CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to this week’s CSA share. Here’s your vegetable line up:

• Japanese Eggplant— Small shares received pale purple Japanese eggplant variety, and Large shares all received a the dark purple (it’s almost black!) Japanese eggplant. These eggplant are tender and soft and don’t store for long. In the intense sunshine, some of them have brown sunscald spots. Just shave these burned areas off with a vegetable peeler.  This week we pan seared them in a heavy enameled cast iron, and topped them with our fabulous summer green curry sauce. Visit an Asian grocery for the obscure ingredients like lemongrass and fish sauce. At World Market the other day I actually found a small jar of pureed lemongrass, all ready to go. So easy!
• Italian Eggplant— Each share received 3-5 beautiful Italian eggplant. Some of them are a day or two over-ripe and you’ll find mature seeds inside. These are fine to eat, and the flesh of the eggplant is still really nice with low bitterness.
• Bell peppers—Each share received a whole bunch of our colorful bell peppers.  This with our wonderful Japanese eggplant gives you the base ingredients for one of my favorite dishes: Summer Veggie Green Curry I mentioned above.
• Jalapenos—Each share received a handful of bright, juicy jalapenos.
• Poblanos—Each share received our spicy, dark poblanos. Try stuffing them!
• Giant Marconi Peppers—These nice pale green peppers are kind of like an Anaheim pepper. They are (should be!) mild, slightly sweet peppers, though some might pack a little heat. This fall, once they have had plenty of time to mature, we expect to harvest them in all shades of red for you. These are great sauteed.
• Cucumbers—Large shares received an Armenian cucumber or a couple of our slicing cucumbers. They are all struggling in the intense heat of summer, but we were glad to be able to pick a few for ya. There is some yellowing on the slicers, to take note of that and trim away anything you feel isn’t good.
• Sungold tomatoes—Though they are really slowing down in the heat, everyone received a half-pint of our sungold tomatoes. That’s probably the end of them this year!
• Onions—Each share received a few yellow and red onions
• Basil—Each share received a nice bunch of our healthy Genovese basil. This crop doesn’t wanna quit in the heat! It may arrive to you wilted from its journey. Follow our storage notes below and perk it back up.

Veggie Storage tips:

As a general rule, wait to wash any veggies until you’re ready to use them to help retain nutrients and prevent spoilage from excess moisture.

Bell peppers, and jalapenos can be at room temp, especially if you’re going to use them up within a couple of days. If it will take you longer than a week to use them up, we suggest storing them in the fridge sealed up, along with your cucumbers and eggplant.

Onions like room temp, in a cool dark place.

Basil should not be refrigerated, as it will turn black below 50 degrees. Trim the stems daily and place in a glass of cool water on your counter to perk it back up and keep it fresh.

Thank you so much for being a part of our Summer CSA!

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Large Share

Large Share: Bell peppers, red and yellow onions, cucumbers, jalapenos and poblanos, Giant Marconi peppers, Genovese basil, sungold tomatoes, Italian eggplant, Japanese eggplant.

Small Share

Small share: Italian eggplant, Japanese eggplant, Giant Marconi peppers, bell peppers, red onions, yellow onions, jalapenos and poblanos, sungold tomatoes, and Genovese basil.