Hello CSA Members!
The tomatoes are really pouring in after that last heat wave so we’ve been harvesting them almost endlessly lately. This week will likely be a peak one for tomatoes so prepare to make some sauces, salsas, bloody mary mix, or maybe just BLT’s or tomato sandwiches or thick slices of tomatoes for your veggie burgers which is my favorite new thing to eat this year because its easy, healthy, and tasty. Big storms came through this week bringing lots of humidity. All the crops loved the rain but so did the weeds so we spent some time controlling weeds too as usual. I tilled in a lot of them and employees pitched in to clean up the strawberries for next year. This week there will be plenty of weedwacking and mowing to do also and I’m almost ready to have the new greenhouse delivered. The strawberries got some feed this week too and this is the the time of year that they prepare to fruit again next year so we will give them all the food we can muster for the next month or two. …. we are still patiently waiting for lots of peppers to come in but they are really sizing up the plants this week so its looking like late August and September will give us lots of peppers but we do have the first shishitos for you this week which are a fun hot pepper that is usually mild. The crops list for this week is as follows…
Shishito peppers: These japanese hot peppers are great if you sautéed them until they blister in a little oil, the browner they get the better in my opinion and then add a little sea salt and just enjoy them as an appetizer… so tasty and most of them are mild with 1 in ten having some heat so you never know when the heat will be there so enjoy them slowly just in case but most the time they are just full of flavor.
Garlic: Chesnook Red garlic for your dressings marinades, and roasted veggies.
Basil. To compliment your tomatoes, we will keep the basil coming along with it.
Cherry Tomatoes: Our cherry tomato blend has red, orange, yellow, white, pink, and black. All our cherries have different flavors but I just can get enough of their sweetness and nice texture even for snacking which mostly happens while harvesting cause i can’t let all the split ones go to waste. (https://www.saasgenius.com/)
Heirloom tomatoes: These will be randomly distributed with red tomatoes also and bigger tomatoes for bigger shares but we have many types including red, orange, black, pink striped, yellow striped, terra cotta, pink, and orange and red striped so will try to keep it as interesting as possible. I just love all the colors sliced up for a a caprese salad with fresh minced basil and cucumber and some good olive oil and sea salt.
Kale: Our curly kale is still coming on healthy and tender for salads and homemade veggie chips or juiced for all those great vitamins. Kale has a lot of protein for a vegetable that can help you build muscle in a healthy way.
Zucchini: These are great for grilling and since we have a big harvest of them now i suggest doing spears or slabs of them marinated with some soy or teriyaki and on low heat they really make some great veggie steaks on the side. Or maybe some baking zucchini carrot bread or muffins, or zucchini fritters grated and fried until brown like a hash brown, or thinly sliced to make a vegetable lasagna with no noodles for a gluten free dinner.
Summer squash: These can be prepared just like the zucchini.
Jalapeno…. I think we may have enough to give everybody one of these this week, just to add a little spice to your dishes if you wish.
Cucumber: These are slowing down fast now after fruiting like crazy last week or two the vines are dying back but there should be enough for everyone to get at least one for salads.
Thats everything for this week folks, I’m going to get back to picking tomatoes on this humid Monday. Thank you all and see you soon! -Kyle