Fennel
Escarole
Southern Green Mustards
Red Radishes or Hakurei Turnips
Mala Cara Storage Tomatoes
Eggplant or Sweet Peppers
Garlic
Dill
Dill is back, which is always exciting for us, when it disappears in June we cannot wait for it to return. This week’s share includes a lot of strong flavors; peppery green mustards, bittersweet escarole, pungent and herbaceous fennel, spicy radishes and turnips, and clean, woody, and slightly sour/sweet dill. At the moment we are wrestling with a ton of insect presence in our crops: moth worms, aphids, harlequin bugs, you name it. The weather in august and continued high humidity can cause a lot of plant stress, plus perfect conditions for fungal and bacterial disease growth. The insects really thrive in weak and stressed plant crops. Interestingly though the insects seem less interested in the strong, bitter, and herbaceous crops, so that means more for you. For those of you that find these strong crops overbearing, it is time to learn to love them. Some cooking hints include using more fatty, acidic, and salty foods for pairing. Mustard greens do great when braised in a heavy umami laden broth and finished with a touch of vinegar and salty hard cheese. Use things like dill and fennel sparingly in a salad or cook them into a dish with a lot of other rich ingredients, more like an aromatic than a main ingredient. This week’s share also includes storage tomatoes, something we learned about while in Spain a few years back in February. The markets were laden with these tomatoes, likely harvested 4 months earlier, and used in sauces or stews but found specifically in romesco and pan de tomate. That’s right these tomatoes can store for a long time, when given good ventilation and even cool temperatures. There is a long tradition in southern Europe of growing tomatoes for winter and spring uses, long before people were using hothouse and hydroponic methods. We recognize you might use these right away and have included some recipes below that are traditional uses for this type of tomato with its thick rind and mild and sweet flavor. If you want to reserve these for later use, set them aside and keep an eye on them, they ripen very slowly. Enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Escarole And White Bean Salad With Fennel And Gruyere Cheese
Potatoes with Fennel and Radish Salad
Peas and Greens With Tomato, Scallions and Dill
Grilled Turnips With Dill Olive Oil