Share Notes Aug 28, 2025

ELEVEN weeks of summer harvests, y’all. We’ve never had crops grow this long into the summer before.  What a crazy year! This week’s deliveries to the DFW metro area wraps up our Summer CSA boxes. We’re going to spend the next couple of weeks planting like crazy- all the kale, collards, chard, broccoli, cabbage, and loads more are all going in the ground. Tons of baby transplants will get tucked into the beds, but also a gazillion radish, carrot, turnip, and beet seeds will be settled into the soil soon, too. We’re thrilled with this teeny cool front, putting a little delight in our sweaty work. We hope you’re excited about the changing season too.

Here’s your (final) vegetable line-up:

• Arugula – Peppery and delicious! Cannot believe we pulled this off this time of year, and it tastes so good! We’ve never succeeded with this crop in August. Enjoy!
• 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. For Large and Regular shares.
• Basil – So Much Basil! 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 a couple of weeks on your counter in a glass of water.
• Cucumbers – just a couple for everyone.
• Squash – Just 1 Zephyr squash for each Large and Regular share.
• 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 to get a tiny bit 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, all are totally mild. The Italian are 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.
• Shishitos – for the Regular and Large shares.
• Eggplant – The Regular shares received slender Japanese eggplant. Large shares received  Italian eggplant, including our beautiful heirloom Barbarella, and Mini shares received fairy tale. 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.

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, okra, and radishes, (2nd row) Loads of peppers! L to R: Bells, jalapenos, Italian, and a handful of shishitos below the cucumbers, 1 zephyr squash, a Japanese eggplant, and a couple of garlics.

Large Share

Large shares – top row left to right: Basil bouquet,  Spring Mix, arugula, okra, and radishes, (2nd row) Loads of peppers! L to R: Bells, jalapenos, Italian, and a handful of shishitos below the cucumbers,  a few garlic, a couple of fairy tale eggplant and an Italian eggplant, and 1 zephyr squash

Mini Share

Mini Share – top row left to right: Basil bouquet,  Spring Mix, arugula, okra, and fairy tale eggplant, (2nd row) Loads of peppers! L to R: Bells, jalapenos, Italian, a cucumber, and a head of garlic.

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