Farm Updates!

Hope you all are enjoying the salad recipes that we posted from last month. We really appreciate all the submissions that we receive through the Facebook groups! Every member got awesome ideas on how to liven up their salads to delight in the summer harvests. We really appreciate our CSA customers that delight in our weekly harvests and often create the best recipes with what we give them. It's truly outstanding to have such a group of innovative people that are resourceful and willing to share what they gained with others. 

In the latest updates, we have been setting up shop at both the New West Market every other Thursday and the Burnaby Farmers' Market every Saturday. We've been having quite a few folks come out and support us here -- and we could not appreciate it more! 

Many people have been buying these hot commodities as of late: African Blue Daisies, tomato plants, patty pan squash, and cat grass! For those of you that are not cat parents, cat grass is a mixture of certain grain seeds that have sprouted, and cats can eat as a dietary supplement. It helps with digestion and adds folic acid to their diet. Contrary to popular belief, cats eat this even when they are not sick. Like this little guy experienced at the last market we were at: 

Just another satisfied customer 😁.

Also, if you know anything about gardening, you already know what's upon us: zucchinis are coming. 

And they like to come in droves. 

What's anyone supposed to do with all of that zucchini? You can only eat so much ratatouille, pasta, and soup. Well, we have your answer. 

Let’s make zucchini flour!

Zucchini Flour Recipe

It can be used half and half with your favourite wheat flour in any recipe or used as a 1:1 replacement for coconut flour.

While 5lbs of zucchini does seem like a bunch. this all dehydrates and grinds down to about 1/2-1 cup of zucchini flour. That 1/2 cup of zucchini flour can make a full batch of muffins or a 9 serving chocolate cake!

Ingredients: 

5 lbs/2.27 kg of zucchini
Grinder of some sort (this could even be a coffee grinder or if you really need a workout, mortar and pestle)
1 silicone dehydration packet (you can find these in vitamin jars
1 large storage container for flour (we used a large mason jar here, but really whatever is air tight and keeps it from gaining moisture)

Steps

1. If the squash is large, cut in half lengthwise and remove any large seeds.

2. Grate the zucchini (or other summer squash) using a food processor or a grater. Seeing as it's a softer "vegetable", most people can also easy grate by hand with a cheese grater. Fun fact: zukes are actually a fruit! 

3. Dehydrate the grated zucchini. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can spread it on cookie sheets and use your oven's lowest temperature - below 200f. Make sure all the moisture is completely gone.

4. You can store at this stage using info below or go on to make the flour.

5. Grind the completely dried zucchini shreds in a food processor or blender. Even a very old machine can make an easily usable flour.

6. Store in an air-tight container such as a mason jar with a silicone dehydration packet for six months to a year. The packet is necessary to keep it from clumping and molding. I save the little packets that come in vitamins and other food products. The flour can also be stored refrigerated or frozen for a longer shelf life.

How do you use up all your zukes? Join in the conversation on social here, and let us know!