Bean Mix: Fortex, Provider and Gold Rush
Carrots: Rainbow Mix
Cucumbers: Lemon, Marketmore or Sashimi
Head Lettuce: Romaine
Peaches: Native Iowa White
Peppers: Sweet (see descriptions in 8/5 newsletter)
Roselle
Scallions
Tomatoes: slicers, the final hurrah
and perhaps one of the following: (please see **NOTE after "A Little Detail..." below)
Eggplant: Shinkasen (Asian, dark purple) or Listada De Gandia (striped)
Okra (Red): Burgundy & Candle Fire
🌿Herb It! option: Sweet Basil, Peppermint, Curly Parsley
The humble carrot—so common it’s easy to overlook, yet so worthy of a little spotlight. Crunchy, sweet, and endlessly versatile, carrots show up everywhere from soups and stir-fries to cakes and slaws. They’re also packed with beta-carotene (hello, vitamin A!), which helps keep your eyes and immune system in top shape.
Here’s a fun fact: those tidy little “baby carrots” you see in bags at the grocery store? Not actually babies at all! They’re full-grown carrots trimmed down and polished in a giant lathe-like machine to make them snack-sized and uniform. Cute, yes—but we’ll take the real-deal, field-fresh version any day.
🍽️ Simple Recipe: Pickled Carrots with Mint
🍽️ Bonus Recipe: Spiced Carrot Salad (I would skip the lemon juice in this recipe and add some shredded roselle greens.)
Eat the roselle calyxes! Peel off all the red parts of the buds (discard the seed in the middle) and add them to salads of all kinds (green, chicken, fruit ect!) Also tasty in baked goods, use like dried cranberries or cherries!
Too many scallions? Chop and add to softened butter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Compound butter keeps for months frozen and you can just slice off the amount you need. Perfect for adding to vegetables or eggs.
Here’s our downloadable one-page guide to storing all things produce!
There’s no need to peel your carrots, plus you lose many important nutrients that are located just below the skin. Simply give them a quick scrub with “my favorite” vegetable brush and you are ready to go!
Happy Fall! Even though we had that little preview a couple of weeks ago, true autumn has finally arrived. It’s my favorite season—the foods, the cozy clothes, and the promise of a slower pace on the horizon.
Of course, things haven’t slowed down just yet. We finally got a much-needed rain (about three-quarters of an inch) which let us catch up on some indoor work. The crew cleared out spent crops in the big high tunnel, prepped beds for fall planting, and transplanted the first round of crops there. Shallots and garlic got their turn too—cleaned, trimmed, and tucked away for storage. Between showers, we weeded the perennial and herb beds, tended the fall crops, and reseeded struggling greens. With the moisture, germination is finally looking better—so there’s real hope for fall salad greens ahead!
We also had the honor of preparing a big order for a local Farm-to-Table dinner hosted by Knoxville’s own Hometown Deli. Much of the produce came straight from our fields, and we helped source the rest. The best part? Sitting down on Saturday night to enjoy it all. If you ever get the chance to attend one of these community feasts, don’t miss it—it was an absolute delight.
On Sunday, we tackled a big project: recovering the small high tunnel. It’s a chore we don’t exactly look forward to (those giant sheets of plastic have a way of catching every stray breeze!), but thanks to some skilled farm friends and handy non-farm friends, we knocked out most of the work in one day. Just a few finishing touches left, and it will be ready to carry us through the next season.
Meanwhile, the fall crops are perking up with the cooler temps and rain—looking happier by the day. The tomatoes, sadly, are not. They’ve continued their slow farewell, and this week will likely be your last taste of them in the boxes.
We’re also sending out roselle this week! You’ve seen the greens before, but now the calyxes are ready. These ruby-red gems are prized in Asian, Caribbean, and African cuisines for teas, refreshing drinks, and sweets. We love them fresh—chopped into salads or desserts. Just remember to remove the hard seed pod and enjoy only the tender red parts. For a real treat: dip them in dark chocolate…they’re like the farm’s version of a chocolate-covered cherry. They also pair nicely with the peaches which are heading your way for one last time.
Speaking of peaches, if you are in possession of the green quart pulp containers that we’ve been sending peaches out in for the past couple of weeks, we would love to have those back. We’re running short on them. Thanks!
📍 Marion County Members: The Knoxville Hospital’s Ladies Night Out is this Thursday on the square. Look for us under the blue tent—we’ll have jams, seasonings, and eco-printed scarves, plus a prize drawing! Stop by and say hello.
