Sugar Baby or Crimson Watermelon
Tomatoes or Tomatillos
Red Candy Onion
Anaheim Peppers
Romano Beans
Serrano Chilies
Crisp Lettuce
Not sure if everyone is as excited as we are that the weather is finally cooling down a smidge. It has been a difficult 10 weeks; with a lot of very humid and hot days, especially mid-week when we have our most active workloads. We are also antsy to begin planting our fall crops. This week if the weather cooperates, we will get all our large cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and bunching green crops in the ground. We will also seed carrots, beets, and herbs. Next week we will follow up with fennel, turnips, rutabaga, winter radishes, and the first chicory transplants. So fall is in the air for us even though we have 6 more weeks of summer. The past few weeks have been filled with managing greenhouse crops, fending off predatory animals both big and small (harsh summers create very hungry wildlife), and cleaning up/preparing fields for the fall plantings. Our small crew of farm hands has been really productive even though we are all sweating buckets by 10am. It seems to me like one of the hottest feeling summers in our decade here in Virginia. Now as it begins to wain a tiny bit we keep our fingers crossed that our farm will be missed by big destructive storms and that we will get some precipitation but not extremes. This is a big ask but we can hope.
This week’s share finally has more beans. Our first planting was practically a wash and we are happy that the 2nd succession is finally producing. They are delicious braised, blanched, or even eaten raw. A Romano bean is a flat-podded green bean that comes from Italy. They are meaty, with great flavor and texture. We also are happy to have a quick lettuce showing (this succession in the summer is always a crap shoot), although the heads are small and irregular, they are crisp and tender. They are so delicious as a salad with red onion, feta, and tomatoes or put in your classic blt. This week also includes the 2nd watermelon for the season these will likely be much smaller and pair so perfectly with our mild and hot peppers. Check the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Brian and Autumn
Watermelon Salad With Cotija And Serrano Peppers
Salata Horiatiki (Greek Country Salad) –The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 head summer crisp lettuce, cut into ribbons
2 large firm ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, peeled, split in half through its length, and cut into thick slices
1 green pepper, cut into thin rings
1 large mild onion, thinly slices, the rings separated
8 oz feta cheese, cut into small squares or broken into coarse pieces
1 dozen or more black Kalamata olives
For the dressing
A good bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
6 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper
Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Just before serving, mix the dressing, pour over the salad, and toss.