Week 8
You may have these things in your box: PEACHES! pepper, lettuce, summer squash, cucumbers (slicing, Kirby, Lemon), corn, berries, beans? Onion? Radishes?Beets?
There is still a gap in tomatoes this week, they are having a hard time getting going again, and believe me, it’s so frustrating! We have tons of nice size, green tomatoes just hanging there and very little to show for it. We are supposed to be sending 500lbs to be processed as diced tomatoes and have postponed that until ??? I think there are a lot of crops like that, just kind of in a holding pattern. We are picking a few eggplants and peppers too, but not the piles we hope too (get ready my eggplant lovers ?
What’s exciting now? PEACHES!
While we know they are not large by any standards, they are delish! Instead of giving you 3-4 large ones, we’ll be giving you more, smaller ones (I’d say that was a small price to pay for something so yummy). Remember: today’s squeeze is tomorrow’s bruise. All our peaches are a day or two away from ripe and even when they are dead ripe, if they have not been handled at all, they will still feel firm to the touch. Store them out of their bag on the counter or, if they are very ripe, store in the coldest part of your fridge (without freezing). Yes, the average peach has 13g of sugars, but they also are rich in vitamins C and A, and minerals we need like potassium and magnesium. I hear folks get kind of wound about the possibility of cyanide, or more correctly Amygdalin, in peach pits (also in apple seeds/pips, cherry pits, etc) but don’t stress about it too much, unless you plan on saving up your peach kernels/pits over the weeks and then finding some way to ingest them. I have read you’d have to eat a cupful of apple seeds to poison yourself…and that sounds like a lot of seeds, AND, you’d have to chew them to release them from their hulls for your body to process the poison. So, moral of the story, eating all the flesh off a pit is not going to make you ill, nor will consuming some apple seeds. Our peach skin is perfectly healthy too, just rub or wash off the fuzz if it bothers you.
The berries are still coming and I have loved seeing some of our members spend some time on the farm picking some, as well as other goodies along the way. We have a lot of what I call “fussy” crops growing on the farm that often get neglected, or not harvested in great quantity (think herbs, specific Asian greens, carrots, etc). Why are they fussy? Generally, it is because it is time consuming to harvest, or because we don’t need so much that we are sending a crew out to harvest. Again, we welcome you to engage with your CSA farm as much as you like – come on out and pick some basil, pull some carrots, cut a head of Mizuna…..
Don’t forget, this is time to get cucumbers in bulk. Please let us know if we should send an extra case to any of our markets for you. September is NOT the time to get cukes in bulk, it’s now.
I just looked and it seems some of you will be seeing pak choi in your boxes 😉
Recipes
Fruit Crisp – nothing is simpler and you can use any-and-all of your fruit!
Place peaches and berries in greased pan of appropriate size for your fruit to be at last 1” thick. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice, a little flour (1TB). For topping: Rub together with fingers or pastry blender 1 cup rolled oats. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. 1/2 cup sugar of choice. 1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces.
Cover the fruit with the topping*, bake 400 degrees until golden (20-25 mins).
* If you have more topping than you need, it will keep well for a month in the fridge for the next crisp ?
Who is holding out their great recipes to share with fellow members?
Member, and brilliant chef, India, shared hers and sent me this thought yesterday:
I made some beet hummus and turnip hummus a few days back, SOOOO yum, they were little guys and I just put them in the food processor with raw garlic, garbanzo beans, EVOO, sea salt, cracked black pepper and tahini and it came out AWESOME!
Each kind took @ 3 minutes to make, so easy and delicious….. less garlic and pepper for the turnips BC they are zingier.
I had one bunch of each veg, @ 5 sm-med size, used a half can of Eden garbanzos for each batch, probably2tsp-1Tbs garlic, and 1Tbs tahini (optional) and then streamed the EVOO in to consistency and taste, then S&P to taste. Josephs Bakery flax oat and wheat pitas….I put it on your Instagram page. NUM NUM NUM!!!!
This looked amazing India, thanks for sharing!
Creamy Zucchini Toasts Real Simple June 2017 link
- 2 medium zucchini, very thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ¾ cup grated Pecorino Romano
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
- 6 scallions, thinly sliced, divided
- 12 slices thin pumpernickel, rye, white, or whole wheat bread
- Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine zucchini and salt in a large bowl and toss to coat; set aside until salt draws out a decent amount of liquid from zucchini, about 15 minutes. Pour off liquid and transfer zucchini to a few layers of paper towel or a clean dish towel. Roll up zucchini and gently press to absorb as much liquid as possible Step 2 Combine mayonnaise, cheese, garlic, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and 4 of the scallions and stir to combine. Fold in zucchini. Arrange bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread zucchini mixture thickly and evenly over bread. Step 3 Bake until golden and bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Top with remaining scallions and a few grinds of pepper before cutting into wedges.
Farm Dirt
It’s wet, it’s too cold, it’s too hot, it’s dry…that’s farming and we all go with the flow the best we can. Please remember as we wait for other crops to ripen enough for us to include the in ALL your boxes and bags, use your Stillman’s Bucks to get the tomato or carrot you want. I encourage you to ask about swapping out something you cannot use for something else (within reason please). Also, if you can use more cukes or squash just ask ? I keep a “take it or leave it box” at my location and will remind other staff to implement the same thing if possible.
Eat well, Geneviève Stillman
Next week: corn, peppers, eggplants, lettuces, kale, summer squashes, berries, cucumbers, peaches. Tomatoes PLEASE? Potatoes?
Check out our online produce chart for pictures, information and recipes
