Week 14 - September 1 & 4

It's hard to believe that it's already September! Our new hoop is up and we have no other words to describe it except for AMAZING! The stars aligned - the weather was cool, many (68 +) volunteers came out to help with the build and food, the wind died down to pull plastic. The after party was energetic and fun. What a day and celebration. Check it out if you have time. There are a few finishing touches still to do but all in all, it's relatively complete.

This weeks box is projected to contain:

1. - A bunch of kale or collards. The kale is Lacinato kale (also known as dinosaur kale). If you have time to check out the plants, they're quite beautiful. They're in the west garden, to the north, just south of the apple tree. They look like palm trees. Try making vegetarian lasagna with this or kale chips (although it's a bit of effort for not a lot of punch) or saute.
2. - A spaghetti squash - pre-cook this in the oven and serve. Cut in half, put face down in a baking tray with some water, cook at 350 for about an hour until fork tender. Scoop out. Serve as a side dish with salt and pepper and a little butter or on top of nacho chips as a layer for nachos or as a base for meat sauce. Yummy.
3. - A melon - maybe 2 if they're really small - Either Cream of Saskatchewan (yellow watermelon), Ambrosia (cantaloupe), or Rocky Ford (green musk melon)
4. - A bunch of New Zealand Spinach - interesting fresh or sauteed.
5. - A bunch of beans (check the board)
6. - A box of tomatoes
7. - Some salad tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
8. - Some tomatillos. I have the Salsa Verde recipe posted on the recipe blog but that just covers the spicy portion of a green salsa. If you make that and then mix in some tomatillos that have been blanched and mixed up in your blender (maybe a 50/50 ratio, depending upon your tolerance for spice), you'll have an excellent green salsa. Of course, if you really like spice, skip the tomatillos altogether and just make the serrano pepper mixture - yum.
9. - Either a box of eggplant or okra. I noticed there were a lot of boxes of okra left on Saturday. If you don't like okra, please let me know and I'll figure out what to substitute. We really like it sauteed until it's crispy - you need to weed out the big (woody) stalks, if they're in there. I'm trying to keep them out.
10. - Maybe 1 or 2 summer squash - I haven't picked them yet so I'm not sure what's there.
    
11. - A head of Napa Cabbage. This is good sliced thinly and used fresh in an asian salad. Google it - you'll find lots of ideas. I've had it mixed with crispy noodles. It's also good sauteed like bok choy. Or, if you're really into food preservation, this is what they use to make kim chi with. If it's limp at all, just soak it in cold water for 20 minutes or so (hydro-cool it) and it should pop back to it's crispy self. Same with beets, carrots, and other greens.
12. - A few carrots - these are big so they should go a long way. Try shredding them into a cabbage salad or slicing them julienne style and blanching them then sauteing with thyme and salt in a little peanut oil.
13. - Serve-yourself potatoes. Not sure which type yet. They might be freshly dug which means they might have fresh dirt on them. But this is when they're most tender - just scrub them up a little and cook. If they're freshly dug the skins are so thin that you really don't have to peel them. Even if you make mashed potatoes. They might be a little lumpy due to extra skins but it is said that there are a lot of minerals in the skin. Also, if we serve fingerlings, you don't have to peel them - just clean and roast.
14. Various herbs
15. Various Spicy Peppers - The spicy peppers are starting to come into their glory so there will be more available in the coming weeks. The Ghost Peppers haven't ripened yet but if you're interested in one, please let me know. I'll keep those separate from the others. Also, be careful of the tiny Thai peppers. They're very spicy.
16. Some Sweet Peppers - These include yellow, red, chocolate, green bell and long green (Jimmy Nardello) peppers. If they're in your box, they're sweet. Try to keep the spicy peppers that you take from the table separate from your box contents because some of the anaheims (spicy long smooth green peppers) are easy to confuse with the Jimmy Nardellos (sweet long crinkly green peppers).
    

Week 13 - August 25 & 28

This is build week - by this time next week the view to the east will be different. If you'd like to lend a hand Saturday, we'll be starting at 8. Light breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided. You don't have to stay all day - just let us know how long (which meals) you plan to be here for.

