Ammi flower in the summer sun
Hello CSA members,
And Happy Week 12!
Weeds and water, weeds and water. These are the only two things we think about these days on the farm. As you know, the lack of rain has been keeping us up late into the evening to sprinkler all the newly seeded crops. And on an organic, no-till farm it is of utmost importance to stay on top of not just the new seeds that promise crops for the Fall, but of hand weeding and hoeing as well. So weeds and water it is. If there is a crunch time of the farming season, it is certainly here and we are knee deep!
The sky of last week’s storm, which gave us a glorious night off from watering
Some of the things you’ll receive in your share this week include:
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Beans or Shishito Peppers
Tomatillos or Okra
Kale or Chard
Lettuce
Arugula
Summer Savory
Sweet Peppers
Basil
Cucumbers
Summer Squash
Garlic
Edamame
Edamame on the plant
You know it is definitely summer when edamame is here! For those of you who don’t know, edamame is just another name for the soybean plant, and also the term that refers to its fresh young pods, which you will be receiving in your share this week. Preparing and eating edamame is a wonderfully simplistic treat, as you will see in this recipe from Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/edamame-cooked-fresh-soybeans-recipe.html
Fingers and teeth are key to edamame. I recommend dipping the whole pod in soy sauce before popping it into your mouth and running it through your teeth to extract the edible beans within.
Shishitos blistered to peppery perfection on the stove
Shishito peppers are equally simple and fun. Alli introduced them to you on her Week 9 post (https://secondwindcsa.com/2015/07/27/week-9-2/), featuring a recipe for blistering them in the oven. DO THIS! You will not regret it. Shishitos are masters of surprise, as some of them are mild and some of them are on the hotter side. All of them are packed with incredible flavor that screams of summer.
Tomatoes behind-the-scenes in the root cellar awaiting distribution
We will also have “second” tomatoes for you to take if you want to. These are tomatoes that split after last week’s storm. The tomato plants drink up the water and send it to their fruits, which then split because they are not used to having so much to drink all at once. Though they will likely be messy, you can definitely use them like you would an unsplit tomato. Luckily, however, they are perfect for making sauce. If you have not already attempted sauce making, it is seriously easy! So grab some second tomatoes and follow this recipe from Marcella Hazan: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015178-marcella-hazans-tomato-sauce
Some of the many colors of summer appearing in the sweet peppers.
How great it is to have foods that need so little preparation and are bursting at the seams with summer flavor! Enjoy another veggie-filled week, everyone.
Alison
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