What's in the box?
leaf lettuce
sweet onion
green onions
carrots
garlic
squash
cucumbers
arugula
baby kale - medium and large
Cabbage - medium and large
Notes on the box.
Well, last season we had a very light cucumber year and heavy broccoli year. This season seems to have swung the other way. It looks like we are at peak cucumber, though. It may start slowing down a bit, but until then... cucumber salad, quick pickles, cucumbers on sandwiches, sliced cucumbers with a little salt for a snack, cucumbers in drinks.... I've seen quite a few recipes for cooked cucumbers. I've included one below since it's called CUCUMBER ATTACK. I've not tried it yet, but I will this evening. Have you tried cooked cucumber??
The zucchini keeps growing with no signs of slowing so... stir fry, zoodles, zucchini bread and muffins, zuke-canoes...
And another dose of cabbage! Cabbage is a good keeper and this variety of cabbage is particularly good for fresh eating. We use if for slaws, but also slice it very thin and use it as a bed for meats like saucy spicy ribs or chicken. The cabbage will wilt slightly from the heat of the cooked meat and catch some of the yummy sauce.
Remove tops from carrots for best storage. Keep the uncured onions and garlic in the fridge.
Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.
I put Feta in again this week since it goes so nicely with cucumber salads and I know you are swimming in cukes!
There is also Circle of the Sun. This week's batch is particularly tasty. I really love this cheese. We are getting down to the last of the 2016 Circle of the Sun and waiting on the 2017 makes to ripen. I hope you enjoy this one! It's a good melter and great for snacking.
Recipes.
CUCUMBER ATTACK by Joshua Ploeg
4 cups cucumber - peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts (cashews or sunflower seeds would also be good)
1 Tbsp. fresh mint
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed coriander
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup soy yogurt (or regular yogurt)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed
2 medium avocados - peeled, pitted, chopped, and sprinkled with salt and lemon juice
-Heat oil in pan, add seeds, garlic, coriander, and a pinch of salt and cook for a minute or two. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the avocado and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and toss with the avocado in a nice bowl. Adjust seasoning and serve at room temperature.
Marinated Cucumber Salad in Honey-Cider Vinegar from Farmer John's the Real Dirt on Vegetables Cookbook
1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar
2 T water
1-3 tsp honey
1/2 tsp prepared dijon mustard OR 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds OR 1 tsp celery seeds OR 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
4 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
6 thin slices onion
- Mix the vinegar, water, honey, and seasoning in a class mixing bowl. Add the cucumber and onion, toss until well combined
- marinate for at least 30 min at room temp or in the fridge overnight. serve cold or at room temp.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake from WA Post
Cucumbers with Feta, Mint, and Sumac
On the Farm.
There was a recent close call on the farm... The skid loader began smoking while Josh was moving some hay. Not too uncommon to have machinery start smoking, but this time the loader was actually on firel. Once the fire was out and the loader was taken apart, Josh noticed holes were melted in the fuel tank. Could have been seconds away from disaster. We are refilled with gratitude for our health and safety! Now to get the skid loader running again...
New potatoes, tomatoes, and corn are just around the corner! Big dose of broccoli coming up, too. Looking like one of the best melon years we've seen in years growing along. Nice shot of rain Wednesday night. Next week marks half way for the main season. More variety will be coming soon.
The days are long, but not long enough... so i leave you with a couple poems that came to mind whilst knees pressed firmly in the duff.
The Summer Day
Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down- who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
—Mary Oliver
Those Annual Bills
These annual bills! these annual bills!
How many a song their discord trills
Of 'truck' consumed, enjoyed, forgot,
Since I was skinned by last year's lot!
Those joyous beans are passed away;
Those onions blithe, O where are they?
Once loved, lost, mourned-now vexing ILLS
Your shades troop back in annual bills!
And so 'twill be when I'm aground
These yearly duns will still go round,
While other bards, with frantic quills,
Shall damn and damn these annual bills!
-Mark Twain
Forecast for next week.
beans
lettuce
onions
squash/cucumbers
arugula
green bell peppers?