Saturday will be a busy day. So, if you're sending someone to pick up for you, try to give them some instructions because I'm not sure if I'll be around to help people pick up. There's a white board on the left side of the porch where I'm posting the announcements now so they can check that.

I'm still putting together the boxes for today but this is the plan:
- 2 or 3 cucumbers - these aren't the best - some are a bit twisted, some have ends that aren't fully formed, etc. This is what happens with Downy Mildew. This is probably the last week for cukes.
- 2 summer squash - these, too are almost done
- A bunch of New Zealand Spinach
- 2 beets - the tops can be sauteed and are tasty. These are Chiogga beets.
- One Melon - Either Rocky Ford (green), Ambrosia (orange cantaloupe), Cream of Saskatchewan (white melon), or Sugar Sweet (red melon).
- A bunch of kale
- A bunch of chard
- A bag of okra - take this out and store in your kitchen. I don't refrigerate it.
- Two or so onions - some of these are cocktail size, some are larger. We just harvested these Monday. They were planted from seed so they did grow, at least a little. The purple ones are Mini-Purplette are only size up to golf-ball size. The white are Olympic White. Anyway - I'll be distributing the little guys first so you might get a handful of them. The larger ones keep longer so you'll receive them in weeks to come.
- A head of garlic.

Self-serve items - Check the white board for quantities but this is the plan:
- Either spaghetti squash or eggplant - check the notes on the white board about this
- A box of tomatoes
- A handful of cherry tomatoes or salad tomatoes - check notes
- A handful of tomatillos - There's a salsa verde recipe that I posted a while back for an awesome green, spicy salsa. These also make a great sauce for pork.
- Up to 2 lbs. of green beans. You don't have to take them all but you can if you'll use them.
- Herbs - Basil (store this in a jar in water on your counter like you would flowers. It doesn't keep well in the fridge), lavender, thyme, sage, mint, etc. - Check to see what's out.

No egg sales on Wed. because we're serving egg salad sandwiches Saturday for the build. I might have some for sale Saturday. If so, I'll leave them on the porch somewhere (check the white board).

Week 12 - August 18 & 21

This is birthday week for Dave and I - Dave is the 19th and mine is the 21st. Our parents timed it right to enjoy a summer feast!

Don't forget - next week, August 28, we'll be building our second hoop with the assistance of Jeff McCabe, Lisa Gottlieb and volunteers that they recruit and we recruit. We'll have some breakfast snacks, a nice lunch and a celebratory dinner. The build will begin at 8 and hopefully we'll have plastic on by 6. Come for all or part of the day. If you come, please stay for dinner. We've decided to throw a joint party that evening to say thanks to all of the volunteers that have helped support Jeff & Lisa's efforts along with our efforts. Whether you've volunteered here or not, we appreciate your support, encouragement and enthusiasm. We'll have some sort of barbecue, some beer, hopefully music (although we don't have a sound system so anyone who has one that is willing to lend it to us for the evening - that would be great) and a festive atmosphere to meet with other members and community members who support local agriculture. I also thought it would be nice to invite people to bring any info they have about their own businesses that they'd like to share. Some members might have an interest in other members' passions. I haven't figured out how to share this info but if you'd be interested in sharing your passion, please let me know and I'll set up some sort of list, at minimum. Please let me know if you're coming (how many adults/children) and feel free to bring a guest.

On to this week's box - it weighs approx. 20 lbs., depending on the melon as some are bigger than others:

As far as I know, bugs shouldn't be an issue today. A few of the heads of cabbage had some cabbage worms but I think I got them out. Go ahead and soak in salt water if you see droppings.

