Winter Squash - It warms your tummy!

I was talking to a friend a few days back who mentioned how good - and versatile - winter squash was.  She had just had a fabulous stromboli stuffed with one of our Jarradhale Pumpkins in a fabulous curry sauce courtesy of the ever-creative Chef Kim at Pickles Deli in Clinton.  It was yummy, yummy but my favorite comment was how the dish "warmed my tummy."
That's really a great description for Winter Squash and Pumpkins and perhaps that is why they are such a fabulous fall and winter food!  But so, so many folks seem intimidated by the Squash/Pumpkin family, maybe they buy them for a pretty display on their porch our countertop - but they never know what to do with them!

So...since ironically enough, we are bringing LOTS of winter squash to the Bayview Market today...Let's talk Squash (and Pumpkins).
First of all, their is no botanical difference between squash and pumpkins.  Pumpkins are merely a "culinary" (and usually appearance) designation with pumpkins usually earning the name for their orange color and round shape.  For culinary purposes, pumpkins are said to be denser and heavier than most "squash" varieties but I really don't find that true.  In reality, it's more just a tradition of what a particular variety has been called.  For instance, the fabulous Jarradhale "Pumpkin" is actually a beautiful blue/grey color rather than orange.  It does have a classic pumpkin shape, however...
There are four botanical classifications for winter squash/pumpkins - Cucurbita Pepo (mostly little ones like acorns and delicatas), Cucurbita Moschata (not so common, mostly "cushaw" types), Cucurbita Mixta (medium ones, includes butternut and lots of pie pumpkins) and Cucurbita Maxima (the big ones...hubbards!).
Along with colors and shapes, their can be a wide variance in the flavor and texture of pumpkins and squash (btw, "Jack o' Lantern" type pumpkins while yes, technically "edible" are usually so stringy of texture they are next to impossible to do anything with if you cook them...). 
Here's a quick run-down on some of the varieties we offer:
* Jarradhale.  Blue/Grey Australian pumpkin.  Very hearty, rich, dense flesh.  Great for savory dishes or soup.
* Winter Luxury Pie Pumkin.  Out of this world pie pumpkin.  Heirloom from the 1800s with orange "netted" skin.  Very light, sweet flesh.  Perfect for pie, cheesecake, ice cream, muffins...
* Red Kuri.  A Japanese "Kabocha" type.  Orange, tear-drop shaped.  Dry, nutty flavor reminiscent of hazelnut.  Great for savory dishes or soup.
* Spaghetti Squash.  Sweet, lightly color flesh that when baked, you can use a fork to make "strings" with and use in place of pasta.
* Sweet Meat.  A blue-gray hubbard type.  Known for it's dense, very sweet flesh.  Great for baked squash or in pies!
* Delicata - Small, striped winter squash.  Very pretty.  Thin-skinned.  You can steam whole and cut with the skins intact.  Sweet delicate flavor.
* Sweet Dumpling.  Relative of the Delicata only round shape.  Very sweet, thin skinned.  Great to stuff and serve individually.
* Australian Cheese.  Interesting pink-orange color.  Very sweet, dense flavor.  Good for baked squash, for desserts...
* Uncle David's Dessert Buttercup.  Dense, sweet and hearty.  Great baked type.  Smaller, dark-green color.
And probably a few more...
The other great thing about winter squash/pumpkins is THEY KEEP!  Keep them someplace where they will be in the 50 degree temperature and nice and dry (decorating a table or countertop is ideal!) and most varieties will last several months in not many, many months (the thicker the skin, the longer they keep) and not only will they keep, but most varieties get sweeter in storage.  So stock up - and enjoy!

And since you might want to know what else we are bringing to market today...Here is the list coming to the Bayview Farmer's Market
* Winter Squash and Pumpkins (in case you didn't read about wall o' text and just skipped straight here)
* The LAST of the tomatoes!  Ripe heirlooms, slicers, beefsteaks, green ones.  No more - we are pulling the vines next week!
* Mesclun bags
* Arugula bags
* Beet bunches
* Carrot bunches
* Potatoes of all sorts - including 10 lb storage bags at a better price - so stock up!
* Garlic - food grade and still seed grade available for planting
* Leeks
* Onions
* Kale
* Chard
* Dry Beans - Rockwell's and Black Coco's this week!
And we here Mikey from Whidbey Green Goods is bringing some green beanies (Roma's I think) he pulled from his hoophouse this week.  That's awful late for green beans so enjoy the special treat while you can get them!
Hope to see you at Bayview Market today!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie
P.S.  And a few recipes...

Jarrahdale Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Horseradish

The Jarrahdale cooks up very well with the potatoes and
adds a light and fresh flavor. The low sugar of the pumpkin
can't be tasted and the garlic and horseradish give a piquant
zing that spices up this old favorite.

1 Jarrahdale Pumpkin
6 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 C butter
1/4 C cream
1/4 C chopped horseradish
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese to taste

Heat Jarrahdale in 250 oven for 25 minutes. Cool, halve and scoop out flesh.
Microwave potatoes with holes poked in them for about 12 minutes.
Skin potatoes if desired and then dice them.
Add potatoes, squash, cream and butter to a pot on medium heat.
Mash as the potatoes cook down and become tender, about 25 minutes.
Add more cream if the potatoes become stiff or dry.
Add garlic, horseradish, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.
Serve in the Jarrahdale Pumpkin and top with parmesan cheese.