Here are a few upcoming events and milestones to keep on your radar:
Sept. 25 – Ladies Night Out, Knoxville
Oct. 11–12 – Pierce’s Pumpkin Festival
Oct. 14 – Final CSA delivery (Week #20!)
Oct. 25 – Final Saturday VegEmail delivery
Nov. 4 – Fall VegEmail schedule begins (delivery every other Tuesday, 4–6pm)
Got big plans this week? Whether you’re feeding a crowd, craving salsa, or stocking up on potatoes for the pantry, we’ve got you covered.
Our VegEmail program is your go-to source for ordering extra farm-fresh produce beyond your Bounty Box. Use it to stock up on your favorites or snag more of what you loved this week.
👉 Click here to place your VegEmail order (by Thursday at noon)
Pick-up is Saturday from 10am–noon at Singlespeed Brewing (downtown Des Moines), Mayalu Coffee (southside Des Moines), the Grand Theater in Knoxville or on the farm.
It’s one more way we’re making it easier for you to eat seasonally, locally, and deliciously—on your schedule.
You’ve seen our photos, we’d love to see yours! Share photos of your Bounty Box haul or how you’re using your weekly produce. We’d LOVE to see them! You can email or text them to us or post them on the BGF Community Page. Every week we’ll feature photos from the membership on our social media outlets.
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.
BEANS: Fresh beans are an easy "store." Just leave them in their plastic bag and keep them in the produce drawer. Can last up to 2 weeks.
CUCUMBER: Store unwashed cucumbers wrapped in a cloth or paper towel then sealed in a 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.
EGGPLANT: Eggplant prefers to be kept at about 50° F, which is warmer than most refrigerators and cooler than most kitchen counters. Wrap unwashed eggplant in a towel (not in plastic) to absorb any moisture and keep it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Used within a week, it should still be fresh and mild. Many people like to peel, salt, and drain their eggplant to draw out any bitter flavor; however, bitterness develops only in eggplant that has been stored for a while, so with farm-fresh specimens this is generally not necessary. Many recipes call for salting in order to make the vegetable less watery and more absorbent—much like draining tofu. Salting is not an essential step, but it can greatly enhance the taste and texture of your dish and is well worth the extra effort. The shape of an eggplant determines how it is best prepared. Slice a straight, narrow eggplant into rounds or halves for grilling or broiling, and cut a rounded, bulbous eggplant into cubes for stews and stir-fries.
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. If there is extra moisture in the bag, just tuck in a cotton or paper towel.
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.
OKRA: These lovely, horn-shaped vegetables are a warm weather treat. Extremely cold sensitive, wrap with a dishcloth or paper towel and store in their plastic bag in the warmest part of your fridge, or place the plastic bag in a small paper sack and store in the fridge door and use within the week. Traditional southerners will cut into rounds, bread in cornmeal and fry, but our favorite version is our dear friend Annie's method, "All I do is rinse off the pods and lay them in a saucepan with a little water in the bottom. Ten to fifteen minutes is all it takes...twenty if the pods are really big and "woody" feeling. I put salt on them and eat as finger food. It reminds me of young sweet corn."'
PEACHES: these little beauties are very fragile and will go from not-quite-ripe to over-ripe in a heartbeat. You can speed ripening on the countertop or slow it in the refrigerator. Their flavor is best at room temp or slightly cool, but not cold.
PEPPERS: Place whole, unwashed peppers in a plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate for a week or more. Rinse peppers just before use. For sweet peppers, cut around the stem with a small knife and lift out the core. Slice down the side to open it up and then cut out the inner membranes. Store unused portions in a sealed bag or container in the refrigerator.
ROSELLE: Store in a cloth or paper-lined plastic bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator and use within a week. To use, strip leaves from the stems and use as a leafy green or as an herb. If your roselle includes the calyxes (“fruits"), remove center seed and chop or pull apart. Use like dried cranberries or cherries.
SCALLIONS: (green onions)- are best kept in the fridge, 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.
TOMATOES: always store whole tomatoes at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Once cut, store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
** 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.
Follow us on Instagram: bluegatefarmfresh
Follow us on Facebook: Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences, photos and questions with other BGF members at Blue Gate Farm Community.
Find us on the web: Blue Gate Farm
📧 Questions? Email us: bluegatefarmIA@gmail.com
What would make this newsletter more useful or enjoyable for you? Anything we can do to make your Bounty Box experience even better?
Just hit reply or click the comment button below and let us know — we really appreciate your input!
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
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.