Veg Box Newsletter 29th August: Squish Squash

In the Veg Boxes This Week

Subject to last minute changes

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The Nice Bit

Floortje, pictured above, and her team of growers, have pulled another trick out of their collective hats: squash! Squash are new to the collection of Locavore-grown veg, and everyone here is over the moon about them. They were grown on our newest growing site at Narrowboat Farm, and will be enriching the small supplementary veg bags of Locavore subscribers throughout the central belt. 

It’s hard to say why we’re all so excited about squash. It’s a treat every time the market gardens grow anything (they grow a lot, it’s great), and whenever there’s something new it’s a particular thrill. But this time I’m even more excited than usual. I think part of it must just be the aesthetics of the squash: large, round, knobbly, kind of jovial-looking. Sometimes bright orange, sometimes blue-grey, sometimes green, each variety is so different and so pleasing in its difference. This week you might receive the heart-shaped Amoro (which Floortje suggests subbing out for carrots in this recipe), the grey and grey-tly-delicious Winter Sweet, the Blue Ballet or the Orangetti, which is a spaghetti squash. The names are so poetic, which I know I have pondered in this space not that long ago. Is it the names, the variety, the substantial sturdy beauty of the squash that appeals so much? Is it just knowing that if there are squash growing, autumn can’t be far off? 

Or is it how good they taste, and knowing that since whatever we grow on our farm tastes doubly as good as whatever is grown anywhere else, these squash will be the best ones I’ve ever tried? I love squash, and when they’re in season they form a substantial part of my cooking. I’ve posted two of my favourite squash recipes to our website in times previous- a sausage, apple, and squash traybake that couldn’t be easier or more delicious, and a cheering, delicious, warming squash laksa that is the cure for a rainy day. Because squash are popular and versatile, I can also share this very different squash recipe from my esteemed colleague Sue: a walnut and quinoa salad for toothy texture and rich flavours. 

We only have a limited number of Locavore squash this week, but there are more– and more varieties– coming, so watch this space. And know that we were able to grow them, and to grow on Narrowboat Market Garden, in no small part because of your support. So thank you for that, from me, personally, a person who can’t wait to eat a Locavore-grown squash. 

If you want to us grow more, and to grow more veg too, consider recommending us to a friend- if they sign up for a veg box and drop your name in the recommended field, you both get a free box. More info on that here.