This weekend’s Farm Share will most likely include:
Lettuce, Tomatoes (slicing and cherry), Summer Squash, Sweet Peppers, Garlic, Basil, Cucumber, and Eggplant.
This is for our Farm Share CSA members who pick up:
~ on Saturday @ the Farmers Market @ St. Stephen’s
~ on Saturday @ the Brandermill Green Market
~ on Monday @ Summer Lake
August around here is flowers and fruits!
Fruits are the part of a plant with seeds inside, and that is what produce loves August. Tomatoes. Eggplant. Peppers. Squash, Okra. Sure, speaking dietary language, these are vegetables, but botanically speaking, they are fruit. We like growing a number of different varieties of Eggplant and Peppers. Look at these crazy and beautiful purple vegetable/fruits! It is so fun to watch them appear and grow, and so delicious to eat them. Eggplant does a great job of soaking up yummy sauces, so see our recipe suggestions below to get some ideas. In general, you want to slice or dice eggplant and bake/cook/roast/grill it in the presence of tasty sauce.
Okra are related to Hibiscus, so their flowers resemble the ornamental beauty (see below). We don’t grow much okra, and in our planting schedule it gets planted a bit later than it could, so it’s just starting to fruit. Okra lovers: cross your fingers for a good harvest.
We are thrilled to have had an experimental row of Cucumbers successfully grow to harvest size these past few weeks (see picking them off trellis, below). We have traditionally had a terrible time finding a variety of cucumber that wards off the fungal disease (with organic methods) so rampant in this climate in late July/August. Last year we tried a couple of varieties that were supposedly going to grow successfully this time of year. We planted a few hundred bed feet of them and they grew terribly. It was quite disappointing and a significant loss. This year we tried a new variety but we had to scale back the experiment after last year’s lesson: We planted only 100 bed feet of this type. Fortunately, it has grown well. So, next year we’ll plant a lot more. (It would be really fun if it didn’t take a full 12 months to carry out and learn from new summer varieties and methods….so goes the logistics of farming here in this place.)
Shishito peppers! We fell in love with them last year after being very generously gifted some from our friends at Black Creek Farm. They are an improvement over Padron peppers, in our opinion. Great flavor when roasted or pan fried – whole, in butter and salt. Eat whole, as a side or as a topping on anything (entree, sandwich, hot dog, etc.) We were getting too many Padron that were TOO hot. These Shishito are all flavor and no heat. Our apologies to our hot-pepper lovers, but the popular vote won out in favor of less heat.
This week’s harvest includes:
Basil, Chard, Cilantro, Eggplant, Garlic, Microgreens, Onions, Parsley, Bell Peppers, Carmen Peppers, Shishito Peppers, Grilling Squash/Zucchini Boat squash, Tomatoes…and our Organic Naturally Leavened Bread.
2016 Market Share CSA Members: Reserve your selection online to pick up Saturday, August 6th at our farm, at the Brandermill Green Market, or at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens. (Everything remaining after pre-orders will be available for purchase at the Brandermill Green Market and at the Farmers Market @ St. Stephens.).
Recipe Suggestions:
Garlic: Chicken & Onions Braised in White Wine & Garlic
Cucumber: Cucumber & Peach Salad
Tomatoes: Tomato Pie – by Bon Appetit or by Simply Recipes or by Food 52
Summer Squash & Sweet Pepper: Quinoa Salad with Squash, Herbs, & Nuts (We made this recently and also added diced sweet pepper.)
Eggplant: Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic-Honey Reduction is a favorite of ours, plus we recently fell in love with Curry-Marinated Eggplant (these can be roasted in the oven or grilled, and can be made with any shape of eggplant). Roasted Eggplant Slices are delicious (and call for fresh herbs to be brushed on top). Roasted Eggplant Dip looks fabulous and we are excited to try it soon. You can also simply dice eggplant and cook it in a pan with oil and salt (and garlic) and combine it with any dish.
Summer Squash, etc: Summer Vegetable Tian comes highly recommended from one CSA member, and it features summer squash/zucchini (use them interchangeably), tomatoes, and garlic (plus potatoes and onions in case you still have any from a previous week)
Smothered Yellow Squash with Basil is also a favorite
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram.
