Setember 28

Box Contents:

1 bskt Cherry Tomatoes

2 each Acorn Squash

.75 lbs Garlic

1.5 lbs Eggplant/Rosa Bianca

2 lbs French Fingerling Potatoes

1 lb Early Girl Tomatoes

Field Notes: The smoke from the northern California wildfires continues to wane. We are so relieved to have improved air quality for better outdoor working conditions. It has been a tough peak season but we are fortunate to be able to continue to operate as an essential business producing food. Thank you for your continued support of the farm and for supporting the employees who make the food production possible.

Webstore Features: Canning Tomatoes (Early Girl), Red Sauce Tomatoes (Slicers), Whole Chicken - Visit: https://csa.farmigo.com/store/riverdogfarmcsa to place your orders. Please place your orders by noon, 2 days before your delivery day to ensure same week delivery.

Box Notes: New this week: Acorn Squash! We are actively harvesting all of our winter squash varieties (we grow over 10 types of winter squash). You’ll notice some exterior scarring on the skin of the acorn squash. This is caused by thrips. It’s only cosmetic and doesn’t affect the quality, flavor, or durability of the squash. There has been a lot of thrips pressure on many crops this year, especially at one of the neighbor’s farms near Cache Creek. We have been fortunate to not lose any crops to the thrips but you may see a bit of scarring on some of the winter squash. Our potato crop has been stellar this year. In your box this week are the delicious French Fingerling Potato. This variety has red, edible (thin) skin and a yellow interior. Fingerling potatoes are known for being slightly more waxy that non-fingerling varieties. They hold up well in soup (not crumbly) and are great for roasting or for hash browns/pan-fried spuds or even just boiled then re-heated with eggs for breakfast.

Each week, the veggie box contents are subject to change. In each newsletter, we include a list of box contents to give you an idea of what to expect but it may differ from what is packed. Crop quality, daily yields and weather conditions will determine final box contents each week.

Please pick up your veggie box on your delivery day. With very warm summer temperatures continuing through the first part of fall, please pick up your CSA order on your delivery day so that it stays fresh and we can ensure quality. At Riverdog Farm, CSA site hosts may donate any unclaimed boxes of vegetables no sooner than 24 hours after the original pick up day and time of 3pm. After 24 hours (3pm the following day) unclaimed orders may no longer be available and the subscriber absorbs the box cost for that week’s order.

New CSA Announcements:

1. Egg subscriptions are now available to all members while supplies last. Eggs are $9 per dozen, they are CCOF certified organic. Your account is deducted at midnight the day of delivery.

2. Chicken subscriptions are now available. The whole chickens (with head and feet) are $6 per lb. The average weight is 3.5 to 7 lbs. All meat raised on the farm is pasture fed. The animals are CCOF certified organic but cannot be labeled as organic due to being processed in a facility that is not certified organic. Your account is updated weekly with the actual weight packed for you. To begin a chicken subscription, add a chicken to your account 48 hours before your delivery day. Your account is deducted with the actual price of the chicken at midnight the day of delivery

3. Webstore Orders: There are chickens available on the web store. Try out a chicken with no commitment, if you like it then add it to your account as a subscription. There are also whole, smoked hams available.

Frog Hollow Farm Fruit Box The weekly fruit box is $29.75. To add the Frog Hollow Fruit box to your weekly subscription, 1) go to your account in Farmigo. 2) Once logged in, look at the right side of your page at the summary box - you will see at the bottom of that box your subscription and there will be a darker green box that says "change". Click on that button that says change. Below the title "CHANGE SUBSCRIPTION" you have 2 tabs -shares- and -options- Click on the -options- tab. From there you will see the Frog Hollow Fruit box available to add to your subscription.

5) ALL orders must be in by Sunday at NOON so we have the ability to process the order and get it out to you on the proper day and time. The deliveries of the fruit boxes will be weekly.

The Frog Hollow fruit box will be available to add to your CSA account from Thursday to Sunday at NOON. And, due to logistics, the Frog Hollow Fruit Boxes will only be available to the Wednesday/Thursday/Friday subscribers. CSA subscribers who pick up on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays, at the Berkeley farmers markets will not have the fruit box option but may purchase one directly from Frog Hollow.  12:00 pm Sunday is the deadline to change your account for the fruit box, if you enter a hold any time after that, we can cancel delivery of the box, but your account will still be charged. Frog Hollow CSA boxes come with 3-4 varieties of seasonal tree ripened, exceptionally tasty stone fruits. Summer CSA boxes contain 7 lbs. of mixed stone fruit, many varieties of peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots. As part of their commitment to sustainability, Frog Hollow works hard to avert food waste. You can expect to see ripe cosmetically imperfect fruit and small or large pieces of fruit in the fruit boxes. These characteristics should not affect the deliciousness of what you receive. Visit their web site to learn more about their CSA program, farm, ethos and fruits and recommendations: www.froghollow.com.

