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Dear Common Thread CSA Members and Friends,
Fall CSA shares start in just a couple weeks and we have shares available! We greatly appreciate help in spreading the word. Fall shares start in September and run through the end of October. We will then start a biweekly winter share in November that runs through early Janurary. We'll start sign ups for winter shares in late September.
Things are going well on the farm. We were just starting to get dry when yesterday's rain came through. We're loving being buried by tomatoes and eggplants and enjoying green beans and the start of orange, yellow and red peppers. Asher has been busy mowing and tilling in summer cover crops like buckwheat and sudax and planning for fall cover crops as field sections with spring and summer crops are becoming ready to plant again.
The pick your own area had become overgrown with weeds and spent crops but Asher mowed off several beds and Serena, Jake, John and Morgan did a great job weeding and weedwacking so that it is clear what is going on in there and everything is either good now or good soon. We moved the pick your own sign to the beginning of the basil because in the back of the basil is a nice round of purple and wax beans, loaded and still in good shape. The next rounds are very weedy and these beans may be our best picking we've got, so now is the time! They rescued the sweet, thai and lemon basil and also the hot peppers and tomatillos which have fruit ready to pick. Also in that section: curly and flat parsley, lemon grass, nasturtiums, calendula, and of course two long beautiful rows of cut flowers. We also have some cut flowers (including sunflowers) available near the cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes have been getting picked hard the last few weeks but they are starting to put on enough fruit to keep up with the pressure. We planted shell beans in the pick your own this year - they aren't ready yet but they should be ready in the next couple of weeks.
The tomatoes are doing great this year! We're growing quite a number of varieties. They include:
Reds: Marbonne, BHN 589, Bolseno, Mountain Merit, Arbason, Rocky Top
Red plum: Plum Regal
Yellow: Copia (with red stripes), BHN 871
Orange: Persimmon
Pink: German Johnson, Pink Wonder, Martha Washington
Black/Purple: Black Velvet, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Marnero
Missing farm lettuce? We are in what we call a "lettuce gap" right now, when one succession of lettuce is finished but the next isn't ready yet. We plant 6-8 varieties that mature at different times every two weeks so that we don't get too many of these gaps but a few months ago we had a two week period with quite a lot of rain and not so many planting windows, which lead to our current lettuce gap. We hope to have more lettuce in another week or so. We are sadly also in a spinach gap, also due to that rain, but the next planting doubled in size with that rain last night so hopefully we'll be picking it by next week.
Meanwhile, we're having a bumper crop of eggplants. I've already mentioned my grilled eggplant and tomato sandwiches and the wonder of babaganough made from charred eggplants. Thinking of other good uses of eggplant makes me remember that Asher's dad has been bringing us the most delicious eggplant salads from a Russian grocery he shops at in Philadelphia. A little internet research show a dish called Eggplant cavier. Here is a version that looks tasty from thenewbaguette.com:
Russian-style Roasted Eggplant Spread
Recipe developer: Alexandra Shytsman
Yield: About 4 cups
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 vine tomatoes
- 2 cups boiling water
- About 2 tablespoons finely diced yellow onion
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro
- Salt + freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 350F. Evenly coat eggplants and peppers with a few drops of olive oil each. Using a fork, poke holes in the eggplants at approximately 2" intervals. Place vegetables on a baking sheet covered with foil and bake until blistered, blackened and mushy, about 40 min.
- Let eggplants and peppers come to room temperature, which may take up to two hours.
- In the meantime, prepare the tomatoes. Cut an X shape into tomatoes, place in a bowl, and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 seconds. Drain hot water and run tomatoes under cold water. Peel off tomato skins and discard. Finely dice tomatoes and place in a colander to drain excess liquid.
- Once cool enough to handle, gently peel the skins and tops off of the roasted vegetables and discard. Split open peppers and discard ribs and seeds. Gently squeeze eggplant flesh with your hands and discard excess liquid.
- Place eggplants and peppers into a food processor and puree on medium-low speed until smooth. Transfer puree into a large bowl and combine with drained tomatoes, onion, garlic, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, parsley and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve cold or at room temperature.
A CSA member just sent us this recipe:
Squash Taco Boats
Need:
2 large summer squash or zucchini
1 onion
1 pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground meat of choice (could sub beans or quinoa or rice)
Salsa
Shredded mozzarella or cheddar
Spices to taste
Directions: Slice squash in half the long way. Scoop out seeds to form two "boats". Sautée the onions, peppers, garlic, meat (or substituted item), and spices until meat is cooked through. Scoop the mixture into each squash, and place them in a large greased baking pan skin down/toppings up. Cover with a top or foil. Bake for 25 minutes at 400. Take out, put salsa and cheese on top of each. Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted! Top with any extras you might like (sour cream, avocado, corn, jalapeños, etc).
Yours in the field,
Wendy and Asher
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