What’s in the box?

zucchini
summer squash
celery
cucumbers
cauliflower
broccoli
green beans
green top beets
carrots
bell peppers
dill
sweet onions

Notes on the box.

Store it all the the fridge! Did you know you can save things like celery leaves and tops/skins of onions and ends of carrots to make flavorful soup stock? Toss them all in a freezer bag and when you have a nice amount of them, you can make a simple veggie stock or add them to bones when making broth!

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Circle of the Sun is named after a song that we sang the first time we brought Otto to quaker meeting when he was a baby. We passed him around the circle while singing the song to welcome him. It’s a favorite memory of mine and also my favorite cheese to make and eat! Otto likes it, too!
I sent the feta as a block this time in case you wanted to cube it or crumble it yourself or keep it longer in a brine. Or try making some marinated feta. It’s got a relatively short shelf life when it’s out of the brine (a couple of weeks). To make a brine, 2 cups of water with 2 tsp salt and store the feta in the brine, making sure it’s completely covered.
Marinated Feta
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbs chopped fresh herbs (mix and match with rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano,marjoram, dill, or your favorites)
1 tsp black peppercorns
Zest and juice of one lemon
Pinch of red pepper flakes (approx 1/8 tsp)
feta cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the oil, herbs, peppercorns, lemon zest and juice, and red pepper flakes.
Layer the feta cubes and herbed oil into 2 half pint jars, making sure the feta is fully submerged. Marinate at room temperature for 3-4 hours (6-8 hours is even better!)
Refrigerate any unused portion after one day.
(The oil may congeal in the cold, but it will not affect the flavor; simply bring the marinated feta to room temperature before serving.)

Recipes.

Cucumber and Celery Salad with Apricots and Pistachios

Six Seasons cookbook by Joshua McFadden and Martha Hoimberg is a favorite for unexpected flavors. Sometimes there’s ingredients that we don’t have, but we are pretty good at winging it and the recipes are great even if we have to sub things or leave them out.

Raw "couscous" Cauliflower with Almonds, Dried Cherries, and Sumac from Six Seasons Cookbook

Cauliflower Ragu from Six Seasons Cookbook

On the Farm .

We had such a lovely time at Farmers Union Family Camp. Feeling renewed and refreshed and so grateful to our crew for letting us have our overnight adventure during the summer! We have harvested the garlic and it looks great! We also have our friend Loyal visiting and he brought his soil science skills and his super microscope, so we have been having a nice time looking at the amazing cities of bacteria in our soil and checking out the beautiful wiggly dances that they do. We read a lot about soil bacteria and use growing practices that promote and encourage a healthy ecosystem in the soil, so it’s really exciting to see it all!
We are on the cusp of some Summer favorite veggies rolling in. The first of the tomatoes will likely make their way into boxes next week. And sweet corn should be coming next week or the week after. Yay!!