What’s in the box?
a BIG bag of beans
cucumbers
summer squash
zucchini
green onions
green top beets
A few notes about the box… The tops of the beets are delicious. Beets are related to spinach and the tops can be cooked in a similar way. Beet root is good raw if you shred them and put them on top of salad. They can also be snuck into baked goods if they are shredded, as can zucchini. Chocolate beet cake(most recipes have you boil then puree the beets, but I just shred them and they add the same moistness and sweetness without so many dirty dishes), beet brownies, zucchini bread and zucchini brownies… yum. zucchini or Summer squash savory corn muffins are good. zucchini and Summer Squash are also GREAT grilled. Slice them lengthwise, marinade in some olive oil and herbs, salt and pepper then grill them. You can do the same thing but broil them, if you don’t want to grill. Then you can eat them on sandwiches or burgers or on their own. There are A LOT of beans this week. We should have more next week, but not in this quantity. If you are overwhelmed with them, you can freeze them. Just rinse them, snap off the stem, blanch them in boiling water for a couple of minutes then rinse in cold water, place in freezer bags, and enjoy later. They are also quite wonderful made into “dilly beans” You can use your favorite pickle recipe and replace beans for cucumbers. refrigerator pickles are nice this time of year if you don’t want to get the kitchen too hot doing canning. The beans will also keep for quite some time in their bag in the crisper droor. Cucumbers are a nice cool treat. Slice them up and put them on sandwiches. We really like cream cheese and cucumbers on toast for breakfast. You can slice them and put them in ice water for a little bit of flavor, and there are quite a few nice summery cocktail recipes that include cucumbers.
Recipes
Here is a link to two really nice salads from Stone Soup. One if for a shaved beet salad and the other is for a shaved zucchini salad. fantastic
refrigerator Pickles
- 6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers (about 2 pounds) OR snap beans, rinsed and chopped or left whole
- 2 cups thinly sliced onion
- 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
- 3/4 cup sugar (or less depending on how sour you like them)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Put the cucumber in a glass or other non-reactive bowl; top with onion. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan; stir well. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Pour over cucumbers or beans; let cool. Cover and chill at least 4 days. Note: Pickles may be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Here are some nice pictures of some of our farm field friends
We found a nest in the Kale last week!
We found this big toad hoppin around in the beans.
The sunflowers started to bloom and the bees showed up!
A visitor on a zinnia.
Jenna bunching beets
