We farmers are always complaining about the weather. Remember a few weeks back when everyone was talking about too much rain? Well now it's been 11 days since our last bit of precipitation and we've been using more and more irrigation. However, on Tuesday morning we were given an unpleasant surprise: the well at the farm stopped working!! Can you believe the luck? We are in the middle of one of the wettest years in recent memory and when it finally starts to get really dry, we lose our water supply. Natalie and Ann rose to the challenge and used a 300 gallon water tank sitting on a pickup truck and filled it up at my house and then used the force of gravity to irritate the thirstiest crops. This kept the plants from wilting in the short term and finally today the well folks pulled the pump motor and replaced it.
The water for the farm comes from a well that was drilled in 2008. The hole goes down 500 feet and yields 8 gallons of water per minute. 8 gpm is not a huge yield for an agricultural well but we use micro-irrigation ( i.e. drip tape) and this well serves our farm just fine. Near the bottom of our well is a submersible pump and motor which is actually suspended from the top of the well with a pipe. So earlier today, when the well folks determined the motor was bad, they literally had to pull up several hundred feet of pipe out of the ground until they could reach the motor. After replacing the motor and a few other parts they slowly dropped the motor and pipe back down. Now everything is back to normal but we have been running the new motor non-stop since the well guys left. Now the next thing I need to do is find a rabbit's foot and give it a good rub!!
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR SATURDAY, OCT 12 from 2-5pm. On that day, we will be having our Open-Farm event for all our customers. At this event, we will be giving tours of the farm, enjoying snacks and beverages, and playing old time music on the front porch. Please join us as we would love to show you around. After all, we need to show off the well!!
Enjoy your weekend,
Jeff and the Sugar Creek Crew
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchilada Skillet via Monique of www.AmbitiousKitchen.com - and for nice photos on how to dissect said squash and the process, click here
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups 1/2-inch-diced, peeled butternut squash (from about a 2-lb. squash)
salt and pepper, to season
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 – 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
8 yellow corn tortillas, cut into thick strips
1-15 ounce can red enchilada sauce
1 cup reduced-fat colby jack or mexican cheese (or whatever you prefer), divided
cilantro and low-fat sour cream, for serving
Instructions
1) Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in large oven-proof skillet. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook 2-3 minutes until onions become translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add cubed squash, cumin and chili powder and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash is slightly tender, 8 to 10 minutes. You want the squash to be fork tender, but not so tender that it starts to fall apart and become mush.
2) Next add the black beans, corn tortilla pieces, and can of enchilada sauce and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and sprinkle in 1/2 cup of cheese. Stir again and simmer for a few minutes. Turn on your oven broiler to high. Sprinkle an additional 1/2 cup of cheese over the top of the enchilada mixture and place in oven under broiler for 3-5 minutes until cheese melts and tortilla edges become a tiny golden brown. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Feel free to add in cilantro. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, or hot sauce! Enjoy!
3) Serving size: 1/6th of recipe Calories: 252 Fat: 6.4g Saturated fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 38.5g Sugar: 4.1g Fiber: 7.5g Protein: 12.8g
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