CSA Newsletter Fourteenth Edition
Posted on September 16, 2009
Announcements:
-We’ve added a new section to our newsletter entitled, “Featured Business of the Week.” We will be profiling local businesses who share our vision for fresh, local, & sustainable agriculture.
-This week’s CSA Newsletter includes a supplementary article written by Erin Mickelwaite. Erin is a licensed massage therapist in Princeton. She has previously worked with Burlington County Agriculture Extension Service and is an alumnus of the Cook Student Organic Farm at Rutgers, where our produce farmer Johann also worked.
Featured Business of the Week:
Village Bakery
Unlike many of today’s American bakeries that stock their shelves with premade products purchased from large commercial distributors, The Village Bakery makes everything from scratch using the finest ingredients available. In addition to a variety of preservative-free artisan breads that are made fresh every day, the bakery also offers custom cakes and dessert pastries, European and American breakfast pastries, cookies, pies, and tarts. From May through October The Village Bakery brings its artisan breads to five NJ farmers markets: Hopewell (Wed), Lower Makefield, PA (Thurs), Rutgers University-New Brunswick (Fri), West Windsor (Sat), and Lawrenceville (Sun).
The Village Bakery
2 Gordon Avenue
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
(p) 609-896-0036
(f) 609-896-2766
www.villagebakerynj.com
Our comprehensive share features Village Bakery’s products on a alternating basis with our home-made .
This week’s harvest:
‘King Richard’ Leeks
Mixed Onions
Winter Squash Assortment (Acorn, Spaghetti, Butternut)
‘Black Beauty’ Eggplant
‘Ghostbuster’ Eggplant
Green Bell Peppers
Purple & White Bell Peppers
‘Cubanelle’ Pepper
‘Jalapeno’ Pepper
‘Red Cayenne’ Pepper
‘Habanero’ Pepper
‘Toma Verde’ Tomatillos
Swiss Chard
Sage
Leaf Celery
Oregano
Crop of the Week – Butternut Squash
Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is a type of winter squash. It has a sweet, nutty taste that is similar to pumpkin. It has yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. It grows on a vine. The most popular variety, the Waltham Butternut, originated in Stow, Massachusetts, on what is now the Butternut Farm Golf Club.
Butternut squash is a fruit that can be roasted and toasted and also be puréed or mashed into soups, casseroles, breads, and muffins. It is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and potassium. It is also an excellent source of vitamin A. The vegetable is prepared by removing the skin, stalk and seeds, which are not usually eaten or cooked. However, the seeds are edible, either raw or roasted. One of the most common ways to prepare butternut squash is roasting. To do this, the squash is cut in half lengthwise, lightly brushed with cooking oil, and placed cut side down on a baking sheet. It is then baked for 45 minutes or until it is softened. Once roasted, it can be eaten in a variety of ways as outlined above.
Butternut squash and Acorn squash have been known to cause an allergic reaction called Contact dermatitis in many individuals, especially in food preparation where the squash skin is cut and exposed to the epidermis. Food handlers and kitchen workers should take precautions to wear rubber or latex gloves when peeling butternut and acorn squash to avoid temporary Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) dermatitis. A contact dermatitis reaction to butternut or acorn squash may result in orange and cracked skin, a sensation of “tightness”, “numbness”, “roughness” or “rawness”. Applying Cortisone cream to the affected area should stop the reaction within 24 hours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butternut_squash
Herb of the Week – Oregano
Oregano (Origanum vulgare), is a species of Origanum, of the mint family, native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and southern and central Asia. It is a perennial herb, growing to 20-80 cm tall, with opposite leaves 1-4 cm long. The flowers are purple, 3-4 mm long, produced in erect spikes.
Oregano is an important culinary herb. It is particularly widely used in Turkish, Greek, Spanish and in Italian cuisine. It is the leaves that are used in cooking, and the dried herb is often more flavourful than the fresh. It has an aromatic, warm and slightly bitter taste. It varies in intensity; good quality oregano is so strong that it almost numbs the tongue, but the cultivars adapted to colder climates have often unsatisfactory flavor. The influence of climate, season and soil on the composition of the essential oil is greater than the difference between the various species.
Oregano is high in antioxidant activity, due to a high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids. Additionally, oregano has demonstrated antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. Both of these characteristics may be useful in both health and food preservation. In the Philippines, oregano (Coleus aromaticus) is not commonly used for cooking but is rather considered as a primarily medicinal plant, useful for relieving children’s coughs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregano