End of another field season

Thanks to everyone who came out on the weekend to help rip up the plastic mulch and remove the pumpkin and squash vines from the field. Our field will be tilled under by the end of the week so it will be ready for the first snowfall.

Overall we had a fairly successful field season, despite our slow start to the season due to the late spring rains. We always want to here from our members about what you would like to see grown (or not grown) or any other comments you have about the field project to help us for next year. The executive is planning many exciting things for the upcoming year, including (hopefully) either a low tunnel or high tunnel system for our warm season crops next field season. Both of these systems are basically low-tech greenhouses that help to keep the plants warmer than the surrounding air.

Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1 9 inch/23cm single crust pie shell (unbaked)

Filling
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin puree (can use squash)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cream milk or whole milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Make or buy a 9-inch pie crust. Sprinkle 1 tsp flour over base of crust before filling with the below mixture
2. in a large bowl beat eggs lightly. Blend in pumpkin puree, cream milk, brown sugar, spices and salt. Pour into pastry shell
3. Bake in the middle of oven at 425F for 20 minutes to seal bottom crust, then turn down to 350F and bake for about one hour or until filling is set and the point of a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cooking From Frozen
If not eating the pie immediately, freeze unbaked. Remove from freezer and bake from frozen state at 425F for 30 minutes to seal bottom crust, then turn down  to 350F and bake for about one hour or until filling is set and the point of a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Do no thaw before cooking.

How to Cook and Eat Spaghetti Squash

Step 1 - Cooking the Squash

• wash your squash under cool water
• cut the squash in half length wise and scoop out the seeds
• place the squash cut side down on a shallow baking pan
• add water to the pan until it is about 1cm deep
• cook in the oven at 375F for 30-40 minutes, until you can pierce it with a fork

Step 2 -  Making "spaghetti"

• allow squash to cool slightly so they can be handled (~5 minutes)
• remove the squash from the baking pan
• flip the squash over and use a fork to scrape the flesh. It will come off in strands that look similar to spaghetti. Transfer this to a bowl.
• Continue scraping until all the flesh has been removed from the skin of the squash

Step 3 - Eating

• Now you can eat your spaghetti squash like regular spaghetti. Spicy tomato sauce or a pesto are good ones to try. You can even place it in a glass baking dish, add a beaten egg and some tomato sauce, top with cheese and bake the whole thing again to get a spaghetti squash pie.

Things To Do With Kale

Our "Darkibor" kale

We are getting to the end of the field season now and some veggies are still producing wonderfully! Today's star vegetable is kale.  This healthy leafy green grows well in our garden and has been offering us plenty to eat all season. It's not exactly a staple vegetable in most people's kitchens and so I thought I'd share a list of 11 things to make with kale, found here.

African-style kale stew

Our "graffiti" kale

Kale chips are always a classic, and any leafy green sauteed with a little  olive oil and garlic is a quick, easy side.
My personal favorite is the kale stew, which is delicious over rice. You can get the cilantro you need to make it from the field too!

Happy cooking!
Sarah

Field Season 2014

A few pictures from out field this year. Things are growing really well with the hot weather lately. The beans and beets have both gone crazy over the last week!

 

Thanks to everyone who has been coming out and working hard to keep our garden under control.