Share Notes July 8 & 10

Share Notes July 8 & 10

CSA Share Notes:

The crops are ripening! We harvested about double the squash and cucumbers this week that we did last week. And now the peppers are beginning to mature, and the tomatoes will be right behind them.

Here’s this week’s vegetable line up:

  • Bell Peppers— For the Large shares and Mini shares, a bit of purple and a bit of green. So pretty and delicious!
  • Italian Peppers— For the Regular shares. These ultra long slender peppers are sweet, like a bell, though they resemble certain spicy pepper types. We love the Italian peppers! Ours are going in with our onions, garlic, and celery into a Cajun Jambalaya tonight. The bells would work well for this too.
  • Jalapenos— These are just beginning to mature, and in weeks to come we hope to have loads more for you, hopefully enough at some point to make a nice big batch of poppers. Growing conditions greatly effect hot peppers, so water consistency, air temperature, and soil nutrition all have a major influence on the concentration of the flavor, as well as how much heat they pack. We haven’t tried them yet, but we think they’re going to be nice and hot, but you never can tell till you cut into them. Let us know what you think of them!
  • Zucchini— Just enough for the Large shares.
  • Summer Squash— There are three different types, crook neck, and straight neck, along with lovely Zephyr, which is half lime green, half yellow. Let us know what you think of each!
  • Cucumbers— We have both pickling and slicing varieties, and while everyone received a few cukes, they were all mixed together so you may have received only pickling, only slicing, or a mixture..
  • Basil—A few leafy stems of Italian Genovese basil for the Regular and Mini shares.   **READ BASIL STORAGE TIPS BELOW**  Possibly enough for a pesto this week! All you need is some EVOO, nuts (like pine, pecan, or walnut), a hard cheese like parmesan, garlic, and salt. The traditional Italian way doesn’t require a food processor, you just mince the ingredients with a cleaver until they’re all as fine as you can get them, and the resulting pesto has a good bit of texture to it. And it’s delish on a turkey sandwich, or in a potato salad too.
  • Kale—Everyone received a bag of tiny Curly kale leaves. (They plants are growing lots of little leaves in the stress of summer heat.)  Try them sautéed into an egg scramble or make a massaged kale salad, or roast the leaves with other tasty veggies.
  • Potatoes—between 1-3# of our Red skinned potatoes (the weight you received depends on your share size). The perfect potato salads potato.
  • Onions— Yellow and reds for the Large and Regular shares, yellow for the Mini shares.
  • Garlic—A head for everyone. We’re really fond of our garlic variety, let us know how you like the flavor and texture!

Veggie Storage tips:

Basil should never be below 50 degrees or it will turn black so *do not store it in the fridge.* It prefers to be in a nice cool spot in your kitchen, away from the sun, stem down in a fresh glass of water.  Trim the stems and refresh the water every other day or so, and your basil will last at least a week or more. If it’s wilty when you receive it, fully submerge it in a sink of cold water for an hour or two to help it perk up, then trim the stem before putting it in a glass of water.

All your kale, peppers, squash, zucchini, and cukes will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags.   Potatoes, garlic, and onions prefer a dry, room temperature spot, away from direct light (but don’t put your potatoes in the complete dark or they’ll sprout!).  Everything will need a thorough 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 top left to right: Curly kale, Italian Peppers, cucumbers, and Genovese basil. (2nd row) yellow squash, garlic and jalapenos, 2 onions, and red potatoes.

 

Large Share

Large Share top left to right: Curly kale, Bell Peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. (2nd row) yellow squash, garlic and jalapenos, 2 onions, and red potatoes.

Mini Share

Mini share: Curly kale, Bell Peppers, cucumbers, and Genovese basil. (2nd row) yellow squash, garlic and jalapeno, onion, and red potatoes.

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