Box #11

The garden is exploding! We really had to move to get everything picked and packed in time this week. Here is a run down:

Green Tomatoes: One of my tomato plants looks as though it may be dead or at least in the process of dying. I think I nicked it with the tiller some weeks ago and ever since it’s been a weak plant. Apparently it couldn’t stand up to the torrential downpour we received here last weekend. Anyway, rather than toss the tomatoes out I put some in the CSA boxes this week. I think something like five or six of you got them. For those of you who didn’t get these, keep the following recipe ideas (from The Encyclopedia of Country Living) in mind. After the frosts start everyone will probably get some.

Fried Green Tomatoes: Slice tomatoes into about ½ inch slices. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a pie tin. Dip slices in the mix to get both sides coated. Fry in hot shortening (or butter or olive oil) on one side then the other. Serve hot and right away.

Baked Green Tomatoes: Cut tomatoes into ½ inch slices and arrange half of then in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Over that make a layer of small toasted bread cubed, salt, pepper and bitted dots. Add a second layer of green tomatoes and than a second layer of everything else. Finally, sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until tender.

Pasta Squash: These are coming along nicely. If you didn’t get one of these this week, don’t worry, you’ll definitely see probably more of these than you would like by the end of the growing season as they are incredibly prolific. Pasta squash (a.k.a. spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti) is a relative of summer squash. It’s a pretty cool type of squash because you actually can make spaghetti out of it. Instead of producing a solid flesh they’re insides are all noodley.
To prepare: snap the stem off and toss the whole thing in a pot of boiling water for about half an hour or poke with a fork and bake for about 90 minutes; slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and central pulp; using a fork, rake out the shreds of spaghetti. Once they’re cooked use them like any other noodle (hot, cold, stir fried). Uncooked it’s pretty unpalatable. Also if you want to make stir fry with it, cook it first using one of the methods above.