Weekly Share July 22nd – 28th

Heirloom Tomatoes (all purpose, slicers, & salad)
Arugula
Frisee
Beets -1 lb bulk
German White Garlic
Cubanelle Peppers
Salsa Verde box (chiles, tomatillos, onions, and more)

We have really needed the dry weather over this past week and it has allowed us to get lots of work done. I was noticing though how beautiful everything is around the farm even though it is mid-summer and so hot, thanks to the difficult three months of rain. The heat has changed our work pattern a bit, our days are split between super early mornings and long evenings of work, but it is better than working through midday when it is unbearable. Besides all our never ending produce work, animals have begun to take a bigger role over the past week. Two weeks ago we received our day old broad breasted bronze turkeys poults and red ranger chicks, then more chicks this week, and just yesterday our Muscovy mama duck hatched out nine beautiful ducklings. Plus one of our broody hens mysteriously hatched out two baby chicks a few weeks ago without any of us noticing and now we have two mini chickens that seem fully wild.  It is the season for having babies and they are so very lovely, albeit lots of work. Soon many of these little ones will be out on pasture fertilizing our fields and finding lots of good things to eat.

For the share, we continue to give lots of tomatoes while the plants are bountiful. Many of our heirloom tomatoes have started producing more regularly (amana orange, spears Tennessee green, hillbilly flame, carbon, golden king of Siberia, brandywine, and more) so you will get some nice slicers in the share. We have been using the red determinates for cooking and they have been delicious. Although not paste tomatoes, they are great used for a quick fresh pasta sauce, roasted with veggies, or stewed. We hope you enjoy the arugula and frisee (it is hard to grow fresh salad greens right now)  as well as our super delicious cubanelle peppers (use raw or cooked). Please checkout the simple salsa verde recipe below, to accompany your salsa verde box.  Enjoy the share. Brian and Autumn

Salsa De Tomate Verde, Cocida (Cooked Green Tomato Sauce) by Diana Kennedy The Art of Mexican Cooking

This recipe makes about 2 ¼ cups. Sometimes I will use jalapenos instead of serranos, or use a little onion to replace the garlic and if I have a little extra time, I will broil the tomatillos and chiles for 10 minutes instead of simmering in water, for added flavor.

1 pound Tomatillos , rinsed, husks removed
4 Serranos
2 Tbls Rough Chopped Cilantro
1 Garlic Clove
1 ½ Tbls safflower oil
Salt to taste

Put the tomate verde and chiles into a pan, cover with water, and bring to a simmer; continue cooking until the tomate verde is soft but not falling apart – about 10 minutes, depending on size. Remove from the heat. Strain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Put the reserved cooking water into a blender, add the chiles, cilantro and garlic, and blend until almost smooth. Add the tomate verde and blend for 10 seconds, no more, to make a fairly smooth sauce. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the sauce and reduce over high heat until it thickens and seasons – about 8 minutes. Add salt to taste.