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Almost-December Surprises
For it being the cusp of December, there are some never-before-seen surprises in your tote this week:
Winter Spinach: We are doing some late-season and over-wintering spinach trials this year, both outdoors and in a high tunnel. The spinach is delicious thanks to the chilly weather, but be forewarned: there might be a little bit of Valley Fauna to go with your Valley Flora. The slugs and cabbage loopers are no dummies - they're living it up in that cozy greenhouse, making for some holey spinach (not to be confused with holy spinach, which is difficult to grow without divine intervention). We gave the spinach a dunking in the wash tub, but be sure to give it a more thorough wash at home unless you want protein-enhanced gritty spinach salad.
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Asian Pears: This is our latest-maturing Asian pear variety, Shinko. Mild, sweet and juicy. Store them in your fridge to maintain their crisp texture.
Sunchokes: Here they are, your token annual dose of Jerusalem Artichokes. Many of you have heard my spiel about how sunchokes are a sunflower native to North America and are supposedly a great starch alternative for diabetics because they are high in inulin....yada yada yada. BUT, what's probably more important to mention is that sunchokes make some people fart. Really bad. Note I said "some," not all. The moral of the story if you've never had them before: eat them in safe company, or alternatively, binge on them if you hope to win a tournament of fart tennis with your roommate (didn't everyone do that in college?). Here are some good recipes to start with.
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Beware - Bitter Pumpkin Alert!
We've had two customers report that they've gotten a bitter pumpkin from us. If you haven't used your pie pumpkin yet and you plan to, be sure to taste or lick the raw pumpkin before you turn it into an entire pie! You will know immediately if you have a bitter one; the taste is horrible.
We've never had this problem arise on our farm, but it's a relatively common issue that afflicts the Cucurbit family (winter squash, summer squash, melons, cucumbers). Cucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucurbitacins, which are responsible for the bitterness you sometimes encounter in cucumbers - and in our case this year, pie pumpkins. That bitter taste is a survival mechanism in plants to keep things from eating them, and it works!
There are two possible reasons for elevated cucurbitacins: 1) environmental stress like extreme temperatures or water shortage (more common in summer squash than winter squash), or 2) seed genetics due to cross pollination with other Cucurbits (i.e. a contaminated seed lot). I have an inquiry in to the seed company to find out if they've had any other reports of bitter pumpkins with this seed lot.
Over a decade ago when I was working at Sauvie Island Organics, we had a CSA member who took her entire share one week mid-summer and made a huge veggie soup. It was completely inedible. It turned out she had gotten a bitter zucchini from us. We knew we had to find the rogue plant to prevent a similar tragedy befalling anyone else's soup pot, so at harvest we combed through the 1/4 acre of zucchini and licked the cut stem of every single squash we picked. After an hour of that, you can imagine how our tongue's felt! We never found the culprit, so we ended up abandoning the entire zucchini planting for the rest of the year. In that case, it might have been environmental stress. One thing's for sure: a quarter acre of abandoned zucchini plants makes for some fun giant zucchini pranks.
Around that same time, one of our favorite local seed companies that grows our Delicata squash variety, Wild Garden Seed, suddenly had reports of bitter Delicatas coming from all their customers. They had to dump their entire seed stock because they determined that it was genetic contamination causing the bitterness. It could have been tragic had they not had a stash of seed in their freezer that pre-dated the contamination. They were able to grow out those seeds and rebuild their seed stock - thank goodness for all of us, because their Delicata strain is far and away the best we've ever tasted!
My hunch is that we're dealing with a genetic issue, and it may just be one single plant in our entire planting. Hard knowing, so be sure to do the lick test before you make an entire pumpkin soup or pie! And I'm really crossing my fingers that we didn't ruin anyone's Thanksgiving dessert table this year! If you are the victim of a bitter pumpkin, you have recourse: let me know and I'll send you some sweet Delicatas!
ucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucubitacins. It is these cucurbitacins that are responsible for squash that is bitter tasting. The higher the levels of cucubitacin, the more bitter the squash will taste. The most likely cause for a bitter taste in squash is due to an environmental stress of some sort, most likely a wide temperature flux or irregular irrigation.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Squash Is Bitter Tasting: Reasons For Bitter Squash Taste https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/bitter-tasting-squash.htmCucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucubitacins. It is these cucurbitacins that are responsible for squash that is bitter tasting. The higher the levels of cucubitacin, the more bitter the squash will taste. The most likely cause for a bitter taste in squash is due to an environmental stress of some sort, most likely a wide temperature flux or irregular irrigation
Read more at Gardening Know How: Squash Is Bitter Tasting: Reasons For Bitter Squash Taste https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/bitter-tasting-squash.htmCucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucubitacins. It is these cucurbitacins that are responsible for squash that is bitter tasting. The higher the levels of cucubitacin, the more bitter the squash will taste. The most likely cause for a bitter taste in squash is due to an environmental stress of some sort, most likely a wide temperature flux or irregular irrigation
Read more at Gardening Know How: Squash Is Bitter Tasting: Reasons For Bitter Squash Taste https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/bitter-tasting-squash.htm |
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