- One small or 2 smaller heads of cabbage - either Famosa (savoy leaf), Red Ruby, or Early Jersey Wakefield (oval in shape, sometimes cylindrical, green)
- One bunch chard - some is a bit holey - may need additional sorting/washing this week
- 2 - 3 summer squash. These are larger than in the past. Try grilling them - I posted our method on the recipe blog. These are slowing down.
- 1 - 2 cukes - As stated last week, the cukes now have downy mildew (along with the melons, unfortunately). Cukes probably will only last another 1 week unless the new product I purchased (Serenade) works.
- One head garlic
- One or two onions
- One box of potatoes or you may have to serve yourself from a crate on the ground as I'm out of larger boxes. Russian Banana this week - these are fingerlings which are the highest value potatoes (along with the French Fingerlings which are still in the ground) that we grow.
- A choice of eggplant or okra. Some of the okra is large and I've packaged these in the same boxes - try using these biggies for gumbo or another dish that you cook for some time. I lightly boiled some today and used it as a topping to make nachos - along with some spaghetti squash, cheese, serrano peppers, left over goat sausage, paste tomatoes and a little sour cream - what a lunch! I've tried to sautee large okra and it's too woody. But it seems to break down when boiled. I'd love to hear comments from you okra experts out there.
- One box tomatoes (from table) - please leave the large boxes at the farm - we're running low on these. Many of these are ARK varieties - all are heirloom and most are rare. The green tomatoes that are in the boxes are ripe - these make excellent sauces as they're a bit tangy. They're also good sliced. If you give them a gentle squeeze and the flesh gives a little, they're ripe. Don't wait too long to eat them!
- One or two sweet peppers - again, many of the peppers are ARK varieties, heirloom and rare. These might be on the table to serve yourself as well.
- A melon - this is either Cream of Saskatchewan (creamy inside and green striped outside), Rocky Ford (green outside and green muskmelon), or Cantalope (orange inside and yellowish outside). There's one Sugar Sweet - if it's not ripe, please let me know. The melons have been hit hard with Downy Mildew and other fungi - hopefully they'll hold out for a couple more weeks this year.

Optional/Self-serve items:
- 1 1/2 lbs. beans (if you want more, I'll most likely have it available for purchase this week). These will be in a bucket on the ground. Please weigh them out using the scale. There are bags on the shelf on the left.
- I'll leave out some New Zealand Spinach - this is good sauteed or add the leaves to a salad. Take a handful (3 or 4 stalks, depending on size)
- For Wed. - either 1 beet or 1 turnip. The beets are either Chiogga or Detroit Red. The turnips are Hakkurei. Sorry there's not more - each row flooded out half way the last time we got 2" of rain (about 3 weeks ago).
- Flowers - check the table to see how many. If you'd like to pick your own, please feel free to go out and pick 10 stems or so.
- Herbs - read the notes - Rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, mint, maybe chives, etc.
- A little celery - 2 or 3 stems per person. This will be on the table. It is strong, compared to what I've purchased in stores. It doesn't receive a lot of water so the flavor is very concentrated - the scent is amazing. Use this to flavor your dishes.
- Maybe some tomatillos. Try 10 or so to make some salsa verde - tasty.
- 5 - 7 cherry tomatoes
- Spicy peppers - a handful (5 - 7)
- Maybe a couple of carrots - check the notes.

Extras:
- Odds and ends in the tomato realm - some on the table, some on the ground. Some look funny but if you just cut off the parts that look scaley, you end up with a fabulous tomato. Don't overlook the "green" tomatoes - if they're soft to the touch, they're ripe and really worth trying. We made really good catsup Sunday with a mixed box of Green Sausage, German Green, and Dr. Wyche's Yellow, along with some red tomatoes. Wow! We also made a nice curry sauce tonight using the "green" tomatoes - 2 large German Green and zip - what a taste explosion.
- Maybe some split heads of cabbage - good for soup or slaw

For sale (this is Wednesday's availability - check to see what's out for Saturday):
1 box combo roma tomatoes - $20 - maybe another, depending upon what I find tomorrow. Tomatoes by the box are first come first served as I have had some people reserve and then decide they want to wait a week. So now, if you're ready, please buy them.
Garlic - $5/bunch. I don't have this separated by variety - it's a mix.

Week 11 - August 11 & 14

Don't forget - work day Saturday from 9 - 12. If you can come, bring weeding gear (hoe or hand weeders are great), bug spray, long sleeves (to keep the bugs off), and long pants (same). If you have a sharp knife (I like our straight edge steak knives) or bypass pruners, that can be helpful too if you work on pruning the tomatoes. We might harvest potatoes, etc.

