By Joe Dennis, Nostalgia Farms, Walcott, IA
October is here and almost gone, to most farmers, a time of harvest and a time to reflect on the year’s crop – its successes and failures. While this is true for us at Nostalgia Farms, it is also a time for planting and trying new crops that can withstand the ever-changing dips in temperature as winter approaches.
We’ve already been preparing beds for next year: garlic and shallots were planted the first week of October, cover crops of winter rye also are going in as well as hairy vetch. One of the best crops of garden spinach is planted in mid October. We mulch with crushed fall leaves or straw over winter. Try it and you’ll have the earliest and healthiest spinach bed on the block.
Harvesting and storing winter squash and pumpkins has been a big part of the American landscape for generations. We often forget in our celebration of Halloween and fall decorating that these vitamin-packed vegetables are an important part of a sustainable lifestyle.
Delicious and versatile, they are one of the few vegetables (okay technically fruits) that increase their vitamins upon storing and also by cooking. Sweet or savory, roasted, steamed, stir-fried or a quick cook in the microwave, squash is highly versatile and should be in every cook’s pantry and every gardener’s root cellar.
Acorn and butternut are well known to most of us, but they are just the glimpse of the winter squash landscape. Delicata is one of our favorites, simply roasted and filled with butter salt and pepper.
An easy recipe for hard-to-cut acorn squash is to place it whole in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds to soften the outside to make it easier to cut in half. After scooping out the seeds, place in a 375-degree oven, cut side down, until the flesh is tender (usually around 25 – 30 minutes). Fill the squash with a mixture of apples, cranberries and walnuts sautéed with butter, orange juice and honey or brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon. Your kids will even love it.
Here are two of my favorite tried and true squash recipes: Spaghetti Squash with Mrs. Wages Pasta Sauce and Butternut Soup with Sage and Nutmeg.
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Joe Dennis is a farmer at Nostalgia Farms in Walcott, Iowa. Together with his partner, Ed Kraklio, they sell locally-grown, organic produce at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport, IA near LeClaire Park, every Tuesday (3-6 pm) and Saturday (8 am -1 pm). You can visit the farm’s website at: www.nostalgiafarms.com. Read more of Farmer Joe’s blog posts on MVHNews, or try any of the Nostalgia Farms recipes on this website. |
