Hey there CSA members!
We are officially at mid season! The tomatoes are pouring in and so many perfect cherry tomatoes coming out of the new high tunnel we can barely pick them as fast as they ripen. I think homegrown organic tomatoes don’t really get much better then these and hopefully these sweet fruits being one of the most hydrating veggies will help everyone in this current heat wave also. The crew worked hard today to bring in carrots from the field and we are 95 percent finished with our summer carrot harvest. We are just starting to see some of the first peppers, eggplant, tomatillo, and ground cherries ripening and it looks like we are getting very close to a nice mini watermelon harvest. Today I also seeded crops for late summer and fall in the field space that was just in garlic, and beets, and carrots over the last month. I planted salad turnips, arugula, mustard greens, black spanish radish, red radish, mesclun salad mix, and edamame. We keep knocking out the micro green trays also and harvesting greenhouse tomatoes and everything else coming in. I would also like to remind you that if you owe for the second half of your share now is the time to mail in a check to the farm or drop it to me at the market stand pick ups if you have a market site. I like to have those by July 31st so that the second half is paid up before it starts. Thanks for your attention to this. Here is the crop list for week #10!
Cherry tomatoes: I think we have some amazing cherry tomatoes and they make great pico, or caprese salads, or roast them on a skewer on low on the grill. So many coming in that we are loading up large shares with double of these this week.
Heirloom tomatoes: These are so good for BLT’s or tomato sandwiches, or sliced thick on a plate with just some olive oil and balsamic and basil or cheese. They also make great sauce or panzanilla salad.
Zucchini: These monsters have a mind of their own when it gets this hot we end up with larger ones as we can’t get to them soon enough when there are so many tomatoes to pick. They are great for that homemade zucchini crust pizza I posted a few weeks ago or baked into bread or my favorite is zucchini fries which can be breaded and fried up for tempura squash.
Summer Squash: Just like the zucchini this yellow relative of zucchini is cooked the same way and lends itself well to stir fries, pizzas, pastas, and curriesCcucumber: I think these fruits pair great with our tomatoes for a fresh tomato cake salad. My grandma always made them as a fridge pickel with onions and sugar and they were always so popular they were gone the moment they hit the table.
red leaf lettuce: Lettuce is back this week for salads and it was so hot it started bolting but i’ve been eating it and it tastes fine to me so everyone will get a bag of lettuce this week for salad or those BLT’s i mentioned earlier.
Pea shoots: We produce these trays weekly to keep a fresh supply of salad greens flowing nearly year round on the farm. These pea shoots will always taste good even in the summer heat and are great for salads, sandwiches, and more!
Golden carrots: These dense bright yellow roots were labor intensive the last few weeks but we have a lot to go around now for a few more weeks. I love the density, sweetness and bright yellow color of this variety.
Tomatillo: The first tomatillos have arrived and I think there is enough this week give everyone a few along with a jalapeño. This should make for some good salsa ingredients to go with your tomatoes or just on its own for a little salsa verde.
Jalapeno: To spice things up this week we have the first hot pepper. These came out very large and should spice up just about anything you can dream up from salsa, to curry or stir fry, to tacos or pizza.
Thats all our items for this week folks. Thanks for being part of the CSA and I hope you have enjoyed the first half of the season. We will keep the ball rolling and the tomatoes pumping out here for a delicious summer ahead of us.
-Kyle
