Oct 12, 2022 / The Weekly Dirt / persis

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Email

The Weekly Dirt 10.12.22

10.12.22

Around The Farm

By Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager

We had beautiful weather at last week's sold out Harvest Dinner fundraiser. Many of us were inspired by the savory and sweet farm to table menu created by Chef Seth Fernald and his team. We are thankful for individuals from Fare Start and UW students who helped prepare and serve such a feast.  Together we raised over 200% more than any other farm fundraising event. Our tally so far is over $25,000, a big increase considering the most earned in past harvest dinners was approximately $7,000.

The annual dinner was a new take on the campus farm fundraiser, which began as a student initiative to host a community meal back in 2014. This year the farm manager worked closely with UWBG Director, Christina Owen, UWBG Events Staff, and the College of the Environment Advancement team to ramp up the potential for deeper partnerships moving forward. 

As always though, the evening highlighted students and their experiences, with testimonials from representatives from the UW Food Pantry, Native Garden and farm interns, Co-chairs of the Farm Advisory Committee, Eli Wheat and Yona Sipos also shared why the farm is such a success and its significance due to students' "lived experiences" on the campus farm and its impact on food systems in the Seattle area and at the university. 

To check out the photos of the evening view the event photo album: UW Photo SmugMug 

For those who were unable to attend this year's event, we invite you to help the farm in other ways:
Visit the farm's on-line wish list
Get the word out to friends, family and colleagues by liking and following the farm on social media: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
Donate to the Gift fund
Meet with staff at the UW Farm, UW Botanic Gardens and Advancement to discuss other potential partnerships.
Reach out with ideas on how to support the farm via email – uwfarm@uw.edu

A special thanks goes to our sponsors:
Burke Gilman Brewery
Andrew Januik Wines
Treveri Cellars
4GoodHard Seltzer
and Chef Seth Fernald

 

 

Veggie Key for This Week's CSA

This Week's Recipe

Photo from Fresh Off The Grid
 

Autumn Shakshouka

by Audrey Sun, Public Health-Global Health: Nutritional Sciences Major, UW Farm Fall Nutrition Education intern.

This week’s featured ingredient is Lower Salmon River Squash, a beautiful winter squash in the Cucurbitaceae plant family. I created the recipe below to incorporate many of the produce items in this week's CSA box and which are in season and available locally.

A twist on a traditional recipe, I blended winter squash with the tomatoes, creating a dish that represents our transition from warm summer days to cool fall weather. This week marks the last harvest of the farm's vine ripened field tomatoes. Together with peppers, scarlet kale, and our lower salmon river squash the recipe below is a tasty, hearty play on shakshouka. 

Shakshouka is a Northwestern African dish of eggs poached in a tomato sauce with tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic. It first came about "in the mid-16th century after tomatoes were introduced to the region by Hernan Cortés as part of the Columbian exchange."

Hot tip: this recipe will require a bit of fine dicing but if you are a bit lazy like me and have access to a food processor you can throw the fresh tomatoes (if you're using fresh) and peppers in and blend coarsely.

Ingredients:
1 cup Lower Salmon River mashed (acorn, butternut, or any other winter squash can be substituted) 
1 medium yellow, white or red onion, diced into small pieces
2 medium bell or any sweet peppers, seeded and diced
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, slicers, beefsteak or cherry. (1-14 oz canned tomatoes can be substituted)
2 cups chopped kale, any kind
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2-4 large eggs
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Olive oil and salt as needed

Instructions:
Cut your squash in half and place on a baking sheet. Season lightly with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until a fork sinks through it easily. Scoop out about a cup and mash it. The rest can be saved for pies and soups or even frozen till you're ready to use.
Chop the onions, peppers, tomatoes, and kale
Heat about two tablespoons of olive oil in a tall walled pan (ideally you want something that you can serve on the table-side but you can also just use a pot) on high. Sauté onions until slightly brown.
Add in red pepper flakes and garlic, sauté till fragrant. 
Add in bell peppers and tomatoes, seasoning with about a teaspoon of salt. Cook until the peppers are soft. Turn the heat to medium.
Mix in your squash mixture, thinning out with water as necessary so it maintains a stew-like consistency. 
Season with smoked paprika and cumin.
Add in your chopped kale and cook just until wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Crack in your eggs and turn the heat to low. Cover and cook until the egg whites are set. Sprinkle salt on the eggs and drizzle with olive oil before serving. This goes especially well with a crusty loaf to dip in the runny yolks but is delicious on its own too!