Nutty Renee’s Red Kuri Soup

(Named in honor of my mother, Renee, who came up with this recipe featuring the rich, hazelnut-reminiscent flavor of Red Kuri winter squash.  Peanut butter brings out the creamy sweetness of the squash but be careful to not overdo it as the peanut can also easily overpower the delicate flavors)

Ingredients

2 cups Red Kuri squash

2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup pine nuts

¼ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup milk

¼ cup (no more) quality peanut butter (like Adams)

Baby spinach leaves or arugula, for garnish

Cut Red Kuri squash in half, scoop out seeds and roast until soft.  Roasting the squash is important as it partially caramelizes the vegetable, which is great for the flavors.  Cool and scoop out flesh.  Mix with chicken stock in food processor until smooth.

In large saucepan saute the pine nuts and onions in the olive oil until soft.  Cool and chop coarsely (in food processor if possible).  Add squash and simmer the entire mixture.

15 minutes before serving add milk and peanut butter, stir well.  Do not boil after this.

Garnish with baby spinach leaves or arugula and serve.  Other squash or pumpkins can be substituted, but be sure to roast!

Are we slowing down yet? Heck no!

That's what people keep asking me.  "Things must be slowing down at the farm?"  My answer is "yes and no."
Yes, they are slowing down in the sense there isn't as much daylight so we literally CAN'T be working out in the fields as much.  (Does anybody know a good source for floodlights to light up about 8 acres?  Just kidding!...Mostly.)  However,  when we do have daylight there is sure still LOADS to be done.

What Farmer Georgie looks like after a day digging potatoes!

This last week of dry/sunny weather has been a huge boon for FINALLY getting all the very late maturing dry beans pulled and to cure. We finished the last row yesterday so that means next week we can get back on digging potatoes, only maybe 2000 or 3000 more lbs of taters left to go!  Eek...
And then there are the overwintered crops that need to be weeded, fertilized and even planted....And garlic!  We must start planting garlic!  And overwintered onions!  And we need to pull all the tomato plants out and plant out the greenhouse to winter greens....And harvest the rest of the winter squash.  And pull up all the drip tape.  And disc all the empty fields and plant cover crop.  And, and, and....
Really...a farmer's work never REALLY ends.
And then of course, there are still three more Bayview Farmer's Markets to go as well.  And on that note (notice my very clever transition), let's get down to what I know most of you REALLY care about - what's fresh, young and vegetable like coming to market TODAY????
NOTE - There are NO MORE Coupeville Farmer's Markets til spring (wah-wah).  We have 3 more Bayview Farmer's Markets.  HOWEVER - soon (possibly next weekend) we will be starting "Endless Summer" with Rosehip Farm and Garden.  For those of you who haven't done this before, watch for an email from me.  We will combine available food from Willowood, Rosehip Farm and Garden and Prairie Bottom Farm (all 3 Coupeville area, organically grown - but not certified - small farms), and send you the list.  You order by the specified time.  We pick to order (first-come, first serve).  You come on Saturday to Rosehip Farm & Garden in Coupeville and pick up your food.   It's a GREAT way to keep on getting some great local harvest-time food, and for us local farmer's to keep on selling it!

ALSO - IF YOU PREORDERED POTATO OR BEAN BAGS DURING THE FARM TOUR IN SEPTEMBER - You are welcome to come by the market today and pick up today - what we have.  Due to our cool September we still don't have all the things on the orders ready (beans that still need to be threshed, and potatoes to be dug), but we do have some of it.  I will be emailing everybody shortly that hasn't already picked up at the markets about your preorder. 

And now, for the list...
Coming to the Bayview Market TODAY!
* Rockwell Beans!  That's right, the famous Rockwell Bean!  In 1 lb bags with my Grandma's amazing recipe on it!
* Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. We LOVE our potatoes.  And we've got them in all shapes, sizes and colors - Yellow Finns, German Butterballs, Maris Pipers, Romanze, Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty, Peanut fingerling, Red Thumb fingerling, Ozette Fingerling....
* 10 lb Potato Bags!  This is a GREAT way to stock up for winter.  Reduced pricing and in mesh bags that are great for winter storage.
* Garlic - Food grade including 1.5 lb bags at reduced pricing!
* Garlic - Seed grade!  It's not too late to plant (we plant all the way up until Thanksgiving...).
* Chard
* Kale - multiple kinds!
* Collards
* Mesclun Bags - a new crop!
* Arugula Bags - a new crop!
* Onions - three flavors!
* Leeks!
* Winter Squash - oodles in gorgeous colors and shapes.  Perfect for fall decor and great to eat as well!
* Ornamental mini pumpkins and gourds
* Baby carrots
* Lots of BEAUTIFUL, SWEET HEIRLOOM TOMATOES!  Just about the last picking, so get them while still can!
And something we are surely forgetting....
Ah yes, Mikey from Whidbey Green Goods yes he has quite a few of lovely wild-picked mushrooms!
And since it's getting to be that time when I can actually start to see daylight, I better sign off and go pack the truck.  Hope to see you at market today!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie


 

Watch out for flying squash!

