2014 Summer Share #4

Share Notes:

• Tomatoes—I hope you enjoy these fresh, truly vine-ripened organic beauties. If any of your tomatoes got bumped or bruised along the way, use those up quick! Refrigeration below 50 degrees causes tomatoes to become mealy, so store them on the counter.

Some of you may have seen that we have some canning quality tomatoes (slightly bruised, cracked, or too small) available by the box. We hope to keep offering those up to you when we have them at a great bulk rate.

• Cucumbers—Many of you received our regular General Lee variety, crisp and delicious. A few of you received our long, smooth variety with fewer seeds. This variety has truly exceptional flavor, a special treat. Store sealed in a bag in the fridge.  If you would like, we can offer cucumbers by the box for you home-picklers out there. We have a TON of them and they’re of fantastic quality.
• Beans—Large shares received a mix of burgundy and Dragon’s Tongue, and Small shares received green beans.  This is the last picking off of our oldest plants so these beans are not as tender as they once were. They may need a few more minutes of cooking time. Sort out any airy beans. We have another healthy young planting that will soon be ready for its first harvest.
• Onions—Red onions this week! These onions are so sweet. They are exceptional grilled! So mild and delicious. Store at room temp, and keep dry.
• Zucchini—Nearly all of you received our beautifully ribbed heirloom variety: Romanesco. This zucchini is actually an award winner for taste.  Try it with our delicious tomatoes in this latest recipe: Italian Zucchini Malfatti dumplings!
• 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.

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

Only 6 items this weeks but the bounty is coming again as the season ebbs and flows. It won’t be long now before we enter into more of our summer crops: peppers, cherry tomatoes, melons, eggplant, and okra. Also expect onions for just one more week (our stored spring harvest is almost gone!) and possibly only two more weeks on the squash and zucchini  (organically grown squash are very susceptible to pests and these plants aren’t going to last much longer.) 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: Romanesco Zucchini and possibly some regular zucchini, red onions, burgundy and Dragon’s Tongue beans, yellow squash, tomatoes, and General Lee cucumbers (some also received our long, smooth variety, the first two at the top right of the picture).

Small Share

Small share: tomatoes, Romanesco zucchini, green beans, yellow squash, General Lee cucumbers, and red onions.

Jessica & Justin