This weekend’s Farm Share will most likely include:
Cucumber, Summer Squash, Tomatoes (slicing tomatoes and hopefully also cherry tomatoes), Eggplant, Sweet Peppers (orange or red in color), Shishito Peppers (mild roasting peppers…see below), Garlic.
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
What happens on a farm like ours in August? It is a unique time of year. Every day we harvest a lot of things with seeds inside (as last week’s post described…tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers). And we transplant a lot of plants for fall harvest. Brassicas (kale, collard, broccoli, cabbage family) pictured above.
Lettuces and chard pictured above. Hearty Greens Mix components pictured below.
It’s an interesting challenge to get crops that prefer cool temperatures to survive and thrive after transplanting in the amazing heat of August. Please cross your fingers.
(And apparently in August we also add our name and logo to our photos. We saw a photo of ours pop up in a strange place recently, without mention of us, and we thought “Oh…it would be wonderful if our name was on all of our gorgeous photos…”)
We’re still planting the shorter of the long season crops (squash and cucumbers) but most of what is going in the ground are crops that we will harvest for their leaves or roots. Not pictured but also planted: Carrots, Fennel. Still to come: Beets, Turnips. And more.
We love to teach visitors that the fruit of a plant (the part with the seeds in them) grow out of the flower of the plant. Check out this yellow zucchini that is making it beautifully obvious that it grows from the flower.
It’s neighbor zucchini has dropped its blossom and now sits alone, ready to be picked.
Cucumbers work the same way…look at these lovely yellow flowers that will become next week’s cucumbers:
That’s our farming and botany lesson for today. There’s good eating in store again this week!
This week’s harvest includes:
Basil, Cilantro, Eggplant, Garlic, Microgreens, Jalapeno Peppers, Summer Squash, Zucchini, 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 13th 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:
Shishito Peppers: These are likely new for most people. They are a sweet East Asian variety of pepper and our family really loves them. They are traditionally prepared as described here, which is to keep them whole, saute with oil and salt until their skin blisters, and eat hot and whole (except the stem, unless you want to munch it, too). Enjoy them as a snack, appetizer, side dish, or topping on any dish, sandwich, or hot dog.
Eggplant: We grow a few different eggplant varieties (miniature Fairy Tale, light purple Dancer, and traditional dark Galine) so that we have diversity. Not every kind lends itself to every recipe, but options abound, including Eggplant Pizza, Eggplant Cannelloni,Eggplant Bruschette, Curried Eggplant, simple Eggplant Tacos with Brie, and traditional Eggplant Parmesan.
Cucumbers: We are really in love with the variety that we are harvesting right now, combining tolerance for August heat and disease and also amazing taste and small seeds. Just slice them up and eat them.
Tomatoes & Garlic: A talented CSA member reminded us of Puttanesca. Or makeSummer Gazpacho (which also calls for cucumber and sweet pepper)
Summer Squash/Zucchini: Southern Baked Summer Squash, Summer Squash/Zucchini Fries, Garlic Parmesan Summer Squash Chips
Sweet Peppers: Our family says to tell you all that if you haven’t yet tried our sweet peppers (orange or red) cut into strips and topped with organic cream cheese, you really should try it soon.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram.
(Last week’s Farm Share pictured below.)
