Hi everybody,
It was a perfect September first morning today. The air was kind of cool and crisp and smelled like Fall. This is my favorite time of year. Labor day is a day of just that when you're farming. This is not an easy time of year to take a Monday off...I'm guessing there might be quite a few Monday pickup folks out of town today, in which case, don't worry! Your share will be waiting for you until you can swing by to get it tonight or tomorrow. If you are going to be later than 5 pm tomorrow, let us know.
With so much food on right now it was hard to decide what to put in the share! Here's what we ended up with:
Tomatoes and lettuce- For a BLT share! Bobbie and I have had BLTs twice in the last few days. Enjoy! IF you still have some basil from last week it makes a great BLT addition.
Garlic- These heads are not as big as the ones from a few weeks ago, but should be a great flavor. This is a mystery variety, as we lost the tag for it at the Farmer's Market this weekend! I thought you guys wouldn't mind....
Sweet Corn- This is the best crop of sweet corn I've ever grown. Nice big ears with great pollination, tip fill and flavor. At the farmer's market this weekend I was literally running back and forth from the farm, trying to harvest corn as fast as we were selling it! I couldn't believe it.
Strawberries- The berries are still going strong, and the quality is very high right now. We survived a challenging period there a few weeks ago after the heavy rains when we lost a lot of berries, but the light rain this weekend doesn't seem to have bothered them much. I'm surprised that I am enjoying eating them right now as much as I have all year.
Hakurei Turnips- This is the year of the hakurei turnip! Many of you told us how much you enjoy eating these guys, as well as many of our market customers. If you aren't familiar with them yet, they are very easy to use...just slice and eat raw, grate on a salad, or they can by cooked very lightly by steaming or sauteeing briefly. Great in miso soup too. Don't forget, the greens are tasty lightly steamed or stir fried too.
Amaranth bunch- Well, I just threw these in for fun. They are an edible but unusual green- related to quinoa and some varieties are grown for their seeds or ornamental flowers. Many common and edible garden weeds are also in the amaranth family, like lamb's quarters and pigweed. Such a beautiful color this time of year! And apparently a "super food" according to the internet, as in super nutritious. They can be eaten raw, chopped in a salad, or lightly cooked. If you don't feel like culinary experiments, just put them in a vase and enjoy the color on your kitchen table! Recipe for Chinese style amaranth: http://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe0507c.htm
Dill bunch- These dill bunches are beautiful and smell great. The greens and flowers go great with carrots, cucumbers, radishes and potatoes. If you've never tried quick pickles, it is probably a lot easier than you think! Hakurei turnips, radish, the scarlet runner beans from last week, cucumber, onion, zucchini, tomato, corn, carrots or beets are all candidates. No cooking necessary, just let the vegetables soak in a brine with dill and other spices for a few hours in the fridge. Check it out! If this recipe I chose doesn't appeal to you, there are many more on the web if you just search "quick pickle vegetables" http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-dill-quick-pickles
Cucumbers and carrot bunches- Not going to waste too much ink on these ones. The cukes and carrots continue, hope you're continuing to enjoy them and see the above notes on dill if you're looking for new ways to try them out.
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