Share Notes September 2 & 4, 2021

Share Notes September 2 & 4, 2021

CSA Share Notes:

Welcome to you last CSA share of the summer season! Thank you so much for coming along for the ride with us. What a crazy summer! Now we’re looking forward to taking a couple of weeks to shift our attention. We’ll be focusing on the last steps of preparation and planting for the fall garden, and we’ll also be welcoming a new baby into our family before the Fall CSA harvests begin. Exciting times around these parts.

 

If you want to receive fall harvests, we have room for just a few more families to join with us this coming season. We’d love to partner with you in our work and provide fresh, nutritious veggies for your family. You can still join the fall season here (until we fill up).  And if you’re interested in our winter season, we’ll be opening that up for registration in another few weeks so watch your emails.

 

Here’s your vegetable line up:

  • Eggplant— Large shares received long Japanese eggplant and Italian, Regular shares received a nice big Italian eggplant (either the Caliope heirloom or Black Beauty) and some fairytale eggplants, and Mini shares received a couple of long Japanese- my favorite for a Thai curry.
    • Our eggplant tips: First, if they’re super fresh, no need to sweat them. If they’re more than 3 or 4 days post harvest, they can start to get a little bitter, and sweating them removes bitterness. Cut them into the size you want to cook (cubes, slices, whatever) and toss with a little salt. Place in a colander to drain for 30 min-1 hour then pat them dry before cooking them.
    • Our other important tip is to use really high heat. Like roast in a 400+ degree oven, use a grill, or sear in a smokin’ hot cast iron. You want to get a little char on them and just barely cook the insides. This will give you sweet, creamy eggplant, not mushy, chewy, or squeaky eggplant. This crop is great in anything Italian, or in a curry, or as a side dish
  • Cucumbers— Crunchy and tasty, and enough for everyone this week.
  • Zucchini— What a delight to have September zucchini! A little for everyone
  • Summer Squash—A few for all
  • Pattypan Squash— For the Large and Regular shares. Super fun space-ship squash!  They’re great in UFO shaped slices on the grill.
  • Slicing Tomatoes —  We had enough for everyone, again! Some are fairly underripe. just give them lots of time upside down on a kitchen window sill and they’ll be perfectly ripe in no time.
  • San Marzano — These delicious beauties are our heirloom Roma type and are so good. The bugs love them, so we have to pick them pretty early to avoid crop loss. Just allow them to finish ripening on your counter and enjoy in a salsa, pico, pasta, caprese, anything!
  • Cherry Tomatoes — For the large shares this last week
  • Onions— A few for everyone.
  • Bell Peppers— Colorful and crisp, a few for everyone this week, while we hold back to ensure we get some red and yellow color from them this fall.
  • Italian Peppers— Just a few for all.  Find these on Sola Bread Co.’s Red Moon Pizza which they only offer seasonally.
  • Jalapenos— A nice handful for everyone this week. Stuff, pickle, or bacon wrap.
  • Poblanos—For all the shares. We had some amazing poblano cornbread this week!
  • Basil — Remember to treat your basil like fresh cut flowers, rather than a vegetable. Cut the stems and place in water.  If they’re pretty wilted, submerge in a sink-full of cold water for an hour or two to help them perk up.

Veggie Storage tips:

All your eggplant, peppers, squash, zucchini, and cukes will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags. Tomatoes do not want to be stored below 50 degrees or they turn mealy, so keep them at room temp or in the coolest area of your kitchen. Onions prefer a dry, room temperature spot.  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

Regular Share top left to right: Slicing tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, onions and garlic, basil (2nd row) Italian peppers, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash (3rd row) Poblanos, jalapenos, fairytale eggplant, Italian heirloom eggplant, and pattypan squash.

Large

Large Share top left to right: Sungolds and basil at the very top, then San Marzano tomatoes, poblano peppers, onions and garlic, and Japanese eggplant (middle row) Slicing tomatoes, bell peppers, Italian peppers, and Italian eggplant, (bottom row) Jalapenos, cucumbers, mixes squash, zucchini, and pattypan.

Mini

Mini share: By columns, left to right (first column) slicing tomatoes, cucumber, squash, and a zucchini (2nd column) San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, and 2 onions, (3rd column) Poblano and japalenos, (4th column) bell peppers and Italian peppers, and lastly, Japanese eggplant and Basil.