Week 9 TOMATOES! APPLES!
You may have these things in your box: TOMATOES! APPLES! pepper, summer squash, cucumbers (slicing, Kirby, Lemon), corn? berries, onion, eggplant, hot peppers?
Alright! The tomatoes are back! Some of you saw eggplant last week and everyone should see it this week. Now that we have peppers and tomatoes too, this is the perfect time to break out the ratatouille or tian recipes.?
What’s exciting now? APPLES! OK, tomatoes are pretty exciting too. We are hoping to have cilantro/basil on hand for your boxes this week. Hopefully there will be a few new things showing up for options, Frankly, there hasn’t been a ton of anything to set up the options table, but it looks like we are turning the corner now ? You may see carrots, turnips, bok choy or escarole as an option this week.
Back to apples: The first apples we have are the Early Macs, they are nice and snappy, full of flavor, and perfect for snacking. Apples are often referred to as “nutritional powerhouses”. Just look at all the awesomeness they contain: Vitamin C, B-complex (riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin B-6, high in fiber, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and phyto-nutrients the polyphenols (think anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory). Yes, you really should eat the skin because otherwise you are missing out on a lot of the fiber and phyto-nutrients. No, we don’t treat them with any of the post-harvest chemicals that seem to be irritating more and more people these days. Any cloudy skin you may see is actually “bloom” not pesticide. What’s bloom? It is actually kind of complicated and I won’t bore you with Botony 101 here, BUT, simply put, bloom is tiny wax particles or scales that the fruit produces to make it waterproof AND also to retain water inside the skin. The bloom is easily buffed off to show a gleaming skin beneath. This is not to be confused with the wax most apples are treated with before arriving at the supermarket (however, waxing fruit is done for the same reason – to trap moisture inside the fruit).
I observed many people saw pak choy or bok choy last week. Sorry I did not give you the heads up…but I did not get any emails, asking what it was, so it’s all good!
I finally have 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
Don’t forget, this is time to get squash or 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.
Recipes
Apple – Kale Smoothie from Liz DellaCroce’s blog “The Lemon Bowl”
- 2cups kale loosely packed stems removed
- 1in apple (core removed) cut chunks
- 2celery stalks quartered
- 1/2banana
- 1/2cup parsley
- 1/2cup blueberries
- 1inch piece ginger root quartered
- 1/2teaspoon cinnamon
- 1scoop protein powder
- 1cup water or lemon juice, ice to taste
Who is holding out their great recipes to share with fellow members?
Oh, I skipped right over talking about eggplant on the front side while I was yammering on about apples. We grow a lot of eggplant, so if you are not sure what you’ve got, check out the produce chart I was talking about on the previous page and click on eggplants for ID.
Busy Farm wife Baked Eggplants
I pop this “recipe” into the letter every year because it is a super simple way to prepare eggplant without it ending up extra greasy or slimy. Everyone in our house likes this and makes it as a simple fall back side dish. It also works with any kind of eggplant, though it would be a bit of a pain with Machiaw (just grill those babies anyway). If you have the long Asian/Oriental, it is best to slice them the long way, any other variety works sliced in either direction (across or lengthwise). Another thing is after baked, these slices freeze beautifully and appear as a side or integrated into eggplant parma in the deep winter.
*Slice into 1/3-1/2” slices, spread mayonnaise on top, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper and bake on a greased cookie sheet in hot (400) oven for 10 mins, or until fork tender and cheese is golden. If you’re a purist with garlic, omit the powder and mix minced garlic in with the mayonnaise. Everyone has time for this recipe!
What I’ve been up to this week: fresh corn and tomato salad (lime, cilantro, jalapeno) which we ate with corn chips before dinner and finished off on top of tacos; cucumber salad with feta, dill and chives, blueberry sauce (for cheesecake), turkey and escarole soup, large salad of lettuce and cucumbers, topped with chicken strips from the freezer section and a sprinkling of blue cheese ?; corn on the cob; a layered chard, kale, pasta, sausage casserole recipe from Edible Boston; a smoothie for breakfast every day…I made chard and kale calzones last night, but was thinking it would have been great starter for quesadillas too. Here’s my quick thought: saute in a little oil, an onion (finely chopped), garlic, 2 squashes (chopped), a bunch of chard (chopped), extra corn kernels? until tender, stir in a can of drained black beans, layer on a tortilla with some cheddar and feta and grill. Yum with salsa and sour cream!
Farm Dirt
It’s funny how just when I think the planting season will slow down so we can focus on harvesting, it’s not slowing at all ? Glenn plowed up 3 different fields that had already been planted and harvested this season (early corn, lettuces, peas…) and they are being replanted as I type. We had rain like you read about last Saturday, made a huge mess all over town with lots of gravel and dirt running off into the streets. We thought we’d never get back on the fields, but most of the water did run off and so Glenn and the crew were able to pull plastic and prep by Thursday. More greens, Fall broccoli and other cole crops, and the carrots and beets for winter storage are going in on this gorgeous day. Speaking of gorgeous, the Goldfinches are very busy in the thistle, pulling the silks out to line their nests and or feeding their young the seeds. Did you know that if a Cowbird lays an egg in a Goldfinch nest the hatchling rarely survives? Goldfinches exclusive vegetarian diet cannot sustain a cowbird. Anyway, they are simply stunning and you can hear them all over the yard right now – and what could be more stunning than a bright yellow bird atop a purple thistle. Well, maybe the Indigo Bunting atop the fountain.
