It's hard to believe we are halfway through the Main Season CSA! There are signs of a turning point; the summer harvest is in full swing with many crops like summer squash and zucchini being picked every day to keep up with their growth and we have finished up most of our planting for fall so the only boxes left unchecked on our field schedule are the last of the spinach, greens and lettuce plantings! The big greenhouse is emptying out just in time for us to bring in our onion harvest for curing. While the onions we are currently enjoying in the farm store and CSA are fresh onions that must be kept in the fridge and used within a week or two, the storage onions we will be harvesting will be kept in the greenhouse with a shade cloth on it to dry out the skin, preserving them for fall and winter storage without the need for refrigeration. Our least favorite sign of a changing season is the departure of summer staff that begins at the end of this week with Molly leaving to head back to college in Pennsylvania. It has been fantastic to have her back for her second season at the farm!

This week in the CSA:

Watermelon! The variety we are picking now is called Starlight. We pick them ripe so they are ready to eat.
Red Ace Beets - The greens are very nice on this planting so cut off and store separately for later cooking with some olive oil and garlic.
Heirloom tomatoes
Slicing tomatoes
Eggplant
Potatoes - Transitional.
Fresh onions - Transitional.
Summer squash - Transitional.
Zucchini - Transitional.
Cucumbers - Transitional.
Peppers - green and purple.
Carrots
Lettuce
Arugula or Red Russian Kale
Swiss chard

CSA Pick-your-own:

Husk Cherries - These sweet fruit are hard to describe but worth a taste! They are ripe when the husk is brown and has fallen to the ground so to pick look under the plants.
Cherry tomatoes - All varieties are ready now, including Sungold (orange - a farm favorite, incredibly flavorful), Cherry Bomb (red), Jasper (red), Yellow Mini (yellow and pink striped), Sunpeach (pink), Mountain Magic (red cocktail size), and Grape (red), and Lucky Tiger (green with pink stripes).
Edamame
Dragon's Tongue Beans (pale yellow flat pods with purple speckles).
Basil
Tomatillos - We grow a purple variety that is great for salsa!

In the farm store:

We will have most of the veggies listed in the CSA available. We'll also still have corn from Verrill, honey from Double B honey (produced by bees right here on the property!), and eggs from Pete and Jen.

PYO Flowers:

You don't have to be a Flower CSA member to pick - just talk to a shopkeeper about purchasing a bouquet a la carte. Flowers in bloom right now include zinnias, snapdragons bachelors button, celosia, statice, scabiosa, verbena, cosmos, strawflower, craspedia, gomphrena, ammi and more.

Surprise Tatin

From “Plenty,” by Yotam Ottolenghi

printed on the Denver Post

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 pound new potatoes (skins on)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
3 oregano sprigs
5 ounces aged goat cheese, sliced
1 puff pastry sheet, rolled thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Halve the tomatoes and place them skin-side down on a baking sheet. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven to dry for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook potatoes in boiling salted water for 25 minutes. Drain and let cool. Trim off a bit of the top and bottom of each potato, then cut into 1-inch-thick discs.

Saute the onion with the oil and some salt for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Once you’ve prepared all the vegetables, brush a 9-inch cake pan with oil and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. In a small pan cook the sugar and butter over high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, to get a semi-dark caramel. Pour the caramel carefully into the cake pan and tilt it to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom. Pick the oregano leaves, tear and scatter onto the caramel.

Lay the potato slices close together, cut-side down, on the bottom of the pan. Gently press onion and tomatoes into the gaps and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread the slices of goat cheese evenly over the potatoes. Cut a puff pastry disc that is 1-inch larger in diameter than the pan. Lay the pastry lid over the tart filling and gently tuck the edges down around the potatoes inside the pan. (At this stage you can chill the tart for up to 24 hours.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the tart for 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 and continue baking for 15 minutes, or until pastry is thoroughly cooked. Remove from oven and let settle for 2 minutes only. Hold an inverted plate firmly on top of the pan and carefully but briskly turn them over together, then lift off the pan. Serve hot or warm.