Full Harvest Farm, LLC until the flesh is soft enough to pierce easily with a 7112 County Road S fork. If you like to serve your winter squash with Hartford, WI 53027 melted butter and brown in the cavity, melt the 262 673-6760 butter now in a small saucepan, and stir in a quantity of [email protected] Box #16 brown sugar. Remove the baked squash halves from Newsletter #16 the pan with a metal spatula and flip them cut side up 7 October 2009 onto a folded up dishtowel. Make it thick enough so you don’t burn your hand, but not too thick that you can’t hold the squash in one, cupped hand. Scoop out Contents the seeds with a large spoon, place the baked squash in Carrots a bowl or plate, and spoon the butter/brown sugar Cauliflower mixture into the cavity. As far as melons go, we have a little of this and a little Lettuce of that, hence the possibility of you getting one of 3 Melon: Cantaloupe, or different kinds. Family boxes are more likely to get Sun Jewel, or watermelons, and one or two locations will have their Watermelon, Seedless watermelons delivered in a large, separate box. Like Onions last week, you will take one out of that box for your Tomatoes own. We’ll email those sites separately to alert them. Winter Squash: Buttercup—Couple only For everyone else, your melon will be inside your Lakota—Family only regular box. We harvested many boxes of tomatoes before last Choice Box: Eggplant. week’s frosts, so you will find them in the next few New Stuff: winter squash: buttercup, Lakota. boxes—possibly even up to the very end. Winter squash originated in South America, and made its way north during European colonization. Because Field Notes of its excellent storability and nutritive value, it We certainly haven’t needed to irrigate any fields quickly became a staple in American diets. Winter lately. In fact, we’d prefer it to dry up a little so we squash is high in A, potassium, fiber and could plant some cover crops. complex . Store winter squash at room Cover crops are what we put into a field that we’re not temperature in a cool, but not cold, location, if you going to plant in next year. In an organic have it. Uncut, it should keep for 1-3 months. Check system, farmers let part of their fields rest for a year so it every once in a while for rot or mold. If you find the soil can build up nutrients. Smart farmers plant any, cut it out and cook the squash soon. those fields with something that will add nitrogen and Different squashes have different textures and flavors; organic matter to the soil when it’s plowed under the buttercup and Lakota are no exception. Buttercup, or following year. On our farm, we also need a crop that “Turk’s Cap” as it’s sometimes called, has a dark will crowd out weeds like Canadian thistle and quack green skin and orange flesh that is sweet and flavorful. grass, so we usually plant Sudan grass in our resting It bakes up on the dry side, so serve it with butter if fields. Sudan grass is an annual, meaning that it dies that texture is not to your liking. Lakota is a teardrop- after a frost. During the summer, we’ll mow the grass shaped squash with beautiful orange skin striped with a few times, letting the bits fall on the field and rot green. The flesh is orange, sweet and nutty, with a down. Then, next summer, that field will be rich in moister texture. This is the first year we’ve grown organic matter and grow a good crop. these particular varieties, and the vines did not produce The weather gurus are predicting a hard frost this enough of either squash to give you all one kind. weekend. The only chance anything will have to Nothing could be easier than baking winter squash. survive is if it’s covered with row cover. That will be Wash the skin to remove any dirt, and cut off the stem our job on Friday, after we pick everything we can. and blossom ends. Halve the squash by cutting thru the stem and blossom ends. Line a cookie sheet, or Right now, we have both pears and apples available for half-sheet pan with aluminum foil and put the squash, order. Pears are $1.50/lb. We have Bartlett, Spartlett, cut side down, on it. DO NOT REMOVE THE Lincoln and Delicious pears. The apples are 65¢/lb. SEEDS: they add flavor when baked with the flesh. There are Macintosh, Spartan Delicious and a few Put the pan into a 350°F oven for 30-60 minutes Wolf River apples in the cooler. Soon we’ll be picking (timing depends on the size of the squash) and bake Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, Liberty, Fireside and a few Haralsons. These will not all be the perfect apples you see in the store, but will likely have bumps, dimples, and even a small crack in them. On the other hand, they may be some of the best tasting apples you’ve ever had. Use them for pies, sauce, etc. We are working on a list of other vegetables that you can order. Look for that in the next newsletter.

Farm Day was a big success, with the best turnout we’ve ever had. Despite the rather forbidding weather, many folks drove out to the farm to see just where and how their is grown. We took everyone out for a tour of the orchard and explained how we manage the bugs, prune the trees and when we pick the fruit. Then Chuck took them to the fields, showed folks where different crops are planted, why we rotate those spots from year to year and taught them how to tie cauliflower. In the barn, everyone pitched in to prepare apples for pressing. Even out littlest guests wanted to turn the handle on the apple shredder, spread out the mash, carefully fold up the cheesecloth (like an envelope!) and pump the handle on the press to squeeze out every drop of tasty juice. Special thanks go out to Abby and Sarah who made the cider press their special project and kept the cider flowing. Mom Suzanne was a great help since her family had owned a multi-purpose press that could do everything from cider to sausage. We ended the afternoon with a drawing for door prizes (vegetables, of course). Chuck and I really enjoy meeting and talking with our members. To most of them, this is our only chance to say hello. Can’t wait to do it again next year! Stay warm! Terry & Chuck