We have another hot week in the forecast (it is July after all!). If you are picking in the CSA PYO fields this week, be sure to wear sun protection and bring a water bottle with you! We have seating in the shade in front of the farm stand, so feel free to rest there if you need. Our field crew will also be taking precautions, which includes saving “lighter” duty tasks like tractor work, bin washing and hand weeding for the hotter afternoon hours. We’ll also likely be taking some popsicle breaks to stay cool!
This time of year we spend a lot of time tending to both our favorite summertime crops, as well as many of our fall crops. We’re working on fencing off our watermelon (to protect the melons from coyotes and crows), trellising our tomatoes, irrigating our summer squash and zucchini, and weeding our peppers. We’re also weeding and thinning fall carrots and beets, transplanting our last fall broccoli succession, and cultivating our winter squash and fall brassicas (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale and broccoli). All in all, we’re feeling pretty good about what’s coming up on the farm for the rest of the season. In the near future our summer crops are looking healthy and promising, and in the slightly further distant future, our fall crops are off to a great start!
This week in the CSA:
Potatoes - this week we’re harvesting Dark Red Norlands, a delicious potato with red skin and white flesh. Great for potato salads ( see recipe below) or for roasting!
Fresh Onions - both Ailsa Craig (white) and Red Long of Tropea (red). These are fresh onions and have a milder and sweeter flavor than cured onions. They should be stored in the refrigerator.
Mustard Greens - these spicy greens are great cooked or you can add a little bit raw to your salad if you like an extra kick!
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Beets
Carrots
Celery
Mini Cabbage - Green, purple and Caraflex (cone shaped!) to choose from.
Kale
Swiss chard
Arugula or Red Russian Kale
Salanova
Lettuce
CSA Pick-your-own:
Sunflowers!
Green Beans - we enjoyed the first of the green beans at the end of last week, and they should continue producing again for this week!
Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, dill flowers, thai basil, chives, peppermint
CSA Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 11am-6pm
Saturday 9am-3pm
PYO Flowers
We’ll continue to have snapdragons, bachelor’s buttons, calendula, orlaya, gomphrena, cosmos, strawflower, statice, rudbeckia and more this week. Expect more varieties like zinnias soon! Picking is open to PYO Flower CSA members as well as to the public for purchase by the bouquet (we provide the a jar for measuring your bouquet size and you fill it with the flowers you’d like to take home!).
This week in the farm stand:
We will have all of the veggies listed in the CSA available in the farm store, as well as our own blueberries, peppers, eggplant, scallions and flower bouquets, as well as eggs from Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds.
Elena’s Potato Salad
from our good friend Elena Colman of Small Farm in Stow!
Ingredients
1 quart potatoes
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
about 1/4 cup olive oil (or in Elena’s words “a few glugs”)
1 tbsp spicy mustard
about 1/4 lb salanova
2-3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 head celery, stalks chopped
parsley, chopped
dill, chopped
Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork in them and drain. Mix the water, vinegar, salt and pepper and pour over the potatoes while still hot. Next add oil and mustard to the potatoes. Put in the refrigerator for an hour or more. When it is closer to time to serve, add the salanova, hard boiled eggs, chopped celery stalks, parsley and dill.
Cucumber Lime Popsicles
from everydaymadefresh.com
Ingredients:
1 lb cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 lime, zest and the juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
Instructions:
Mix together all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until nothing but juice remains. Pour into popsicle molds, and freeze for 6 hours, or until solid. Overnight is best.