Week Nine

Basil
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Garlic
Lettuce
Carrots
Squash / Zucchini

I think the theme here is pretty obvious: Italian.  Though you will have the option to choose Asian eggplant, which is also often used with basil and go that route.

The onions look great, which I mention because we are going to start harvesting them en masse this week or next.  Probably the best and largest crop since Rachel's and I's first year, seven years ago.  Mostly due to heavy mulching.  This was the first time we have done that since we have been here: better onions and less time spent working on them too.  Yeah!

Seeded most of our Fall things this past week, which then got rained in, so knock on wood, things continue to go well, I can almost taste the spinach and arugula.  All the varied fall greens can be a relief after kale/chard/random drop-in choices.  Be on the look-out for totsoi, my favorite unknown green, seen to your right.

Bringing out the rosemary to the herb circle, so if you are out there for other things like flowers feel free to come by and snip some.

Week 8

Well, Week 7 saw tomatoes come out in full force, a pound a share, and I thought they were both some of the tastiest and prettiest I've seen in recent years, basically due to our mediterranian weather the past two months or so.  This week should have at least a pound again.  Always hard to tell when you will make that next leap in volume, we all want it (the tomatoes) so bad it certainly colours my judgement.  In other news we will be taking a break for a week from squashpocolypse, or whatever you call it when you are getting alot of squash, though even saying it sounds sad and I may try to offer it as a bonus to those who would still like it. 

The Field is looking pretty good, this week we will actually be putting in alot of fall stuff.  Brocolli, Cauliflower, Turnips, Carrots, Cabbage etc.

The Share:

Tomatoes
Lettuce
Beans (either green or wax)
Beets
scallions
cooking greens (chard, kale, cabbage, napa cabbage)
parsley or basil

Here is a wax bean recipe in case you have never used them, I like it for its basic-ness, but that also means there is lots of room to throw in your own favorite herbs, nuts, etc

• 1 1/4 pounds wax (yellow) or green beans, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon mild honey
• 3/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Cook beans in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately toss with honey, zest, and salt in a large bowl.

Week 7

I was shocked to see we are in week seven.  I skipped week six, not intentionally but it happens.  Nice share this week:

Lettuce greens
Carrots
Cauliflower
Eggplant
squash/zukes
tomatoes
garlic
cukes?

So, by way of recipes, let's talk about eggplant.  This is a vegetable that it is possible to mess up I think, in the sense that if it goes wrong the texture can be funny in a way that one can't mess up a zucchini.  That said, we need not be afraid.  Let's start with my favorite baba ganoush recipe, which also uses the garlic from this week.  The recipe is from the vegetarian epicure book two, a cook book we go back to and flip through alot to try new things:

the key is the taratour sauce which is:

1 cup tahini
3 cloves garlic crushed or finely minced
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 cold water

mix all that and youve got taratour sauce

prick eggplant with fork in several places and bake at 400 for 45 mins or until it is soft all over, let eggplant cool and scrape out pulp into food processor, add

1/4 cup taratour sauce (so you'll have lots left over if you followed above recipe)
1/4 lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 pepper
1 tbs plus 1 tsp olive oil

blend that briefly and voila, perfect baba ganoush. enjoy

Week 5

I call this share summer without tomatoes cause we've got all the classics, except those, which I anticipate starting slowly next week.  The plants (tomato plants), by the way, look really good.  Absolutely no disease, knock on wood, so hopefully A nice long tomato season.

Before I get to the share a few other bits of business:

1. Flowers are plentiful.  There must be fifty snapdragons waiting to be cut.  Even the sun Flowers are starting so I encourage all members to take a bouquet or two a week, stop by the herb circle for mint, sage, oregano, and thyme.

2.  Green Mountain compost: We did not use any compost from GMC from the time period they say may be effected.  This is just a case of good fortune for us, one that is reminiscent of zen parable: a farmers son finds a beautiful horse and brings it home, the neighbors say, oh how lucky you are, the dad says, we'll see.  Then the son tries to ride the horse and breaks his leg.  The neighbors say, oh how unlucky, dad says, we'll see.  Then some people from the army come around looking to conscript troops but see the son is injured and pass him by . . . you get the idea.  Well in this case: Yeah flood.  Had Last year been a normal year I probably would have used the effected compost this spring, but as it stands, I only used it last fall for the garlic, because we had not really enough farming the previous year to merit more compost (beside the fact that we are trying to move to green manure more instead of compost).  In any case, we will not be using their compost again.  It is just not worth the risk.  I am sure lots of farmers will have the same position.  It is a little sad to see a business like this flounder, one that could be so generally helpful, and in the larger analysis the herbicides used are obviously ones that they didn't create and that we should be questioning the use of.  Larger conversations.

3.  Tips for Lettuce Maintenance.  A member told me last we that she cleans and cuts all the head lettuce right when they get home from pick-up.  Then they know what they have and it is easier to eat.  I admit I'm not always on the ball enough to do something like this but a great idea.  This week we are moving to lettuce mix which will come to you cut washed and bagged.  The trick for keeping it freshest longest is to not squish it, even keep the bag a bit puffy, and tied.

this week:

lettuce
parsley, dill, or cilantro
squash/zukes
peas
cuke(s)
kale or cabbage
new potatoes.