Week 7; August 15, 2013
What's in the box?
Sweet corn!
red cabbage
broccoli and/or cauliflower
cucumber
hot peppers (yellow hot wax and jalapeno)
the first of the tomatoes, finally!
cilantro
sweet onions
bell peppers
zucchini and summer squash
carrots
eggplant
new potatoes
*cherry tomatoes have begun to make the rounds some shares will get them this week and more in the following weeks until frost*
(sorry no photos of the Single share this week. Everything is the same as full, in lesser quantities, but no onions or cauliflower)
Notes on the box...
This is a colorful one!
Eggplant, cukes and zukes, peppers, sweet onions, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and sweet corn should all be stored in your fridge. The crisper is the best place with the highest humidity.
Tomatoes have begun to ripen, finally! We will be putting them in the boxes in as great a quantity as we can for as long as we can. We know they are a favorite of everyone, but it looks like this season will sadly be a short one for tomatoes. I guess we can all keep our fingers crossed for a late frost! DO NOT keep your tomatoes in the fridge! They will get mealy. Store them on your counter with the stem end down (on their shoulders). We try to pack a variety of ripeness so you have some tomato to enjoy now and some later.
The sugars in Sweet Corn begin to turn to starch as soon as the corn is picked. This means that you will have tastier corn the sooner you eat it. We prefer to eat sweet corn simply for the first couple of days after picking. Just bring some water to a boil, husk the corn and remove the silk, then drop the ears into boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove from the water and serve right away with butter and salt. If you plan on making corn fritters, corn bread, or adding the corn to soup, you can use the corn that you’ve had waiting in the fridge. Sweet corn stores best in the husk in the crisper of your fridge. We should have several more weeks of wonderful sweet corn. YAY!
The skin of new potatoes is very thin and tender as they are “uncured” They are best stored out of your fridge. We like them best very simply roasted or in a potato salad with a really light dressing.
More carrots are coming next week. The quantity this week is not what we had expected and they aren't all perfectly straight, but they are all perfectly tasty!
Eggplant keeps truckin along! We hope you are enjoying it. The Italian varieties are starting to be ready along with the Asian eggplant. Both are great roasted or sautéed. The Asian eggplant is the best for stir-fry!
Recipes...
[yumprint-recipe id='11'][yumprint-recipe id='12'][yumprint-recipe id='13'] Mexican Chopped Salad -recipe calls for romaine lettuce, but I think finely chopped cabbage would work well, too.
On the farm...
What a week! We are pleased that we are experiencing the warmer end of perfect weather! We can enjoy the lovely working conditions, but we know the Summer crops are ripening and growing again. The best of both worlds. We thought for sure we would have green beans this week, but looks like we will have to wait a little longer....
Josh's cousin Daniel had to catch his flight and get back to school. He was such a great help and being one person less at this point in the season was really felt by the rest of the crew. We were packing boxes until late-thirty this evening! We will miss Daniel's humor and all that he contributed this season. Can you believe that even though he lives in California he said that the vegetables here were the best he had ever tasted?! He loaded some good Wisconsin produce into his suit case before he left. Not often that our Wisconsin vegetables get exported to California! We hope Daniel will come see us again soon! Happy Birthday Daniel!!
Don't forget that the Harvest Party will be on September 14th here at the farm! There will be music played by our wonderful farm crew! There will be cute baby cows to look at! There will be yummy food! We look forward to meeting you or seeing you again!