Week 10
You may have these things in your box: TOMATOES! APPLES! Lettuce, kale or chard, beets, pepper, summer squash, cucumbers (slicing, Kirby, Lemon), corn? onion, eggplant, hot peppers?
TOMATOES! This is the big flush this week and now is the time to get the canning or freezing done. We have a great price on bulk tomatoes – a special perk for CSA members: $25/box!!!
We are still picking Early Macs and have just started picking Paula Red apples. The Paulas hold up a little longer, but it is still best to keep them in the fridge if you have any left after the walk/ride home ?
Glenn and I did a big scout of part of the farm and found the broccoli is finally sizing up. I don’t think you will see any this week, but I imagine it will happen in the coming weeks.
Hopefully you have all the fixings for a nice salsa in your box!
The onions are crazy sweet this summer – last year we had NO ONIONS because of the drought, this year looks pretty good. I was surprised at the flavor of the onions because when I sliced into one, it was really pungent, so I assumed the flavor would be strong and maybe overpowering – but no, perfectly delightful.
Blueberries have slowed down but who cares, we have peaches and nectarines! Did you know they are actually the same genus and species…nectarines are simply fuzz-less peaches and both have been cultivated for a LONG time. We grow many varieties so we can have them for an extended season. Also, just a reminder, we pick them ripe, be gentle with them ?
Check out my seasonal produce chart live on our website. It is an interactive chart with link to pages about the specific fruit/veggie, complete with pictures and links to recipes.
Check it out https://stillmansfarm.com/availability
Do you get weekly reminders from us? If not, please send us an email so we can get that fixed.
NO PICKUP ON LABOR DAY – we will make it up at the end of the season.
Recipes
Here’s one from member Maggie:
Blender Nectarine or Peach Soup (This works really well with strawberries too!)
(Courtesy of Aunt Genie in Vermont)
Ingredients
- 1 container of plain yogurt (Greek Yogurt makes this extra yummy!)
- ½ -1 teaspoon of ground cardamom (depending on taste preferences)
- 4 cups of rough-chopped fruit (remove the “fuzz” if using peaches)
*Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on low, then high, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and chill for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is even better!)
Serves 4-6, depending on appetites.
Simple Fresh Salsa
Use what you have, there is no mystery to salsa so adjust the ingredients accordingly. Salsa can be very colorful or monochromatic, depending on the veggies you choose and it is easily reduced or expanded to meet your needs.
- 5 med-large tomatoes
- juice of 1 lime or lemon
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 2 tsp. vinegar
- small onion
- 2-4 garlic cloves minced
- 2+ Tbs. chopped cilantro to taste
- 1 hot pepper, seeded and minced
- basil and oregano are good too!
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
Core tomatoes, cut crosswise and squeeze out seeds. Dice. Combine all ingredients except the oil and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain off excess juice and stir in oil. *I also like a fresh salsa of a tomato, 2 peaches, a little onion, a small chili, and some lime juice. It is a tasty addition to grilled fish or pork chops. I bet it would be great on fish tacos!
Marie sent me this recipe – I agree with her, it looks “really cool” but I have not made it yet. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/29/sri-lankan-beetroot-curry-recipe-vegan-green-bean-mallum-meera-sodha
What we’ve been up to this week: Faith made pizza rolls? No idea what to call them but she sautéed up some chard, onions, peppers, ground meat, a little seasoning with sage and parsley, then cheese, spread it out on pizza dough, rolled up jelly-roll-style, sliced into 1 inch or so pinwheels, laid flat and baked. She drizzled some melty cream cheese she loosened with some milk. YUMMY. Good job Faith (Faith is our 12 year old). Last night was a huge ratatouille and corn, chili also happened this week, accompanied by sautéed escarole; roasted potatoes and carrot – this week was a blur, I know I was cooking, but ???
Farm Dirt
YIKES we are still planting! If the weather cooperates we will pick that broccoli in November. Glen and I walked through all the peppers and it looks like it won’t be a great hot pepper year. A lot of the hots, as well as several of the sweets) are older, open pollinated verities that have not been hybridized (do not read GMO here) to have any resistance to bacterial leaf spot, or fusarium, and other diseases that plague peppers in a rainy season. We do grow an amazing green bell pepper that has nice resistance and looks great – but the drawback is the seed is VERY expensive, but on a year like this, well worth it.
The Blue birds followed us around the farm, or were they leading us? The main crop of potatoes is in bloom and looks really good so far. Beyond that was the broccoli field and we picked three heads for dinner. I also picked up a perfect projectile point (arrowhead) which was really exciting for me as it is the first whole point I have found on our property, AND it is not from recent history but several thousands of years old. Back to wildlife – the big bear has been in the corn! He pulled over lots of stalks and then sat there eating his fill, leaving a nice pile of corn cobbs. The second nesting of Barn Swallows fledged yesterday (read: got shoved out of the nest by the two siblings), and it’s no wonder; I thought there were three nestlings but turns out there are five! A huge brood! And none too soon, as the Swallows will start to collect on the power lines this week and then migrate to South America for the winter.