As Geffen wrote last week, squash season is here! We had the full crew outside on Thursday and Friday harvesting over 50 rows of squash. While the task was bound to take days, we had a special technique to speed up the pace and elevate our moods – SQUASHBALL! Here’s how it goes down. We cut the squash from several rows and place it into two adjacent rows. A tractor driver maneuvers along the bed with two macros (large bulk containers), one on the front and one on the back end of the tractor. The harvesters work in pairs with one person tossing the squash and one person catching the it and placing it into the macro. Important safety guidelines are key in this world of throwing voluminous gourds around: 
     1) Make sure the catcher is looking in your direction.
     2) Aim for the space in front of the catcher.
     3) Underhand tosses are appreciated.
     4) Keep an eye on where the tractor is!!!
Check out the Instagram post from Friday to see our squashballers in action.

We harvested 65 macros of squash, each weighing about 600 pounds. That’s a grand total of 39,000 pounds of winter squash! I found an image online (below) that shows many of the varieties we grow with suggestions for each. Red Kuri, my personal favorite, isn’t on the image. It’s delicious roasted with olive oil and salt, cooked down into a soup, or incorporated into your favorite curry recipe. Pie pumpkins are another classic variety that we grow, excellent for baking or making gnocchi. And here’s an insider tip for you when you’re preparing your butternut squash this week – the skin is totally edible! Unless you are pureeing the squash in a soup, you don’t need to bother peeling it.

Here are a few recipes using the produce in your share this week:

• Spinach + Butternut (vegan): Stuffed Butternut Squash
• Spinach + Butternut: Creamed Spinach Stuffed Butternut Squash
• Carrot + Radish: Radish Kimchi

~Eddy