Parsley
Tomatoes
Sangre Potatoes
Summer Squash
Cubanelle, Seyrek, & Sweet Peppers
Sugar Baby or Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Yellow Onions
Something Extra
Here we are in another bit of a humid heat wave and getting ready to begin our large fall crop transplanting; which includes all our cabbages, cauliflower, fiorietto, broccoli, radicchio, fennel, and the first round of bunching greens. As soon as the temperatures are about to dip back into the 80’s, we will direct seed our first round of rutabaga, winter radishes, turnips, carrots, rabe, mustards, and beets. Our greenhouse is bursting and within three weeks will be ¾ empty. Lots to do in August, in order to have food from October all the way to February. Some of the quicker crops for September have also begun. We have salad greens coming along for early September, as well as radishes and cilantro & dill. It is difficult to get steady growth with this level of heat; but it helps to have these summer sown crops growing in a tunnel with a shade cloth, this mellows the heat and lets us control how much water they get. Along with this hot humid weather comes daily storms and the amount of water we get is so unpredictable, often nothing and sometimes way too much. This is part of the reason we wait until nearly mid-August to do most of our fall seeding and transplanting, as historically the weather mellows a little. As we prepare our fields, we are adding fertilizer and other amendments. Torrential downpours on newly shaped beds, can wash out a lot of these nutrients, while also drowning our plant babies in our heavy clay soil. All this means sometimes our mainstay fall crops come on a little late; but we have found they are healthier and more robust if we do not rush them.
This week’s share includes a watermelon, we love watermelon. This year we are growing a lot less watermelon than in the past, it is a heavy crop and we have been making cutbacks to lighten our unmanageable work load, and super heavy crops add a lot of work for us. We also changed our growing method with the watermelon, instead of using landscape fabric (very labor intensive to put on and take off), Brian has been trailing mowing cover crop in the spring, making a furrow and then planting into it. This is a much less labor-intensive system and utilizes the cover crop as a mulch. A great system; but the weeds got out of control this time and now a groundhog has been stalking the area. Anyhow we have watermelon; but only one per share this year and they are small. We hope they will be delicious. Make some watermelon, lime juice or a great tomato-watermelon salad or just eat it plain. Check out the recipes and enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian
Chez Panisse’s Potatoes and Onions Roasted with Vinegar and Thyme
Fasolakia: Mediterranean Green Beans & Tomatoes
Peppers Stuffed with Rice, Zucchini, & Herbs
Mashed Zucchini Salad (Ajlouke Qura’a)– The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
In this Tunisian salad the blandness of zucchini is lifted by the very rich flavoring.
1 lb zucchini
Juice of ½ a lemon or more
3 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp harissa (or a little chile flake)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp caraway seeds
Trim the ends of the zucchini and cut into large pieces. Boil in water for 10-15 minutes, until very soft. Drain then chop and mash in the colander to get rid of excess water. Beat the rest of the ingredients together and mix into the zucchini. Serve Cold.