Tomatoes around here are best in July. (They are good now, too, but July is spectacular.) Our salad greens will return to prominence in September. But August? August is the month where Peppers are in their glory. And while we enjoy some spiciness from time to time, we’re not growing any hot peppers this year at all because we love the flavor of many types of sweet peppers. Including Non-Spicy Jalapenos:
We are smitten with them. Our two oldest kids picked 50 pounds of them this afternoon in the 90 degree heat. That is love. We cut them in half, stuff with something cheese-like, and bake them.
Sweet orange snack peppers. We pop them as crunchy snacks. We scoop any type of dip with them. We cut them in half, stuff with something cheese-like, and bake them.
Sweet red peppers. We dice them to include in omelets. We slice them to top green salads. We slice them in half and fill with wild-salmon-salad or hummus and serve with large leaves of lettuce.
So, it’s Pepper Month! Join us in eating them in abundance.
Curious about how to best store your produce? See this Guide to Storing Fresh Produce. It is comprehensive and very helpful!
**Farm Share CSA Members: Please remember there are no Farm Shares (or Bread Shares) the week of August 28th through Sept 2nd.**
Saturday’s/Monday’s Farm Share will most likely include: Salad Mix, Lettuce Mix, Sweet Peppers (red and orange…some snack size), Slicing Tomatoes, Onions, hopefully Green Beans (of which some are yellow…we love the taste of those!) otherwise Italian Eggplant, and Non-Spicy Jalapenos if you would like them.
Farm Share CSA Members – Third and final payments were due Aug 1. (If you’ve paid the correct amounts all along, $225 remains due for vegetables, $53 for Bread Shares.) Not sure what you owe? You can check on your balance here. If you have already paid in full, Thank You!
Vegetable Notes & Recipe Suggestions…also cataloged on our Recipe Page and see our Pinterest Page
**A note about Green Beans – We have planted hundreds of green bean plants this season…and harvested a pitiful few beans. We don’t know what the problem is. The plants look healthy. There have just been no beans. It looks like we will have a good harvest tomorrow morning, but we won’t know the actual amounts until we have picked. So…more shares will have beans if we have them to harvest! Each pick up location should get them over the next couple of weeks.
One variety we are harvesting now is a “fancy” style, thin bean that is actually yellow. We prefer its flavor over regular green beans.
Ours are so yummy raw as a snack that we rarely eat them cooked. When we cook them we saute them lightly in a fry pan with sesame oil, grated fresh ginger, and a splash of organic soy sauce/Bragg’s liquid aminos. We like them still crunchy so we don’t cook them very long – just a little.
Tomatoes – We made this Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin for dinner this week. It took us a long time to find Puff Pastry in Kroger, but we finally found it in the frozen food aisle that we never visit. It’s not a very wholesome dinner ingredient that we are proud of, but the tart was delicious and involved three of our onions plus kalamata olives. You can use chunks of slicing tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes as the recipe calls for.
Eggplants: Our Italian Eggplants are this stunning variety:
We most love this eggplant roasted (or grilled) and then topped with a honey-garlic-balsamic reduction sauce. This Grilled Eggplant with Honey Balsamic Syrup recipe is very similar (but we include the oil and garlic in the sauce pan with the honey and vinegar). Honey Garlic Grilled Eggplant is also really delicious, and we love their suggestion to peel stripes out of the skin to make it easier to bite. You can, of course, make Eggplant Parmesan. Roasted Eggplant Baguette Sandwiches are phenomenal, and though that recipe calls for Arugula (which we aren’t harvesting right now) we enjoy it with our lettuce.
Sweet Peppers – We slice them on top of every green salad, we stuff them like so many of these Stuffed Sweet Pepper recipes. We Roast Peppers with Garlic. We dice them and toss them with diced tomatoes, minced garlic, olive oil, and sea salt, which we serve on top of green salads, in omelets and scrambled eggs, in frittata, and as a crisp side dish. And if you really can’t eat the peppers now, you can Roast and Freeze Sweet Peppers.
Items not in the Farm Share this weekend:
Fairy Tale Eggplant – These miniature eggplants are very sweet in comparison to the usual varieties available in grocery stores. About Eggplant in general, from the website The Kitchn: “Most varieties {of eggplant] will take to stir-frying, grilling, and roasting in slices to be enjoyed as is (or roasting whole to be peeled and puréed). You can toss eggplant with pasta — excellent with tomato sauce, a touch of cream, mozzarella, and basil) or dredged in breadcrumbs and cornmeal and pan-fried or baked.” We slice in half length wise, roast in the oven at around 375-400 until tender. Drizzle with a Honey Balsamic Glaze and enjoy! Excellent served on top of slices of baguette or crostini…with parmesan and perhaps also a Tomato & Garlic Salad (though in our experience this salad is not better the next day as the author states….we think it is best eaten the day of…any leftovers are best the next morning alongside an omelet or scrambled eggs). Or see this Grilled FairyTale Eggplant with Garlic and Mint recipe. Everyone will be getting these Eggplants over the next few weeks.
Okra – Okra rarely features in our Farm Share because we know it’s not a favorite for many people. We really love it, and always serve it as Roasted Okra. It’s still a little gooey inside but crispy on the outside. It is also fabulous in Curry: Spiced Okra Curry or as Bhindi Masala. See also these 10 Best Okra Recipes.
Summer Squash – Our go-to summer squash recipe of late has been caramelized onions and summer squash. It is simple, naturally sweet, and a delicious side dish to any summer meal. We slice the summer squash in half or fourths lengthwise, then slice the lengths into half- or quarter-moons. Salt after the onions and squash have cooked. It is like this recipe for Caramelized Summer Squash and Onions except we didn’t add any sugar.
This week’s harvest (and baking) includes:
Cilantro, Chard, Fairy Tale Eggplant, Beatrice (Italian) Eggplant, Garlic, Lettuce, Microgreens, Okra, Onions, Lunchbox Peppers (snack size peppers), Shishito Peppers, Sweet Orange & Red Peppers, Salad Mix, Spearmint, Summer Squash, Tomatoes (slicers and cherries, available in bulk!)…and our Organic Hearth Baked Bread (Baguettes, Roasted Pepper and Onion, Whole Rye, Seed, & Raisin loaves for this weekend)
{Our farmstand is open Thurs & Friday with most of the above items…see here for updated inventory}
2017 Market Share CSA Members: Reserve your selection online to pick up Saturday, Aug 19th at our farm, at the Brandermill Green Market, or at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens.
Anything remaining after CSA shares are distributed and our farm stand is shopped… we’ll bring to the Brandermill Green Market or the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the West End of Richmond. Keep an eye on what we have available via the online farmers’ markets: FallLineFarms.com and Local Roots Food Coop.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
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