CSA Week 7
Good grief! At this point, everything is running 10-14 days late, and with the continuous rain, we cannot quite figure what will be ready or not from day to day. You MAY have squash, cukes, blueberries, lettuce, onions? pepper? something green?
Peppers: look for your standard green bell, but we also have white, yellow, orange, lilac, and purple flavor. What about red you say? Did you know that red peppers are just ripe peppers? Yep, the yellow and orange started out green too. There is not a heavy set on the peppers due to the heat we had earlier, so not sure how may you will see when you see them…let’s hope they have come back into bloom and will set fruit now.
Mostly you will see sweet bell types, but you may also see sweet banana/Italian frying types like Carmen, Italica, and Mama Mia Giallo- in shades of light green, dark green, yellow and red, Lipstick – a pimiento shaped red one that ripens to red early, St Nick and Hungarian Round- thick walled, squatty red, and some ‘blushing beauty” Romanian types.. It’s turned into a sickness passion here to grow any peppers, but especially hots! As I said last week, IF we put any in your box/bag, you would most likely see jalapeno, Hungarian Wax -hot banana looking, and Poblano- dark green, pointy but looking somewhat like a bell pepper. There are also the long, dark green Mole peppers which are not hot, but are classified as a chile. You can read more about hots we grow here.
Recipes
It was a soup week, well, when it wasn’t pizza 😉 As usual for my “recipes” go for proportions and use spices you like. This week I had maybe a quart of chicken broth on hand in the fridge which became the basis for cutting up enough squash for the broth to barely cover. To be honest, I doubt I have ever made this soup the same. I also admit, I have made it with just garlic, s&p as the sole seasoning and it is just fine…like my cream of broccoli soup 😉
Summer Squash/zucchini Soup, yet another version
- 3-4 summer squash
- 1 qt chicken or favorite broth to barely cover (you can use water, but adjust seasoning accordingly)
- package of instant grits (plain instant oatmeal or something to thicken)
- one stalk Egyptian Walking Onion
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (too hot and lazy to walk out to field and get a new bulb)
- fresh black pepper
- dash cayenne
- 1/4-1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- pretty sure I tossed in some turmeric and a spot of very hot paprika – whoa
- 1/2 cup cream
Wash, trim and cut up the squash, you are going to blend it in the end, so it does not have to be pretty. I always quarter squash the long way and then 1/2″ slice. Prepare alliums. In appropriate size pot, add the vegetables and broth/stock. Stir in all the spices, heat and then simmer until squash is very tender. Turn off heat. Stir in instant grits package. “No self–respecting southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits.” Well, with the use of “magic grits” this soup took 20 minutes start to finish, while drinking a glass of Pinot. But I digress. Let the grits soften for a few minutes. Blend with immersion blender until mostly pureed looking. Add cream and blend for a few more seconds. Taste test. Enjoy hot or cold.
in case you see Chinese cabbage:
Chinese Cabbage Salad
1/2 Chinese Cabbage shredded
That’s all you need, though you can add a grated carrot, slivered almonds, sliced water chestnuts, thinly sliced scallions…
Combine:
- 1Tbsp peanut oil
- 2 Tbs. sesame oil
- 2Tbsp rice wine or white wine vinegar
- 1-2 Tbs. maple syrup
- 1/2 Tsp. salt
- 3 Tbs. soy sauce
Pour over salad and toss well. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Strain the salad over a sauce pan and press down on the cabbage until you have collected all the juices. Boil the juices down to about 1/4 cup and toss into the salad.
Vegetarian Chili
Quick Lemon Summer Pasta
Zucchini Recipes
Summer Tian
Farm Mud
Pretty sick of having only the rain to talk about.
Once again, you are welcome out to the farm to pick berries, bird watch, bail water, play in the mud, etc. If you do make it out for a visit, please be respectful of the rows and assume if there is a plant growing or plastic laid, that you should not step on it. It is super wet, so choose your path wisely. Though it is tempting to short cut across a field and march across the rows, and avoid water between the rows, it takes a big stride to do it without stomping on the edge of the plastic or the plants. Thanks in advance!!!
The Red-Tail Hawk young are out of the nest and getting flying lessons. Today they spent a lot of time screeching at the small flocks of birds hassling them. I was keenly aware of them as I spent the better part of the day outside fleshing (scraping all the remaining fat and meat off) a hide I brought back. 30 years and I have never tried to use any of our cowhides…and now I cannot possibly imagine wanting to do it again. I hope I turns out wonderful and it will be worth it 🙂 On the bright side, I got to observe the hawks nearby – they really are awesome and definitely part of the farm.
Other good news -we harvested the garlic this week and it looks great! After it cures a little, we will share.
Hoping and praying for good weather!
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Coming up: Peaches, garlic, tomatoes? eggplant?
We had a whopper last night! Thunder and lightening crashing all around and then Glenn wakes up and says, “Do you think you should shut the windows? I am getting wet.” LOL, he IS closer to the window, but when I say it was blowing in, the curtain was out straight with the bed easily six feet away. I did close the window, and then wander the house looking for other hazards as the rain came in a torrent. I guess folks with air conditioning miss fun, midnight adventures like that.
Once again, you are welcome out to the farm to pick a few raspberries or just roam freely sans-mask (outside, of course). If you do make it out for a visit, please be respectful of the rows and assume if there is a plant growing or plastic laid, that you should not step on it. it is very tempting to short cut across a field and march across the rows, but it takes a big stride to do it without stomping on the edge of the plastic pr the plants. Thanks in advance!!!
The Sharp-shinned Hawk has been especially busy, trying to pick off mostly Doves, though he got a young Blue-jay last week. As though his success attracted more interest, one of the juvenile Red-tail Hawks came stooping through the back yard, right by the bird feeder. He missed everything and then proceeded to sit on a dead branch surveillling the yard for a couple hours. No one was happy… the Jays made sure everyone knew it! As for insects, some very interesting hornets on the fennel, including a black Ichneuman wasp with a bright orange-red abdomen, a few Cicada Killers, and many Great Black Wasps. Not a wasp fan? Well the entire farm is aflutter with Monarchs, Fritillaries, Tiger, Spicebush, Black Swallowtails and way too many more to list. It is also a great wildflower time. Lots more to watch around here besides the birds 🙂
We undercut the garlic this week and it looks great! After it cures a little, you should see some.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Coming up: Peaches, eggplant, garlic, onions…