The weekly veggie box price is $30 to correspond with the added value. The veggie box will include 7-9 items OR the box may include an increased quantity of some items to include in the veggie box. The farm uses the farmers market pricing to determine the box value. The pricing includes administration, packing and delivery costs in addition to the value of the produce. Summer produce is higher value than winter produce so the veggie box contents volume may have the appearance of being smaller than winter produce volume, but the value is equal.

Riverdog Farm has an active Instagram account. Find us via our Instagram handle: riverdogfarm. On our account, we share images of the crops, farming, re-posts of your farm fixings photos and videos and provide market/CSA updates.

Whether you leave the box at the site or take it home to return the following week, please unfold (collapse) your box carefully to keep the end flaps from tearing. Slowly, bend the two end panels towards the outer ends first then collapse (flatten) the whole box by gently folding the rest.

Give your account 48 hours to update when making changes. For example, when changing your account status from permanent hold to active by charging your credit card, the status may take up to 48 hours to update. The auto-pay option button is at the bottom of your account page. Please click it for auto-renewal of your CSA subscription and to ensure uninterrupted weekly veggie box deliveries.

Please check your CSA account for the most up-to-date information such as your delivery schedule.

• Keeping it safe: with the Shelter-in-Place order still in effect in Yolo County, we continue to implement our COVID-19 prevention protocol on the farm per the CDC and Cal-OSHA recommended best practices. Prevention measures include: required face covering and glove wearing, 6-foot distancing in the workplace, hand sanitation and employees are not allowed to work with symptoms of COVID-19.

• Reminder: So that your subscription continues uninterrupted, please make sure your credit card on file is up to date on your CSA account. For those who need to end the CSA subscription before your deliveries end, you MUST contact the farm through email to request cancellation. You may put your account on a DELIVERY hold if you will be gone for periods of time. If you wish to cancel your account, you may email the farm and we can cancel it for you.

• Please pick up your veggie box on your delivery day. As the temperatures heat up, it’s important to pick up your veggie the day of delivery to maintain freshness.

• For any changes you need to make to your account, the cut off time is 12 noon 2 days before your delivery day Remember to make any changes to your account such as payment renewal or delivery holds by 12 noon 2 days before your delivery day. Thank you!

“Delivery hold” is used for short periods of time – you use this option 48 hours in advance to schedule the deliveries you are unable to pick up.

“Permanent Hold” is used for long periods of time – you use this option if you are gone for extended periods of time and wish to resume your account when you get back. You must change your status to “active” when you return in order to resume deliveries.

“Cancel” is used to delete membership details, this means you would need to re-enter delivery status, subscriptions, and credit card information when you resume the Riverdog Farm CSA.

Baba Ganouj

From: https://cookieandkate.com/epic-baba-ganoush-recipe/

2 pounds Italian eggplants (about 2 small-to-medium eggplants*)

2 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary

¼ cup tahini

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the eggplant and garnish

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish

¾ teaspoon salt, to taste

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of smoked paprika, for garnish

Serving suggestions: warmed or toasted pita wedges, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, etc.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the eggplant from sticking to the pan. Halve the eggplants lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Place them in the prepared pan with the halved sides down.

Roast the eggplant until the interior is very tender throughout and the skin is collapsing, about 35 to 40 minutes (this might take longer if you are using 1 large eggplant). Set the eggplant aside to cool for a few minutes. Flip the eggplants over and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon, leaving the skin behind.

Place a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl, then transfer the flesh to the strainer and discard the skins. Pick out any stray bits of eggplant skin and discard. You want to remove as much moisture from the eggplant here as possible, so let the eggplant rest for a few minutes and shake/stir the eggplant to release some more moisture.

Discard all of the eggplant drippings, drain and wipe out the bowl, and dump the eggplant into the bowl. Add the garlic and lemon juice to the eggplant and stir vigorously with a fork until eggplant breaks down. Add the tahini to the bowl and stir until it’s incorporated. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue stirring until the mixture is pale and creamy, and use your fork to break up any particularly long strings of eggplant.

Stir in the parsley, salt and cumin. Season to taste with more salt (I usually add another ¼ teaspoon) and more lemon juice, if you’d like a more tart flavor.

Transfer the baba ganoush to a serving bowl and lightly drizzle olive oil on top. Lastly, sprinkle parsley and smoked paprika on top. Serve with accompaniments of your choice. It’s also great on sandwiches!