Baby Carrots: Rainbow Mix
Basil Tips: Assorted Varieties
Choi
Garlic Scapes
Head Lettuce: Assorted Varieties
Japanese Scallions
and perhaps one of the following: (Please see the note after "🥕 Storage & Handling Notes" below.)
Broccoli: Mini Heads
Japanese Cauliflower: Mini Heads
Cucumbers: Assorted varieties
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Summer Squash: Assorted varieties
💙 Farmer Favorite: Basil Tips
🥬 Something New to Try: Baby Carrots
🎉 First of the Season: Japanese Scallions
📅 Notable Event: 1.70” rain on Sunday
This past week looked strangely similar to the week before. We did indoor tasks and hand weeding while the soil was too wet to work. Then as soon as it was dry enough we cultivated as fast as we could. We also got one more round of hilling accomplished on the potatoes. I’d like to get one last pass on them, but the plants are getting so tall that I may have lost the chance.
Our other activity when the soil was soggy was to get all of the tomatoes pruned and ready for trellising. It’s a major endeavor with 600+ plants, but the crew is well experienced at the task and we snipped our way through it in a couple of marathon sessions. Then yesterday we got the first round of twine on them, which was a big goal accomplished before they get any bigger!
We have started clearing early crops that are done for the season, mostly leafy greens like salad mix, the earliest head lettuces, arugula and some Asian greens. Sadly, the early broccoli and cauliflower have mostly drowned, so we’ll start clearing them in the coming week. We’ve lost some carrots and turnips at the lower end of their field but hopefully the rest will hold on.
We aren’t ready to write them off yet, but the peas have slowed way down. The combination of the extended stay in wet soil has ended the season early for a number of the plants and those that survived were thoroughly offended by the 90 degree temperatures a couple of weeks ago.
Interesting plant fact: When the temperatures go above a certain tolerance, it sterilizes plant pollen so no peas (or other fruits/veg) are produced from blooms that were on the plant during the time of the high temperatures.
This translates to a big slowdown in peas going out in boxes this week. With the recent cooler weather, we may see a re-flush on those vines, or they may also decide to call it quits early.
I was very worried about the potatoes last week, but so far, they seem to be holding their own. As they are now back in standing water due to the weekend rain, we may lose the north end of the field, but I am cautiously optimistic about the rest of the plants. Fingers crossed that will also be the case for the onions, shallots and garlic.
The summer squash and cucumbers are rising to the weather challenges though! We started seeing the first few last week and are harvesting more all the time. So you can expect to see them gracing your boxes very soon, if you haven’t already. Don’t be surprised if you notice a few “dings” in their skins from the recent hail storms but that doesn’t affect their flavor or usability.
Our basil was planted a bit later than usual due to the wet field conditions, but it’s all in the ground now and ready for a little pinching back to encourage them to fill out. So we’re taking advantage of that and sending out a little basil sampler in all the boxes this week. We grow a wide range of basils, so you will receive some combination of: Genovese, Prospero Large Leaf, Lettuce Leaf, Amethyst, Cardinal, Nunum, Lemon and Everleaf Lemon.
As we mentioned in our earlier emails, this year we’re celebrating not only our 20th Bounty Box season, but also the people who made it possible: YOU.
Each week we’re drawing a name from our membership list to receive a surprise from the farm. It might be one of our favorite kitchen tools, a product from the BGF Pantry, or another fun farm-inspired treat.
This week’s winner is: Amy B.!
Amy's gift is a set of soft-side coolers, perfect for Bounty Box pick-ups. We always keep a set stashed in our cars, to keep things at their freshest!
Congratulations, Amy! And good luck to everyone in next week’s drawing. There’s lots more fun to come!
Twenty years ago, during our first Bounty Box season, we partnered with our friends from Reichert’s Dairy Air to offer a Cheese Share for our members. Very popular with the membership, we miss those cheese-y days!
The humble carrot is one of those vegetables that rarely gets the spotlight, but we think it deserves a little attention. These aren’t the “baby carrots” from the grocery store that have been peeled and shaped by a machine. These are true young carrots, harvested while they’re still small, tender, and exceptionally sweet.
Carrots are packed with beta-carotene, which our bodies convert into vitamin A, but mostly we love them because they’re delicious. Whether you eat them fresh out of the bag, roast them, glaze them, or toss them into a stir-fry, they’re one of the most versatile vegetables in the kitchen.
💡 Pro Tip: When your carrots come with tops attached, remove them before storing. The greens continue to draw moisture from the roots, causing the carrots to become limp more quickly.
🍽️ Simple Recipe: Moroccan Carrot Salad
🍽️ Bonus Recipe: Baby Choi with Ginger and Scallions
🍽️ Bonus Recipe #2: Carrot Top Chimichurri
🍽️ Bonus Recipe #3: BGF Favorite Salad Dressings
Basil may be the most loved and yet misunderstood crop in this week’s box.
If you’ve ever put basil in the refrigerator only to find black, sad-looking leaves a day later, you’re not alone. Basil hates the cold. Treat it more like a bouquet of flowers than an herb - keep long stems in a glass of water on the counter and use it within a week for the best flavor. Shorter stems can be placed in a container and then into a paper bag to protect them from the cold. Store in the refrigerator door, the warmest place in the fridge.
And don’t be afraid to use it with abandon! Pesto, salads, sandwiches, pasta, eggs, pizza, lemonade, and even fresh fruit all love a little basil.
