again to help.  This is his second evening helping to pick and pack, and I am very grateful that he decided to join my niece, Sarah and I.  He has been a great help.  Thank you, Rob.  There was a lot of weighing and bagging tonight which can take a lot of time.  He made the bagging of the potatoes a snap by using an algebra equation to figure out how much to weigh for each share.  It’s been a long time since I made use of algebra.  That brought back a lot of memories of high school algebra class!  I guess it really was good for something.

I have been watering the crops nonstop this week.  I use drip tape in the rows, and can water about 10 rows at a time.  On Sunday, Bradley Cramer and I planted the spinach for the fall.  Please say a prayer that it will germinate.  Spinach doesn’t like to sprout in hot weather.  My method for improving the germination is to soak the seed overnight, then refrigerate it until it just begins to sprout.  Then we planted 3, 150’ rows by hand, laid out the drip tape and soaked the rows with cold water.  Lastly, we covered the bed with floating row cover, which keeps the wind from drying the soil and provides a small amount of shade.  I have been irrigating this bed every other day since Sunday during the hottest week of the year!  But it was now or never to get the spinach planted so that we can enjoy it this fall.  Because of cooler (ha!) and shorter days, the fall crops can take up to two weeks longer than usual to mature.  This year just might be the exception to that rule. 

Tomatoes  This week it’s tomato palooza!  Cherry, slicing, paste, and heirloom tomatoes are in your share.  Try roasting them (see Week #11 newsletter), make  tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes (can’t find a good recipe, anybody have one?), marinara sauce (recipe included in the newsletter).  Also, don’t forget about the Mother Ship Tomato Salad in a previous newsletter.
 
Lettuce  Romaine type, may be a little bitter due to the heat.
 
Potatoes  Yukon Gold.  There are still several rows of potatoes to dig.  They have been fabulous this year, must have been the rain earlier this summer.
 
Delicata Squash  This is the first of the winter squashes.  Shaped like an acorn squash, it can be baked, roasted, or steamed and the skin is edible, unlike butternut squash.  The squash bugs severely damaged the crop this year, and I will probably have to buy some squash to supplement the crop from another grower who doesn’t have squash bug problems!  Cut the squash in half and bake, cut side down, at 350 degrees with a little water in the bottom until tender, about an hour.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Broil until the sugar is carmelized and brown.  Or cut into chunks and roast alone or with other vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, and onions, peppers that are tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. 
 
Beets  Chioggia or candy stripped beets.  The best way to cook beets is to bake them, wrapped in foil, at 400 degrees for about an hour depending on their size.  I like to eat them warm from the oven with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 
 
Leef Beet  Not in all shares. Also known as Gator, is a member of the beet/chard family.  It can be used just like spinach, either fresh or sauted with olive oil and garlic and the stems are edible.
 
Romano Beans  Only in the small shares this week


Marinara Sauce
From Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich
¼ cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, peeled
3 pounds ripe fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded or one 35 oz. can peeled Italian plum tomatoes, seeded and lightly crushed, with their liquid.
Salt
Crushed hot red pepper
10 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Makes about 1 quart, enough to dress 6 servings of pasta

Heat the oil in a 2 to 3 quart nonreactive saucepan over medium heat.  Whack the garlic with the flat side of a knife, add it to the oil, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
Carefully slide the tomatoes and their liquid into the oil.  Bring to a boil and season lightly with salt and crushed red pepper.  Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer and cook, breaking up the tomatoes with a whisk or spoon, until the sauce is chunky and thick, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the basil about 5 minutes before the sauce is finished.  Taste the sauce and season with salt and red pepper if necessary. 
 
How to Peel Tomatoes:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water near the stove.  Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and cut a small x in the opposite end.  Slip a few tomatoes into the boiling water and cook just until the skin loosens, 1 to 2 minutes depending on the tomatoes.  (Overcooking will make them soggy.)  Fish the tomatoes out of the water with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon and drop them into the ice water.  If necessary, let the water return to the boil and repeat with any remaining tomatoes.  Slip the skins off the blanched tomatoes and cut the tomatoes in half – lengthwise for plum tomatoes, crosswise for round tomatoes.  Gently squeeze out the seeds with your hands.