Full Share
What’s in the box?
broccoli
green cabbage
collard greens
sugar snap peas
basil
a cucumber
summer squash
zucchini
green onions
Single Share
broccoli
a cucumber
red cabbage
collard greens
green onions
sugar snap peas
basil bunch
summer squash
zucchini
Some notes on the box…
It’s SUPER HOT outside, in case you hadn’t noticed (it’s also super hot inside, but the temperature of our house doesn’t affect your veggies much). The heat means that you should try to pick up your box of produce to get it all in the fridge as soon as you can. Everything will keep longer if it stays cool. A reminder again…. if things are lookin wilty, a nice dunk in a sink full of cold water for a few minutes works miracles to perk things up again.
The exception to the cold dunk and refrigeration rule in the box this week is for the Basil. Don’t refrigerate your basil and don’t dunk it in cold water. It will keep best as a basil bouquet in a glass of water on your counter.
We were planning on having lettuce for you, but the next 3 plantings either bolted, got burned, or tasted bitter due to the heat. Kind of a bummer, but Cabbage is also known as “Summer Lettuce” and makes a lovely salad. The cabbage in the boxes this week are ment for fresh eating. The best way to treat is to cut it into very thin ribbons and dress it. Coleslaw is usually thought of as a side, but it tastes great on burgers or tacos when dressed in a complementary way.
The sugar snap peas were succumbing to the heat. They are such a fleeting treat. No more till next year! Good thing we will have other veggies coming to take their place!
The cucumber is a teaser. We didn’t have a whole lot when we harvested (only enough for one in each box this first picking), but don’t worry…. there will be more!
The full shares will have gotten a variety of zucchini called magna. It’s the light green short and stout one. It’s a tricky one it pick at the right time and if yours is large it will be good for zucchini bread or for stuffing.
Recipes…
Super Simple Mayo-free Coleslaw
Finely shred 1/2 medium head or full small head of cabbage. You can also add shredded carrots, thinly sliced radish or turnips. some chopped green onions or garlic scapes, or anything else you think would taste good… Mix in a separate bowl 1/4 – 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar with 1/2- 1 Tablespoon sweetener (agave, brown sugar, or honey), and a pinch of salt. You can add caraway seeds or some celery seeds if you like. Chopped parsley or basil is also nice. Cilantro added compliments Asian food… mix your dressing with your veggies (hands work best). Let it sit for at least 5 min before serving.
Zucchini Lemon Salad
You can use zucchini or summer squash for this recipe. Use it to top lettuce or you can try finely chopping collards or kale and “massaging” it in half the dressing, then combining it with the zucchini…. Cut zucchini or summer squash into match sticks. Make the dressing by zesting 2 lemons, then cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl (mix zest and juice), add either 1 Tbsp olive oil, a spoonful of mayo or yogurt, and a tsp of your prefered sweetener. If you are going to pair the zukes with collards or kale, pour half of the dressing onto the zucchini and the other haf onto the chopped kale or collards and massage well. Allow to sit for at least 15 min. Then put the zukes that have been marinading in the dressing on the collards and serve. If you don’t like raw collards or kale, the marinated zukes are great with salad greens, lettuce, or fresh spinach. It’s also good on its own.
Basil and Green Onion Cream Cheese
Let 8 oz. of cream cheese sit out enough to be softened. Rinse and chop a bunch of basil and a few green onions and if you have any scapes, a scape or two. Mix herbs, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, a pinch of salt, ground black pepper to taste, and the cream cheese until smooth (you can use your food processor if you like). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Super good on crackers, as a dip for fresh veggies (like broccoli!) or as a base spread for a cucumber sandwich.
Broccoli with Asian Dressing
Separate the stalk from the florets of a couple of heads of broccoli (or just one if you got a monster head). Chop the stalk into matchsticks. Chop the florets into smaller florets. You can steam broccoli for a few minutes, or you can serve this as a raw salad. Mix 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp. peanut oil, 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger, some minced garlic or chopped garlic scapes, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, and schriracha (or chopped fresh hot chili) to taste. Pour dressing over the broccoli. Serve warm or chill and serve as a cold salad.
A nice recipe for Green Garlic and zucchini Latkes (if you don’t have green garlic or garlic scapes left, you can use green onions.)
Creamy Coleslaw with Bacon and Blue Cheese
On the Farm….
flying cabbage
All cabbage has sailed through the air to be safely caught by Craig before packing.
In the morning, but sweaty already.
Basil smells good!
Tomato plants are LOADED!
Speckled Roman Tomatoes will be in the boxes before you know it!
tiny beans and blossoms
sweet corn tassles
Sweet corn silk
tomatoes and bell peppers are lookin good!
baby green bell pepper
future water melon
Next round of “Freedom Rangers” ready for order at the end of September. Can you see them panting? We have a fan on them and they are still hot even though they prefer it to be in the 90′s as baby chicks. It’s hot!
New Calf “Lady B” nursing. She’s a week old!
Pretty cows!
garlic harvested and drying for a later delivery
Sorry for any confusion last week with the web store. The chicken is all sold out and we will be delivering meat on Friday if you ordered any. Hope everyone is able to find relief from the heat somehow. Our amazing crew has been working hard as ever, but we called it a day after packing boxes at 3:30 on Wednesday to go to the air-conditioned movie theatre. We’ve also been going to the local swimming hole after work. Mostly we are just sweating it out and looking forward to next week’s milder temperatures. Thanks folks and be sure to contact us if you have any questions or concerns or if you’d like to share and recipes!
Next week…
broccoli
cabbage
cauliflower
cucumbers
summer squash and zucchini
greens
green onions?
some type of herb
anything else that surprises us by suddenly being ready to harvest!
