It is week 10 of the farm share, and we are now in the heart of Summer. Rumor has it the heat is returning later this week. Irrigation duties are finally easing up a bit, as we begin to cut off water to crops like winter squash, potatoes, fall onions, and tomatoes, and till in old beds of Spring crops that we are done with. We planted buckwheat in the top field nearest the farm stand, a Summer cover crop that you'll be able to watch rocket upwards over the coming weeks and help preserve our topsoil and fertility during dry windy weather. And we have been making a big push to get the last Fall crops in, so over the last few weeks we have been transplanting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, and collard greens, and direct sewing seeds of rutabaga, turnip, winter radish, kale, chard, and spinach. There are about two more weeks of planting and sewing, and then we'll be done and able to relax a bit when harvest is over! Late August until November is probably my favorite time on the farm, as we have tons of food but less hectic insanity.
It is the time of year when it is hard to decide what to put in the share, as there is so much food in the fields! I was almost Considering trying to do a share entirely made up of Crops that begin with the letter C, as the list of possible share additions included chard, carrots, cilantro, corn, cucumbers, cauliflower, cherry tomato, and celery. Not a bad share! Except I don't think the cilantro is quite ready, or if there's enough corn or cauliflower for all the shares, and I wanted to put strawberries back in the share and put in some baby leeks. So now it is just a farm share with many C vegetables.
Chard- It's been a while since we've had Swiss chard in the share, so it's time. I love to eat Swiss chard in the Summer. Its mild sweet flavor seems to go best with the other Summer crops like zucchini and tomatoes and corn. Here is Martha's page, which is kind of Fall themed but has some nice recipes for chard. Use the little arrow on the right to scroll through them.
http://www.marthastewart.com/274967/swiss-chard-recipes/@center/1009845/fall-produce#967833
Carrots- Carrots are back in your share. We are in to a newer bed, so they are back to the medium small size, but the same delicious orange variety. We may do them topped rather than bunched this week, as that's how we've been selling them lately, but if so it will be basically the same amount of carrots. Enjoy!
Strawberries- Strawberries are back in the share! They are coming on strong and the quality is super nice right now. The biggest and I think sweetest berries we've gotten all year. I think the plants enjoyed a bit of cooler weather, and the relatively small amount of rain we got hasn't seemed to do them much harm. They should be easy to get rid of.
Cucumbers- With squash in the share last week, it is time for cukes again now. They are continuing to yield heavily and look very good. Try making a chilled cucumber soup!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/creamy_cucumber_soup.html
And I will be sure to put extra squash up in the farm stand on Thursday, so feel free to grab some for free if you'll use them! We are feeding quite a bit of summer squash to our two pigs right now, Brad Pigg and Angelina Jowly.
Baby leeks- The leeks have really grown great, and I thought it would be nice to put a different type of allium (garlic, onions, leeks and shallots) in the share this week. This will just be a smaller bunch of a couple baby sized leeks, but they should be delicious and are great on a salad. Leeks have a flavor a little bit like onions, but much milder with almost no bite. Use the stalk from the roots all the way up to where the leaves begin. Here are some recipes:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=summer+leek
Cherry tomatoes- More of our delicious little sungold tomatoes. They are coming on strong now, and the plants are taller than I am! I hope that EVERYBODY got their cherry tomatoes from two weeks ago now....this time around I promise to put them in the bag!!
Broccoli/cauliflower- Well, I couldn't decide which we'd have more of, or if we'd have enough of either, but between the two it should work out great, and everyone will get a nice head of EITHER broccoli OR cauliflower. If you have a strong preference, peak into the bag to find the one you want.
Corn OR eggplant- Same goes for the sweet corn and the eggplant....not sure we have enough of either one for all the shares, so you'll get one or the other. I think I'll try to do the same thing again next week, so if you get corn this week you can get eggplant next week.
Corn- This is a great early corn variety that I discovered years ago. It is a bicolor (white and yellow kernels) that is consistently ready a week or two before and of my other corn! The ears are not huge, but the flavor is great. My favorite way to eat corn is raw out in the field. But you also can't beat fresh sweet corn on the grill. It's so good!
Eggplant- Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, and I think that homegrown eggplant is much better than the stuff at the store. The eggplant is VERY early this year....Usually it's just getting started in late August and doesn't hit its peak until late September/early October. I am hopeful that it will keep going all through the Summer and into the Fall even though it's starting so much sooner!
Oh my gosh some of these recipes look delicious...I may have to try one or two this week.
http://www.marthastewart.com/274258/eggplant-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#1004630
No comments:
Post a Comment