Share Notes Aug 14, 2025

We’re in the final push of the season.  Our family vacation to the mountains is in view, and for that we’re so grateful.  We’re delivering to Tyler this week, and It’s possible this could be the final week, or perhaps we’ve got one more small harvest left for next week, when we’d be hitting up Longview and a few other spots. We can’t tell for sure yet, but we’ll know on Monday and email you!

And we’ve got a few really great crops coming in to help us finish off summer season: radishes Spring Mix, and arugula! We haven’t tried growing these this time of year, as they really prefer cooler weather. When temps start climbing in May, and warm weather bugs arrive, they do really poorly. But this time of year, many bugs have moved on. So while it’s still scorching hot, we gave them a shot, irrigated heavily, and waited to see what happened. They turned out pretty great! Hope you love an out-of-season treat.

Here’s your vegetable line-up:

• Arugula – Peppery and delicious! Cannot believe we pulled this off and it tastes so good! We’ve never succeeded with this crop in August.
• Spring Mix – This has a sweet heat to it- it is nutty and pungent and so delicious! It’s great for an Asian salad, or is excellent sauteed. We love this spicy and beautiful mix!
• Radishes –  Also a first for us in August. What a delight to enjoy a spring crop this time of year! We hope you’re excited about them.
• Basil – So Much Basil! Time to make pesto while it’s so lush and tender. You can make an excellent pesto with pecans or walnuts if you’d like a more economical version than with pine nuts.  It freezes well, too, just portion out into small baggies before freezing. Any of y’all struggling with wilted basil?  This basil is shockingly resilient IF you a) Get to it asap after delivery is complete and promptly and get it into water, and b) wait very patiently for it to perk up. It might take a day or even two. Trim the stem a half inch at a 45* angle, and give it plenty of time to recover and you’ll almost always have gorgeous basil that lasts ages on your counter in a glass of water.
• Cucumbers – several for everyone!
• Garlic – A few for everyone. Have you tried roasting a whole head and squeezing the gooey cloves out on crusty bread? I’ve heard it called Cajun Butter when served this way. So delicious.
• Okra – Enough for everyone this week! This is a Texas Heirloom called Hill Country Red and it stays tender and delicious even when it gets large. It’s perfect when prepared at high heat: oven roasted, grilled, or blistered in a cast iron. Okra needs to be eaten really fresh, so make a plan to use it up within the first 2 or 3 days of getting your box.
• Peppers, Peppers, Peppers!:
• Sweet peppers – Everyone got bell peppers and Italian peppers. These are not the least bit spicy, and come in pale yellow, and pale green. They’re thin walled, excellent for slicing into thin rings for a salad or pizza, and they’re also delicious stuffed or dipped.
• Hot peppers – Jalapenos for everyone.
• Eggplant – The Regular shares received slender Japanese eggplant and Fairy Tale eggplant. Large shares and Mini shares received  Italian eggplant, including our beautiful heirloom Barbarella. Eggplant wants fast, high heat cooking, just like okra, to prevent a funky texture. If used super fresh, there’s no need to sweat them, but if you store them for a couple of days, you’ll want to slice and salt them to let any bitterness sweat out before cooking.
• Sungolds – A teensy bit for each Mini and Large share. This crop is nearly done!

Veggie Storage tips:

• Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
• Fridge storage this week: Bagged greens, radishes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, okra, all sealed up in a container or plastic bag.
• Counter storage:  Don’t refrigerate your basil, tomatoes, or garlic

Regular Share

Regular Share – top row left to right: Basil bouquet,  Spring Mix, arugula, and radishes, (2nd row) Loads of peppers! L to R: Bells, Italian, and Jalapenos, (3rd row) garlic, cucumbers, okra, and beautiful fairy tale and Japanese eggplant.

Large Share

Large shares – top row left to right: Basil bouquet,  Spring Mix, arugula, and radishes, (2nd row) Loads of peppers! L to R: Bells, Italian, and Jalapenos, (3rd row) garlic, cucumbers, sungolds, okra, and beautiful Italian eggplant.

Mini Share

I’m having technical difficulties getting my mini-share-photo to upload so I don’t have an image for you this week. Your item varieties are the same as the items in the Large share, but in smaller quantities. Enjoy!

Flower Shares:

Very bright colorful bouquets this week! And this ends the bouquets. Their season has come to an end! We’ve already begun several hundred baby transplants that will bloom next April and May so you’ll get a chance for more!

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook, showing us how you’ve used your CSA share.

Your farmers, Jess & Justin