Here’s our downloadable one-page guide to storing all things produce!
This section contains the crop-specific storage information, handling suggestions, and preparation tips for everything in this week’s box.
BASIL: hates the cold and will turn black with exposure. Keep long stemmed basil in a glass/vase of water on your counter top (out of direct sunlight ). Stems that are too short (trimmings/tops) should be placed in a glass or plastic container with a dry paper towel. Then put inside of a paper bag (for insulation) and put in the warmest part of your refrigerator (usually the door) or on the top shelf towards the front.
BROCCOLI/CAULIFLOWER: Wrap loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator for up to a week. Immediately before cooking, soak head down, in cold, salted water (1 teaspoon salt to a 8 cups of water) for 5 minutes. Any [organic] critters will float to the top where you can rescue them or allow them to suffer a salty death. (Note: If soaked in salt water before storing, it will become too rubbery and wilted to enjoy.) Slice the juicy, edible stems and use them wherever florets are called for. Peel particularly thick skin before using.
CARROTS: Remove the leafy green tops, leaving about an inch of stems. Refrigerate dry, unwashed carrots in a plastic bag for two weeks or longer. Peel carrots or scrub carrots well with a vegetable brush just before using. Trim off any green spots, which can taste bitter. When slicing or chopping carrots for cooking, be sure to make all the pieces relatively the same size; this will ensure an evenly cooked dish. Greens can be added to soup stock for flavor.
CUCUMBERS: Store unwashed cucumbers wrapped in a cotton towel in a sealed plastic bag in the vegetable crisper bin for about a week. Keep cucumbers tucked far away from tomatoes, apples, and citrus—these give off ethylene gas that accelerates cucumber deterioration. You can do a lot of fancy things to the skin of a cucumber, but when it is young, fresh (and unwaxed), it really only needs to be thoroughly washed. However, if the skin seems tough or bitter you can remove it; if the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out.
GARLIC SCAPES: One of our favorite crops of the year. These curly green things are the emerging flower stalk from a hardneck garlic plant. We remove them to redirect more of the plant’s energy into the bulb, but it also provides us with a delightful fresh garlic treat. These keep very well in a plastic bag in your produce drawer and can be used in any recipe calling for garlic. They make a great pesto and can be minced and added to room-temperature butter, which is then stored in log shape, in the freezer for a last minute dollop of goodness for vegetables, breads or meat. We also enjoyed them tossed whole in olive oil and grilled as a side dish.
All of your GREENS will keep best if stored in a plastic bag, with the top folded over and placed in the produce drawer of your refrigerator. We find the longest storage is achieved by having a layer of cotton or paper towel between the greens and the plastic. If leaves become limp, retrim the ends and a quick soak in cold water will often restore their crispness.
HERBS: Generally, except for basil, set unwashed bunches of fresh herbs (with stems) upright into small jars filled with 1 to 2 inches of water, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to two weeks. Rinse fresh herbs right before use. To release their scents and flavors, rub them between your hands before mincing or chopping. If you have no idea what to do with fresh herbs, there is one great default answer “compound butter.” Finely mince leaves and knead them into a stick of room temperature butter. Roll the butter into a log in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Then simply slice off the amount you need to add delicious, ready-to-use flavor to vegetables, bread or meats.
PEAS: We grow snow peas (flat pod with little bumps showing immature peas inside) and sugar snap peas (rounded pods with mature peas inside).Both have edible pods and can be used interchangeably in recipes. They are particularly good in stir-fries and salads, though we tend to eat them fresh as a snack. Peas keep best in their plastic container in the produce drawer of your refrigerator.
SCALLIONS: (green onions) are best kept upright in a glass with about 1" of water in it, more like flowers than vegetables. Loosely cover the tops with plastic and you will be amazed at how long they will keep. We like to throw a handful of chopped scallions into nearly any savory dish, right near the end of the cooking time.
SUMMER SQUASH/ZUCCHINI: Refrigerate unwashed zucchini and summer squash for up to a week and a half in a perforated plastic bag or in a sealed plastic container lined with a kitchen towel. These do not need to be peeled to use, just slice them up and go!
** NOTE: You will notice over the course of the season that some box contents listed above say “Perhaps one of the following...” These are items that we can’t harvest in sufficient quantities for the whole CSA to receive at one time. We do track who gets what and we will do our best to ensure that everyone eventually receives each item. On some items this may take several weeks, so please be patient.
Here are a few upcoming events and milestones to keep on your radar:
Need extra produce this week?
Our VegEmail program makes it easy to order additional vegetables, pantry items, flowers, eggs, cheese, baked goods, and more from Blue Gate Farm and our partner producers.
Place your order here by Thursday at noon and pick up Saturday at:
SingleSpeed Brewing (Downtown Des Moines)
Grand Theater (Knoxville)
It’s one more way we’re helping make local food easy.
You’ve seen our photos—now we’d love to see yours.
Share pictures of your Bounty Box haul, your favorite recipe, your 20th Delight gift, your garden-inspired dinner, or even your kids (or pets!) helping unpack the box. Email, text, or post them in the Blue Gate Farm Community group.
We’ll feature member photos throughout the season.
Facebook: Blue Gate Farm
Community Group: Blue Gate Farm Community
Instagram: @bluegatefarmfresh
Questions? Just hit reply or click the comment button below
Thank you for being part of the farm this season. We’re glad you’re here!
Best from the farm,
— Jill and Sean & the whole BGF Crew
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