Nutrition Corner: Lower Salmon River Squash

According to our seed source, Adaptive Seeds, "Lower Salmon River squash is on the short list of heritage Pacific Northwest winter squash varieties. Grown in the Lower Salmon River region of Idaho, possibly for generations, it is uniquely adapted to our bioregion" And during squash tasting events held by the Culinary Breeding Network, Lower Salmon River was a big flavor winner.

Did you know! One cup of butternut squash provides 582 mg of potassium, more than one of the most iconic sources, banana. It’s also a great source of fiber and can be beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract.

One cup (205 grams) of cooked butternut squash (very similar to other densely fleshed winter squash – , kuri, buttercup, etc.) provides:
Calories: 82
Carbs: 22 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 7 grams
Vitamin A: 457% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
Vitamin C: 52% of the RDI
Vitamin E: 13% of the RDI
Thiamine (B1): 10% of the RDI
Niacin (B3): 10% of the RDI
Pyridoxine (B6): 13% of the RDI
Folate (B9): 10% of the RDI
Magnesium: 15% of the RDI
Potassium: 17% of the RDI
Manganese: 18% of the RDI

Source: USDA

News and Noteworthy:

 

Orcas and Lopez Island Farm Tours of the San Juans


Nothing says fall like a farm tour! There is still time to catch the Orcas and Lopez Island Farm Tours of the San Juans. Explore educational presentations and delicious foods, free and paid events and activities, heritage farms, as well as lots of farm animals. 
Orcas Island Farm Tour is September 30-October 2
Lopez Island Farm Tour is October 7-9

Food Forest Tour Being Offered 

 

  • Sunday, October 16, 2022
  • 10:00 AM  12:30 PM
  • Beacon Food Forest, South Dakota Street, Seattle, WA, 98108

Are you interested in having your very own food forest (aka, edible forest garden) that you create?

A place where can you find food, medicine, beneficial wildlife-pollinator habitat, healthy soil, natural pest control, beautiful biodiversity, a sense of well-being, low maintenance, and fun? Explore Beacon Food Forest’s diversity, help care for its land, and learn ideas and resources for yourself and your community to build abundance and resilience.

Participants will tour around Beacon Food Forest seeing some of the main elements of the food forest and exploring fruit tree guilds. Important food forest concepts will be discussed during the tour.

Tickets for this event range from $10-$35 and available via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grow-your-own-food-forest-tickets-420681217847



Agriculture and Food Systems Employment Opportunities:
photo of 2 pitchforks in the ground with someone's shoe behind them. This is taking place in a garden plot.

Food Access Resources

The UW Farm donates regularly to the UW Food Pantry. During peak season we also donate to nearby food banks. The links below are resources to help you or someone you know with food access.  

Help The Farm Grow!

Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and increase our educational and research program at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm online

 

The Weekly Dirt is produced once a week by the University of Washington Farm, a program of the UW Botanic Gardens, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment. It is published nearly year-round for educational purposes and the majority of the content is written or contributed by students and farm staff.

This issue's contributors:

Around the Farm: Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager
Recipe: Audrey Sun, UW Farm Fall Nutrition Education Intern, UW Nutrition Sciences Program
Editor: Chrina Munn, AmeriCorps Volunteer 2022-23
Photo Credits: Pamela Dore, UW Photography
Other photos retrieved from the internet and noted in sections 

Copyright © 2022 The UW Farm, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
The UW Farm
3501 NE 41st St, 
Seattle, WA 98105

On campus mailbox
Box 354115

NEW email address:
uwfarm@uw.edu