CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to another bountiful week of summer! Some of the crops are coming in super heavy, and some of them are just beginning.  You’ll see more of them soon.

Here’s your vegetable line-up:

• Sungolds— These are a farm favorite. and they’re growing so well right now! We’re happy to send a full pint to the regular shares and a whole quart to the large shares!
• Slicing Tomatoes—So excited to be sending really nice, big tomatoes out this week. Our big beef and other slicer varieties are doing well and hopefully many more are coming soon.
• San Marzano Tomatoes—This is one of our favorite heirloom tomatoes. They’re meaty, delicious, and are a Roma type, so they have less juice, making them perfect for making a salsa or sauces.
• Squash—Everyone received a generous helping of our squash, which may be of two different varieties: yellow squash, and zephyr squash, which has some pale green on it. They’re both delicious.
• Zucchini—Everyone received a good amount of zucchini.  These are really nice this year, tender and flavorful.
• Hot Peppers—Regular shares received a big handful of our super spicy cayenne peppers. They’re long, pointy, and lime green.  Large shares received jalapenos and a couple of cayennes. Use them in dips and sauces, or infuse them in a small jar of vinegar to make a delicious spicy topping to your food.
• Sweet Peppers—Purple peppers! These are so fun, and taste just like a bell pepper. Enjoy them with some healthy hummus, or in a fresh tomato salad.
• Cucumbers—This crop is just beginning to produce fruit, so we only had  a few to go around. More is coming soon!
• Onions—a handful of our yellow onions for each share.
• Sweet Corn—Large shares received this item. This is the first year we’ve “successfully” grown sweet corn! We’re so excited to send some to you. I say “successfully” with quotation marks because there are a lot of issues with the corn this season, but at least we have a little bit. We lost several varieties completely which means that the corn we DO have did not cross pollinate well, so some of the ears have very sparsely filled out kernels. Also, we don’t use any chemicals to control pests at Red Moon Farm, and other than hugely dangerous and powerful chemicals, there is nothing that can get inside an ear of corn to kill ear worms.  This means every ear had a caterpillar or two in them. We’ve peeled back the husks and chopped the tip off of the ear to get rid of most of them, but it’s possible you’ll find one way down in there, but I really hope not! So you’re really getting half-ears of corn, partly chopped and ready to go.  Eat your corn as soon as you possibly can for maximum sweetness.

Veggie Storage tips:

Your tomatoes and onions do NOT want to be refrigerated. (Refrigerating tomatoes will make them mealy) Keep them in a cool place on the counter. Your squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers, will all last longer if stored in the fridge. Hot peppers are fine on the counter for several days. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent spoilage.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share.

Your farmers,

Jess & Justin

Regular Share

Regular Share from top left to right: slicer tomatoes, yellow squash, cayenne peppers (in the middle) sungold tomatoes & cucumber, (bottom row) bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and San Marzano Tomatoes.

Large Share

Large share from top left to right: slicing tomatoes, yellow squash (both zephyr and regular) jalapenos, cayenne, (2nd row) a couple small slicer tomatoes, Sungolds, yellow onions,  zucchini, San Marzano tomatoes (3rd row) purple peppers, cucumbers, and sweet corn across the bottom.