Week 11 – Broccoli!
You may have these things in your box: TOMATOES! BROCCOLI! Apples, lettuce, something green?, pepper, summer squash, 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!!!
Paula Red or other early apples – I noticed they started picking Zestar and Sansa too. Who knows what you will get for sure.
The broccoli is amazing! Everyone should be seeing it this week. I noticed many got it last week too, but that happened after I had written the letter. The onions look really good, so I expect you will continue to see them.
Also, we are strategizing how to harvest lots of carrots at once so you will see them in your box.
I know carrots appear from time to time, BUT, it’s not easy. MOST of the time we harvest carrots by hand pulling/digging them, generally with the aid of a carrot fork (many would identify it as a pitch fork, but it generally has four tines and they are flat and straight; whereas a pitchfork, for pitching hay and such, generally has three round tines that are curved. Forks with more than three round and curved tines are often manure forks ?). Anyway, this is time consuming and when you must loosen every carrot with the fork, pull them out and bunch them, it is not that efficient. Anyway, we are looking to try harvesting every third day, instead of every day, and use our undercutter – a tool that cuts under the roots, loosening them for pulling or picking up. We shall see if this comes to pass. We use this tool in the fall when we are harvesting the storage roots.
Have you checked 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
Recipes
ZsaZsa’s Corn ‘Oysters” an old New England dish.
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 c. milk
- 1/2 C flour
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- kernels scraped from 3 ears of corn
- 1 T. melted butter
Add all the above together-adding milk to make a heavy pancake batter.
Melt some butter or bacon fat in a skillet or griddle.
Drop batter onto hot pan by serving spoon size dollops. Turn down to Med heat. Brown, turn and brown other side.
Serve with applesauce or maple syrup. Make about 8 ‘oysters’
Eggplant Spaghetti sent from member Jan
- 2 T olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp. anchovy paste/3 anchovy fillets (optional, but makes the sauce marvelous)
- 1 medium eggplant
- 2 cans (15 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes
- 2 T tomato paste
- 1 T. dried basil or 4 large fresh leaves
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 12 oz. pasta (I use linguine)
- Fresh parsley
- 6 T. grated parmesan cheese
Chop onion and garlic, sauté in olive oil, adding anchovies and stir until dissolved. Cut eggplant in 1/2 inch cubes, no need to peel and add to onion mixture. Cook 10 minutes until eggplant is soft. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar, red pepper, pepper. Simmer 20 minutes more, add salt and correct seasoning. Add cooked pasta and garnish with fresh parsley and cheese. Yum! Hope you enjoy it.
~I would add that you can go ahead and use fresh chopped tomatoes ? GAMS
Roasted Broccoli
Cut apart broccoli in to 2” chunks and/or florets – by all means use the stems now, as they are tender and sweet. Later in the season you may want to peel the stems. Toss in 1 TB olive oil, 1 tsp coarse salt, lots of black pepper and several cloves of crushed garlic. Spread out in baking dish (I use my lasagna pan), bake at 400 degrees until fork tender (15-20 mins). Sprinkle with lemon juice (half a lemon or equivalent)
Broccoli Soup **Also check out my broccoli soup recipe on the blog, simple and delicious. Just enter “broccoli soup” in the search bar!
Farm Dirt
Lots of great looking produce here on the farm, I am really pleased with the broccoli this week. It is amazing and we have lots (I think). We did not schedule a potluck this year, but I had a request yesterday, so what say you? Sundays are preferred, with most of us at markets on Saturdays. I would love to cook up a pile of corn and slice loads of tomatoes as my contribution ?
Meanwhile, you are welcome anytime – a major perk of being a CSA member. Otherwise we are not open to the public. Come pick berries, apples, tomatoes, whatever (within reason, right?).
We have had an immature Bald Eagle flying over the farm and getting heckled by the crows…they look tiny compared to that majestic creature! S/he sounds really annoyed!
School starts for us next week, I’m not ready! Summer cannot be over! AND I cannot believe our Reid is leaving us for college! We shall miss him in the house AND at markets/CSA!