- Ruby Red Chard: Swiss Chard Tian
- Beet Roots: Herb and Raw Beet Salad
- Carrots: Curried Carrot Dip
- Fresh Garlic Bulb: these still need to cure, or dry for better peeling of the cloves.
- Green Beans: Tips for Green Beans
- Broccoli: Asian Broccoli
- Cucumber
- Zucchini: Aunt Joan’s Zucchini
- Yellow Summer Squash
- Baby Eggplant: Throw into a stir-fry in sliced rounds
- Tomatoes
Herb Share Subscribers:
- parsley
- rosemary
- basil
- savory
- chives
We have a lovely crop of carrots this year. I hope you’re enjoying them. Hand seeded, hand weeded twice, hand dug, hand washed, and then packed into each box. No wonder why I love them so. And their color just pops out of the box with the contrast of the red beets, greens, and yellow squash.
I want to remind you all again to be sure to use your broccoli heads sooner than later since the heat has taken it’s toll on some of our crop. It won’t be around for much longer this summer, so enjoy it while it’s here.
The tomatoes are just starting to roll in. Full shares received 3# and half shares received 1.5#. There is a mixture in each bag of slicers and small heirlooms. If you are unsure if a tomato is ripe, simply give it a light squeeze. If it gives, it’s ready. There are some green, yellow, and red tomatoes that have a whitish blush to them. Most are ready to go, but some slicers are there to ripen a bit more during the week.
We are trying to pack the tomatoes in a different way this year so that they don’t have to go into the fridge. They keep better flavor if left out, but keep an eye on them as they do keep ripening on the counter. The brown paper bag is a trial method of containing them and keeping them together for travel mode and sitting on your box. Let us know if this works for you.
The high humidity last week sent a wave of mildew on our greenhouse eggplant which already were under attack from aphids. We’d been treating the aphids with neem oil (an oil derived from the neem tree which is used as a natural pesticide), with only mild success though. So we stepped up our “organic attack” against pest and foliage disease and carried all eggplants outside in their black plastic dirt pots and removed all leaves from the plants. The plants were then hosed down with a strong spray of water and I have to say the plants looked really strange…like sticks with hanging eggplants all over. A bit of fertilizer was given to each and the baby leaves are quickly growing back, looking nice and healthy. However, the hanging eggplant were likely to receive sunburn so all were harvested and washed and added to the boxes this week. The limited amount of eggplant in each of your boxes will likely suffice as an addition to a stir-fry of some sort. Eggplant typically takes on the flavor of what it is cooked with and sometimes I enjoy throwing it in a little vinaigrette before cooking it so it absorbs that flavor.
It’s hard to believe we’re nearing our last month of summer, it sure goes quick. But in the meantime…
Eat Well. Smile Often.