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.
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