As far as I know, bugs shouldn't be an issue today. I saw a couple of cabbage worms in the kale but it's pretty clean. As always, you can soak the broccoli in salt water if you would like but it should be pretty bug-free (if we have any).

Check out the Summer Squash Soup with Salsa Verde recipe which Sheryl forwarded. It's excellent!

This week's box weighs approx. 16 - 19 lbs. which includes 1/2 a melon.

- One head of cabbage - either Famosa (savoy leaf), Red Ruby, or Early Jersey Wakefield (oval in shape, sometimes cylindrical, green)
- One bunch kale - either Lacinato (dinosaur) or Siberian Improved
- 4 - 6 squash. These are larger than in the past. Try grilling them - I posted our method on the recipe blog
- 4 - 5 cukes - The cukes now have downy mildew (along with the melons, unfortunately). Cukes probably will only last another 2 weeks unless the new product I purchased (Serenade) works.
- One head garlic
- One or two onions
- One pile or box of potatoes (from table). Please leave the large boxes - I'm running out.
- Not sure if there will be eggplant for each box. If not, choice of eggplant or okra
- One box tomatoes (from table) - please leave the large boxes at the farm - we're running low on these. Many of these are ARK varieties - all are heirloom and most are rare.
- One or two sweet peppers - again, many of the peppers are ARK varieties, heirloom and rare.

Optional/Self-serve items:
- 1 1/4 lbs. beans (if you want more, I'll most likely have it available for purchase this week). These will be in a bucket on the ground. Please weigh them out using the scale. There are bags on the shelf on the left.
- I'll leave out some New Zealand Spinach - this is good sauteed or add the leaves to a salad.
- I'll leave out a box of chard - take a lb. if you'd like. I know a lot of people are getting tired of greens so thought I'd cut back this week.
- Either beets on Wed. or carrots on Sat. - there aren't many - I dug up the remaining stragglers before I replanted the west garden with fall crops.
- Flowers - check the table to see how many
- Herbs - read the notes
- Spicy peppers

Extras:
- There's a ton of large summer squash - they're good for baking - the thicker skinned squash lends a little crunch to your baked dishes (cupcakes, breads, cakes, etc). They're also decent for grilling. Of course if you have chickens, they love them.
- Odds and ends in the tomato realm - some on the table, some on the ground.
- Maybe some split heads of cabbage - good for soup or slaw

For sale (this is Wednesday's availability - check to see what's out for Saturday):
1 box combo romas and "normal" sized tomatoes - $20
2 boxes heirloom tomatoes - $20/box. They're big - you should unpack the top 2 or 3 layers at home (or transfer them to another box) as soon as possible.
Extra beans - $1.50/lb. (price may change week to week depending on how long it takes to pick a pound)
Garlic - $5/bunch,. I don't have this separated by variety - it's a mix.
1 box pickling cukes - $20 - get 'em before the Downy Mildew does!

Week 10 - August 4 & 7

Today's box has been prepared by Sheryl & Kristina - we're up north for 3 days and will be back this evening. Thanks for rockin' out the harvest in our absence!

As far as I know, bugs shouldn't be an issue today. As always, you can soak the broccoli in salt water if you would like but it should be pretty bug-free.

Today's box weighs approx. 13 lbs. Saturday's box is approx. 15 lbs.

Check out the Summer Squash Soup with Salsa Verde recipe which Sheryl forwarded. It's excellent!

- One head of cabbage - either Famosa (savoy leaf), Red Ruby, or Early Perfection (oval in shape, sometimes cylindrical, green)
- One bunch chard
- One bunch collards
- 6 squash
- 3 cukes
- One head garlic
- One or two onions
- One pile of potatoes (from table)
- One eggplant
- Your choice of beans or okra or broccoli (from table)
- One box tomatoes (from table) - please leave the large boxes at the farm - we're running low on these
- One bunch green (romaine) and red leaf lettuce

Optional items:
- Flowers - check the table to see how many
- Herbs - read the notes
- Spicy peppers

Extras:
- Check to see what's out. I hear from the west garden are nearing the end. There are some split heads of cabbage, a few sweet peppers, extra summer squash, etc.