The good news is that crop variety and volume are highest over these two months. This week marks the end of the zucchini harvest, a break in the broccoli harvest (though some of you will see it anyway as we have some in cooler storage), and the beginning of the eggplant and onion harvest. We're almost done digging potatoes and, as mentioned last week, we'll include them in the box when our new barrel washer comes (thanks to a grant we received from Frontera Farmer Foundation) next week. As far as the onions you're getting, we're starting off with mild white onions--a good all-purpose onion that's not particularly sweet or pungent. It's just a nice, regular onion. Next week, we'll include 'torpedo' onions-- long, red, narrow onion with fantastic flavor similar to shallots.

BTW, onions and garlic are unique in that they like to be cold and dry in storage, so the refrigerator and any breathable container, like a paper bag, or no container at all, is perfect. Some refrigerators are a little drier than others, so a paper bag may be better than nothing to maintain minimal moisture if you're trying to store onions for long periods, but that's usually not necessary. We don't wash them and encourage you not to wash them either--just peel off the papery skins when you're ready to use them.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, our garlic crop started suffering last year in the heat, and had a rough time this year with all the moisture, so its yields were reduced. Because we have so much in the box these days, we'll wait a bit to include garlic; they'll probably appear in the next week or two. Peppers are taking their time with the cooler weather, but there will be many in a couple weeks. There will be lots of our favorite sweet pepper, Carmen, which has great texture and flavor at all stages. When they've half ripened to red, their texture and flavor are amazing and hard to beat. As they turn fully red, they get a little sweeter, but also a little softer and as a result don't store as well, so we most often harvest them green or half and half. We plan to cut up and freeze many of the super red peppers this year to include in our winter CSA box.

Eggplant is in the box today and you'll see a lot more of it; we're working to harvest it smaller and younger so that the seeds will be smaller, the skin thinner, the taste less bitter, and the interior texture softer and less "spongy." Grocery store eggplants often sat on the plant for weeks after good eating quality was reached, leaving the fruits hard, spongy, and sometimes bitter. This is especially true for the skins, which is why those giant eggplants so often get peeled, breaded, and fried beyond recognition into eggplant parmesan. While we occasionally allow some firmer eggplants through, we generally harvest them younger, smaller, and shinier, which means you can use them in a few ways including simply chopping them up and cooking them with other veggies as in a stir fry. I frequently sauté them with onions and/or zucchini. Or, for my favorite, veggies can be marinated in oil (olive or whatever you like), and salt (I use tamari, or soy sauce could work). Crushed garlic is a nice addition to the whole mixture. Marinate for a few minutes up to an hour, and cook until nearly blackened. Try any vegetable you can think of--broccoli is fine, peppers are great, even kale works!

                                                                             -- Chris