2014 summer Share #3

Share Notes:

• Tomatoes—The varieties you are receiving are a mix of Big Beef, Better Boy, and Celebrity. Some of the tomatoes are super ripe and some will last another few days. Ripe tomatoes are difficult to transport, especially in a mixed box of veggies. I hope they all made it to your kitchen intact. If any of yours got bumped or bruised along the way, use those up today! Refrigeration below 50 degrees causes tomatoes to become mealy, so store them on the counter.
• Basil—Genovese. Store in a glass of water on the counter. This plant also cannot tolerate temperatures below 50 degrees, so don’t refrigerate your basil.
• Cucumbers—General Lee variety, crisp and delicious. Store sealed in a bag in the fridge.
• Beans—Large shares received a mix of green and burgundy beans, and Small shares received a mix of all three varieties, Dragon’s Tongue, green and burgundy beans. Store sealed in their bag in the fridge.
• Onions—Sweet Yellow onions this week! These onions are so mild and delicious. Store at room temp, and keep dry.
• Zucchini—Our beautifully ribbed heirloom variety: Romanesco.
• Yellow squash—You can store your squash and zucchini sealed up and in the fridge for up to a week or out on the counter for a couple of days.
• Potatoes—this variety is called All Blue. (really, cut into them, they’re all blue!)This is an heirloom variety with incredible flavor and beautiful color. Remove your potatoes from their bag right away so they have air circulation and keep them in the dark, and dry, dry, dry. Leave the dirt on so they store better.

Wash your vegetables just before using them to improve shelf-life.

In the weeks to come expect to soon be receiving eggplant, peppers, cherry tomatoes, melons and okra, which are all right around the corner! Also expect the beans to slow down (though we have another planting of them that we hope will be ready in 3 more weeks), the onions to dwindle, and the squash and zucchini to eventually succumb to pests (organically grown squash are fairly challenging!) Enjoy it all in season!

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’re using your CSA share! And don’t forget to head on over to the Kitchen blog to see what we’re cookin’ up!

Large Share

Large share: General Lee cucumbers, Genovese Basil, green and burgundy beans, straight neck squash, mixed tomatoes, sweet yellow onions, All Blue potatoes, and Romanesco zucchini.

Small Share

Small share: General Lee cucumbers, All Blue potatoes, Genovese basil, sweet yellow onions, mixed beans, straight neck squash, mixed tomatoes, and Romanesco zucchini.

Jessica & Justin