Hurricane Squash

We are in Hurricane Mode here on the farm. We do not know if we will get excessive rains, but we are trying to get all of the crops under cover just in case Sally swings more to the east instead of the west after making landfall.

Spaghetti squash are in your CSA Box this week. Spaghetti squash are in the winter squash family. You will find recipes and how to cut this vegetable in the Recipes under “W” for “Winter Squash.” Winter squash have hard outer shells. Sometimes winter squash will last for months. I actually have three spaghetti squash from the 2019 Harvest Season! However, I do not thing the 2020 crop will last as long. Why? It has to do with the weather and how well the crop was hardened before harvest. As I have said before, 2020 has not been and ideal harvest season–if ever there is one, I might add! A few spots on the hard shell will not matter, you just do not want to wait so long to bake the spaghetti squash that the dark spots on the shell get soft.

We have another name for spaghetti squash. We call them Hurricane Squash! There was a year (2004) when the City of Asheville and much of Buncombe County had a power outage due to two passing hurricanes (Fran and Ivan). The Health Department closed all of the restaurants and so our outstanding produce orders were canceled. However, we harvested and delivered our CSA Boxes the same as always. It did not matter if our CSA Members did not have power when it came to eating the spaghetti squash. They could be cooked on a grill, the pulp raked, and eaten right out of the shell . . . no stove or oven or dishes or dish washing was required! Hence, the name Hurricane Squash! This was also the year we decided to go to TOTAL CSA FARM SHARE direct marketing for our family farm!

If you bake the spaghetti squash with the shell side up and the pulp side down, there will be no need to cover the squash while baking in the oven. The shell may brown slightly, but that is okay. Bake until fork tender.

Also in the box look for a Carnival winter squash, an eggplant variety, sweet bell peppers, potatoes and the last of the tomatoes and beans or possibly okra.