A weekly update from Boston Organics.
Though your sweet tooth may have been satisfied by spooky treats this weekend, we hope you saved some room for some tasty organic produce! This week, Boston Organics will deliver winter squash and Spencer apples—which have a special sweetness all their own—as well as other delicious vegetables to add richness and flavor to the lengthening nights.
Seasonal Add-Ons
This week we are offering cold-weather favorites among our add-on produce offerings, including several varieties of winter squash! Packed with Vitamins A and C, these tasty squash are well worth the labor of chopping through the tough rind. Order some butternut or acorn squash to be included in your delivery this week, and enjoy the orange flesh with savory stuffing, in soups or simply baked and topped with melted butter.
There may also be some truly special pumpkin pies and breads in your future courtesy of pie pumpkins from Harlow Farm. Check out our instructions for making your very own pumpkin puree, and you will be on your way to becoming a baking hero!
This week, we will also have three-pound bags of local Spencer apples available as add-ons. The Spencer apple is a cross between McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples, and has sweet, crunchy flesh and a small core. This week's apples come to us from Hutchins Farm in Concord, MA. The skin of these apples may have small black dots known as flyspeck, or sooty blotches. These are not indicative of any defect, and the blotches can be wiped off. The apples are still perfectly delicious eaten raw, or included in this warming recipe for Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Ginger.
Visit our add-on order page to get these flavors of autumn in your next delivery!
Green Bell Peppers
We have a neat treat this week from Windy Ridge Farm in Clyde, NY. Farmers David and Anna Mae Schmucker are part of a thriving Amish community just north of the Finger Lakes. We were introduced to them through one of our farm partners and David’s neighbor, Rick Pedersen of Pedersen Farm.
While the Amish way of life does not reject modern technology in its entirety, working as an organic Amish grower contrasts with many modern agricultural practices. David plows the land with horses. He stores perishable produce in his ice house, packed with ice harvested from a pond each winter. He loads pallets on a truck with a block and tackle system and relies on neighbors like Rick Pedersen to get his products to nearby markets in Rochester and Syracuse. He communicates with us from a phone in his neighbor’s barn. While these practices connect David with his rich farming heritage, he has also adopted many more recent farming innovations. For instance, he grows extensively under row cover, which enables him to extend the growing season well into the cooler months. And we're grateful he does, because that means many members of the Boston Organics Community will open their boxes to local bell peppers this week.
Though citrus fruits usually get the accolades for their Vitamin C content, bell peppers are also rich in this immune-boosting nutrient. Just a 1/2 cup of green bell pepper will give you 100% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C! These crunchy capsicums originated in Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Though some varieties are green when mature, most green bell peppers would turn red if allowed to develop fully. As a result, green peppers tend to have a slightly more bitter flavor than their red and yellow counterparts. We love snacking on them raw, or preparing savory Shepherd's Stuffed Peppers, perfect for a cool autumn evening!
Sage
This week, we’re bringing you warm, fragrant sage from Happy Valley Organics, whose recently installed solar power system keeps their greenhouses running all year round. Native to the Mediterranean, Sage has been used for thousands of years as a culinary and medicinal herb. It’s the first week of November, and we are starting to think about…Thanksgiving! Pungent, earthy sage is a perfect complement to poultry and is great for use in stuffing, so you can get a head start on planning and experimenting for your turkey day feast. One of our current favorites is this recipe for Caramelized Butternut Squash with Sage Hazelnut Pesto.
If the thought of the holiday season is stressful, make yourself a cup of sage tea by pouring some hot water over a few leaves, covering the mug to prevent the evaporation of helpful essential oils, and letting them steep. It's been said that sage offers excellent support for the nervous system, and has even been found by some to help relieve indigestion. (Of course, we make no medical claims. We simply enjoy the soothing herbal flavor!)
Enjoy your box and have a delicious week!
