CSA Share Notes:

How bout this weather, huh?  It’s been so pleasantly comfortable in the mornings and evenings the past two days, and our crops have been grateful for it too.

It’s funny- this is not typically the time of the season where we’re overloaded with crops, but the spring rains pushed planting the garden really late and the temperatures have remained several degrees lower than is typical for July, so this means we have plants that are not stressed out and are still producing really high quality fruits.

Spring was really, really tough out here, so having this nice of a summer season is more than a pleasant surprise.  We’re hoping that temperatures remain mild and we’ll then have a great August, and possibly an early start to the fall season, too.

Tomatoes are peaking this week. If you thought last week was the tomato week, this week is tomato week #2. We offered y’all several boxes of canners this week, and we might be able to have a few boxes of canners/extras available next week, possibly. We’ll have a few available at market this Saturday as well, so if you didn’t get yours yet, claim one and we’ll have it for you Saturday.

Speaking of market: We’re expanding to Longview! You’ll see us at the Historic Longview Farmers Market in downtown this week, and probably for a solid 2-6 more weeks, depending on how well the garden is doing. Longview peeps, stop by!

Here’s your vegetable line-up:

• Kale/Collard—Late July greens?! Yes! We can’t believe it, but we checked out the abandoned spring garden yesterday and saw the kale and collards were big and healthy again, somehow. Lucky you! Just a small bunch, but an unexpected treat. Large shares received Red Russian Kale or Collard, Regular shares received Winterbor Kale.
• Sungolds—A pint for everyone. These have peaked and we will probably only have them maybe 2 or 3 more weeks
• Slicing Tomatoes— loads for ya this time.
• Heirloom Tomato—Large shares received about 4 Valencia tomatoes, which are golden orange and lower in juice and acid. Regular shares received 1 jumbo or 2 regular sized Striped German (yellow/orange) or Cherokee purple (rose colored). Remember to handle them very delicately and eat them as soon as you can, especially if yours have any cracks or other damage.
• San Marzano Tomatoes—I love this tomato for pretty much everything. It’s my favorite in a salsa, for cooking, for dehydrating, for roasting, for grilled skewers, it’s just an all around wonderful tomato. I choose a juicier tomato for salads, and a larger tomato for sandwiches, but the San Marzano does nearly everything else in our kitchen.
• Squash—These plants are showing signs of the end, so we will likely only have squash a little longer, but this week, there’s loads.
• Zucchini— Same as above!  Have you grilled yours yet? It’s the best.
• Sweet Italian Peppers—Large shares received a big helping of these long, slender peppers. They’re sweet and so delicious. Don’t confuse them with the Cayenne peppers, which are similar in shape, but smaller. Use our picture below to help you.
• Sweet Bell Peppers—Regular shares received a few green and a few colorful bells. They’re amazing stuffed, which is how we enjoyed them in last night’s dinner.
• Hot Peppers—Regular shares received a whole bunch of jalapenos, nice and big for stuffing, and Large shares received Cayenne peppers (See the image below) and a few jalapenos.
• Cucumbers—A good helping for everyone. We enjoyed our cucumbers with Italian peppers, tomatoes, and loads of olive oil and salt in a panzanella salad with some old crusty, dried out baguette pieces from Sola Bread (nothing goes to waste!). It was heavenly. You can get fancy like the link above, or keep it nice and simple. A little feta, or mozz, some basil or oregano, and it’s taken up a notch. This is our lunch almost every day of the week this time of year.
• Onions—This crop is harvested in mid-spring, and stored in a dry, shady area of the barn till we send them all out. But it is reaching the end of it’s storage life over the next month, so we are going to load you down with them to get rid of all of them. Be forewarned! You’ll see lots of onions soon.

Veggie Storage tips:

Remember, tomatoes want to be at room temp, NOT in the fridge.  Onions also want room temp.  Keep them in a cool place on the counter. Your squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers, will all last longest if stored in the fridge, although they are fine at room temp for a few days. Kale needs to be sealed up in a bag in the fridge. 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: 1st row- Zucchini, slicing tomatoes, cucumbers, Heirloom Striped German tomato, kale. 2nd row: yellow squash and zephyr squash, San Marzano tomatoes, bell peppers. 3rd row: onions, Sungolds, jalapenos, and more bell peppers.

Large Share

Large share: 1st row- Valencia heirloom tomatoes, and onions, Italian peppers, kale.  2nd row- jalapenos, cayenne peppers (notice how they look similar to the Italian peppers, but are much smaller?) yellow squash and zephyr squash. 3rd row- zucchini, and cucumbers, San Marzano tomatoes, Sungolds, and slicer tomatoes.