Watch out for flying squash! You think I jest? Well, just ask Kevin, Willow or Elizabeth (the farm interns) about the crazy antics of flying winter squash. How, you may ask, does winter squash fly? Well, take one farmer and some clippers, A LOT of winter squash, a relay team of interns to get the squash from the middle of field to the edge of the field and...well things get a little crazy! Those little gourds and mini pumpkins, they aren't so bad, but a 20 lbs Sweet Meat squash flying through the air????? Incoming!!!!!!!
So granted, we will have LOTS of winter squash at the markets this week. Pumpkins, squash, gourds, big ones and little ones in all shapes and colors, warts and all (seriously, we have ones with warts!). These are the beauties to grace your countertop or front porch in all their fall glory and then, you get to eat them too!
Some come on down to the Bayview and Coupeville markets and load up on squash! We will, of course, also have a nice selection of other goodies including -
* Broccoli
* Cauliflower
* Cabbage
* Kohlrabi
* Head Lettuce
* Mesclun Mix
* Onions
* Potatoes (including a few 10 lbs storage bags!)
* Garlic and Seed Garlic
* Dry Beans - Rockwells! And hopefully Black Kabuli Garbanzo beans as well!
* Summer Squash
* Corn
* Sunflower seed heads for drying for seeds for either humans or birds to enjoy!
* Rainbow Chard and lots more I'm probably forgetting...
Also coming from Michael at WGG (to the Bayview market only) - tomatoes, pears, apples, cucumbers and grapes...

On a final note (and to see if you are reading this!), next weekend (Oct. 3 & 4), is the FREE Whidbey Island Farm Tour and Willowood Farm will be open to the public on both days!
http://whidbeyfarmtour.wordpress.com/
Because of the tour WE WILL NOT BE AT THE BAYVIEW MARKET ON OCT. 3RD! You can tour the fields, check out our amazingly awesome HUGE historic barn, giggle at the turkeys and pet the horses. And we will be selling LOADS of great fall-time veggies -potatoes, dry beans, garlic, winter squash, etc., etc., etc...We hope to see you there!

A Fall Frame of Mind

Fall really is my favorite time of year. As a farmer I love it because I start to see the fruition of many of our endeavors, and anything that didn't work out? Well, it's too late to worry about now anyways so might as well regulate that to the "will do better next year category." But I also love the colors, the temperature, even the "smell" of fall as cooler nights and rotting leaves intermingle with the enveloping warmth of a sunny fall afternoon.
And of course some of my very favorite veggies come on in the fall. Beans, the fabulous beans. Winter squash. I would grow it just for the fabulous colors and shapes. The fact that they taste great is just a big huge bonus for me! Corn - oh, so fabulous. The sweet kind and the outstandingly beautiful ornamental corn. And of course the endless amounts of garlic and potatoes. Food to feed the masses.

We are just starting to get into the fall season, and I'm anticipating a lovely one this year. Lots yet left to do and many harvests yet to complete. But to start getting everybody into the "fall frame of mind" I thought I would post a few photos taken last season by one of our interns, Tali Aiona. Thanks Tali for these awesome, harvest season photos!
And of course, we are still certainly coming to the Bayview and Coupeville Farmer's markets tomorrow. Rain or shine - we don't care what the weather report says, we'll be there! (There is no such thing as a fair weather farmer, so I expect to see all your chipper faces out there, nevermind the dire predictions of forecasters. Who are they to spoil our fun anyways!). Those that are hearty enough to brave the weather, will be well rewarded with a great selection of fabulous fall treats:
From Willowood Farm:
- Shell Beans! The ever famous Rockwells plus several others.
- Taters, 8 kinds!
- Loads of garlic.
- Summer squash, summer squash!
- And some winter squash too...
- Cabbage. Frightening large. Amazingly good.
- Kohlrabi (repeat above).
- Sweet Corn - organic certified! From our neighbors at Ebey Road Farm
- Cucumbers
- Beets
- Chard
- Sunflower, ornamental corn and other pretty "harvest color" stalks to decorate with...
- Onions, several flavors

From Prairie Bottom Farm
- Amazingly fragrant Dill (seriously, I was putting the horse away 100 yds from the packing shed and I was freaking out that my old quarterhorse had seriously eaten something weird. He smelled like a pickle! Then I realized they were bunching the dill 100 feet away. Those bunches throw a powerful pickling punch, I tell you...).
- Semi-savoy spinach
- Mixed salad greens
- Baby carrot bunches
- Scallions
- Lots more summer squash
- Beans

And for those of you coming to the Bayview market, Michael at Whidbey Green Goods is also bringing a nice selection of tomatoes, slicing cucumbers, carrots, plums, figs (I'm really excited about those! I keep trying to plant a fig tree and so far my only success has been at killing them slowly...), and more goodies!
And a final photo from Tali to get everybody hungry...
Happy eating!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie