Weekly Share September 23rd – 29th

Okra or Eggplant
Red Slicer Tomatoes
Radishes or Hakurei Turnips
Russian Kale or Mustard Greens
Sweet & Cubanelle Pepper
Crowder Peas
Aji Dulce
Basil

Oh it has been so rainy, making it a little stressful and very difficult to ready beds, plant out vegetable starts and manage the fields of weeds and growing pest problems that come with temperate and weedy conditions. We have had great temperatures for germinating fall carrots, beets, turnips, etc.; but many newly germinated plants are being eaten by cut worms, army worms, and so on making for a less than ideal situation. With dwindling day light lengths, we cannot make up these plantings, but rather have to make the best of it, in order to have our crops mature to size. Growing slows immensely by the first week of October, especially when they are outside. Our tunnel crops have enough protection and warmer nights offering a little more growth than those unprotected crops. On the other hand, outdoor crops develop sweetness and integrity from cool nighttime temperatures, light frosts, wind and rain. In general though we are happy that the rain has not been too heavy at any one time, as this is really damaging to our soil, causing run off and compaction. Little by little we are getting plants into the ground, managing pest populations, handling weedy beds and enjoying the cooler temperatures of course.
This week’s share still has a lot of late Summer love, even though we have officially come into Fall with the Autumnal Equinox this past weekend. We have a few special crops this week. Aji dulce chilies look a lot like habaneros but without the heat, they are sweet, concentrated, and full of delicious tropical notes. They are fabulous raw, sliced thinly on a salad or made into a relish/salsa or cooked, in South America they are often used in a creamy chicken stew. Any which way they bring great flavor to any dish. Crowder peas are a difficult crop for us as the deer and groundhogs love them, a trap crop so to speak, but we have been delighted by our farmer friend in Georgia’s Calico crowder seed and so we dedicate a small space every year. You will get a very small amount of these, basically amounting to a taste, so think about adding them to a larger dish as an accent. You will need to hand shell them, a time-consuming labor of love but since they will be fresh, they will cook quite quickly. Think about adding to a soup, rice dish, tomatoes and okra, or into a grain salad. Check out the recipes and enjoy the share….Autumn & Brian

Tomato & Egg Stir-Fry with Sauteed Mustard Greens

Mustard Greens Saag Paneer
(use some kale, turnip greens, and more mustards to replace the spinach)

Edna Lewi’s Roasted Okra with Field Peas, Tomatoes, & Mint

Eggplant Caponata

Roasted Eggplant and Crispy Kale with Yogurt

Greens Hash With Turnips & Basil

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Weekly Share September 16th – 22nd

Mustard Greens or Russian Kale
Radishes or Hakurei Turnips
Salad Mix or Arugula
Shishito Peppers
Khmer Thai or Jyoti Chilies
Thai Basil
Garlic

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Weekly Share September 9th – 15th

Arugula or Mesclun Salad Mix
Okra
Tomatoes
Mild Peppers
Romano Green Beans
Assorted Eggplant
Yellow Onions

Welcome to the 2024 Fall CSA season. We love the fall as we tend to have the most diversity of the entire season, with some summer crops lingering long and fall crops ramping up. Right now we are still mostly in the Summer crops as late July and early August was very rainy, making it difficult to get into our crop fields for planting. Although much is now planted, the shortening daylight, means we often have to wait awhile for crops to get ready. There will be cut salad greens though as they are quick and looking luscious after the cool temperatures we have had. Each week new crops will jump on board and due to the levels of diversity, many crops will only be in your share once or twice. We were hoping the kale might be ready but it is still a little small, next week it will be ready as will some short growing roots. Planting is still a little behind as we were away this past week and there is still a ton of crops ready to go in the ground, so this week will be busy trying to play catch up. Our large late fall root planting will happen in the next few days along with our first spinach and weekly yu choy seedings. This month is the last of our outdoor field seedings, by October we are planting everything in tunnels for December through March production. This time of year timing is key and we are already a little thrown off, so we will see what that means for the Fall; but we are happy with the health of a lot of the crops so far and look forward to an abundance of greens very soon.
This week highlights late summer with green beans, okra, and eggplant in abundance. The tomatoes, peppers, and onions are great tools for cooking the first three, along with spices and herbs of your choice whether you are looking at doing Indian, Mediterranean, Turkish or Middle Eastern style recipes. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share……Autumn & Brian

Slow Roasted Romano Beans

Burrata with Romano Beans and Roasted Eggplant

Quick Okra, Eggplant, & Turmeric Stew

Kadai Bhindi (Indian style Okra with Bell Peppers)

Okra Stew with Meat

Eggplant in a Spicy Honey SauceThe New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
The sauce is a splendid example of the hot, spicy, and sweet combinations; which are a thrilling feature of North African cooking. Serve it cold with bread.
2 medium-large eggplants
olive oil
salt
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated, or cut into pieces
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
large pinch cayenne or ground chili pepper, to taste
4-6 Tbls honey
juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup water
Cut the eggplants into rounds about 1/3” thick. Do not peel them. Dip them in olive oil, turning them over, and cook on a griddle or under a broiler, turning them over once, until they are lightly browned. They do not need to be soft, as they will cook further in the sauce. In a wide saucepan or skillet, fry the garlic in 2 Tbls of the oil for seconds only, stirring, then take off the heat. Add the ginger, cumin, and cayenne or gorund chili pepper, honey, lemon juice, and water. Put in the eggplant slices and cook over low heat –either in batches, so they are in one layer, or together, rearranging them so that each slice gets some time in the sauce –for about 10 minutes, or until the slices are soft and have absorbed the sauce. Add a little water if necessary.

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Weekly Share August 26th – September 1st

Russet Potatoes
Pozzano Tomatoes
Sweet & Mild Peppers or Okra
Leutschauer Paprika
Genovese Basil
Garlic
Something Extra

This is the last share in our 2024 Spring/Summer season. Thanks so much for joining us on this journey. Overall this has been a difficult growing season thus far; but we are hopeful with the last few weeks mild weather, that our Fall and Winter crops might thrive. Even with all the difficulty of erratic temperatures, drought, mild monsoon, and so on; we have had some very tasty vegetables. The tomatoes have been delicious, eggplant thriving as always, our early spring brassicas were lovely and abundant, with some absolutely fabulous cabbage. Despite losing almost all the potatoes, we were overjoyed with an abundant onion crop. Basil has been going strong, yes you are getting it again. We encourage you to make pesto (without adding the cheese) and freeze it. This is one of the easiest ways to preserve a bit of summer for the cold winter months and you will not regret it, promise. Even better, if you have an extra ice tray, fill it with pesto, freeze, then put the cubes in a large Ziploc, this is an easy way to use small or large amounts without defrosting it all at once.
Even though we yielded 20% what we usually do with potatoes, we are adding them to this share as we close out the season and take our annual break. We hope you savor them as we are, little by little. This share feels very late Summer, with lots of types of peppers, okra, potatoes, and tomatoes. The ripened peppers have been loving the cool nights and are very sweet. Revel in the dog days of Summer, as the cucumbers and squash will soon be gone (the bug pressure is so intense each planting seems shorter every year). When we come back from our break, we will begin to reintroduce cut greens, salad and bunching greens; but slowly and paired with late summer peppers, okra, and tomatoes. Check out these recipes and enjoy the share…..Autumn & Brian

Okra in Tomato Sauce (Bamia B’Zeit)

Aloo Bhindi – Spiced Potatoes & Okra

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto

Lebanese Breakfast Eggs & Tomatoes

Bell Pepper & Basil Tagliatelle

Pepperonata (Potatoes with Peppers & Onion)
(Use your leutschauer paprika to replace cayenne in the recipe)

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Weekly Share August 19th – 25th

Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Sweet & Mild Peppers or Okra
Asian Eggplant
Long Beans
Cucumbers
Hot Chilies
Thai Basil

This past week has been wonderful with cooler temperatures and less humidity. We finally began our Fall planting and the weather is truly cooperating. In a few days the temperatures will swing even lower, allowing us to get our first round of carrots, beets, cilantro, & dill going. The cool weather also allows us to transplant throughout the day and will help the plants adjust to their new home quickly. We will be planting a lot of chicories, lettuces, our first round of bunching greens, and fennel. Busy busy for the next two weeks.
For the first time since we began farming we are taking a full week away from the farm in early September. This is a very busy time for us usually as we are planting all through August and early September and with all the planting comes hoeing, hand weeding, irrigating, feeding, and pest management; but this year we are taking a longer break. So this current weather is helpful and lowering the stress that August always brings; but we still have a tremendous amount of work to pack into the next two week’s so all is thriving while we are away and we have food to bring you for the first Fall share in September.
We are happy to include another watermelon in your share this week. These are very large in size, out of our control; but do not feel overwhelmed, there are many easy uses. When you cut into it, you can keep the cut watermelon for a few weeks in the fridge. Don’t have room for it all, make juice with a blender. You do not have to remove the seeds, just cut off the rind, throw in a blender, then pour through a sieve, to remove seeds and pulp. Add lime and keep for a few days in your fridge. Check out the recipes below and enjoy the share…..Autumn & Brian

Fresh Watermelon Thai Basil Fresca
(We make this without the added sweetener and don’t bother removing the seeds prior to blending, they will be strained out when running the juice through a sieve)

Cucumber, Basil, & Watermelon Salad

Long Bean Salad

Thai Louisiana Basil Vegetable Noodles

Tam Taeng Kwaa (Thai Cucumber Salad)Pok Pok by Andy Ricker

Eggplant & Okra Fish Stir-Fry

Eggplant with Thai Basil
1 lb eggplant, cut into ½-inch slices
4-5 cloves garlic
1-2 medium sized fresh red or green chilies (or sweet bell pepper for the meek)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce or tamari
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp palm sugar or dark brown sugar
1 bunch Thai basil
Slice the eggplant into ½ inch rounds and fry them over medium high in a wide skillet with ¼ inch of canola or other frying oil. When things get going, the eggplant slices will absorb the oil and you will gradually see it penetrate through to the top.  Make sure that they don’t get too brown on the bottom before this happens.  If the eggplant slices absorb all the oil and still don’t look wet, you must add more—but don’t worry, because they will release much of it as they cook.  When they look like they have absorbed enough oil and they start to get nice and brown on the bottom, flip them over and brown them on the other side.  If the pan is dry at this point, don’t add more oil because the slices have absorbed enough to fry themselves.  When they’re done, drain the slices on paper towels
Meanwhile, cut the garlic into slices and the chilies into diagonal rings.  When the eggplant is ready, remove it and add 2 Tbsp of fresh oil to the pan, add the garlic and half the chilies, and stir-fry until the garlic is golden.  Add the soy sauces and sugar, stir for about 30 seconds until the sugar starts to bubble, and return the eggplant to the pan.  Add torn basil leaves, stir and serve, garnished with the rest of the chilies (if you dare!)

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Weekly Share August 12th – 18th

Eggplant
Shishito Peppers
Pozzano Tomatoes
Yellow Romano Beans
Summer Squash
Yellow Onions
Aji Dulce Chile

There are only three weeks left of the Spring/Summer CSA season. We are definitely coming out of mid-summer; the days are becoming a little shorter, this week the nights will be considerably cooler, meaning a little less humidity, and we are inundated with summer crops. With a challenging Spring season and a lot of heat early, we had less spring crops stored away for the summer months and they are long gone. Now we are on a constant rotation of eggplant, tomatoes, an ever-expanding diversity of peppers, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, & beans. The tomatoes and eggplant have been superb so far, with much more to come. The cucumbers have been tasty when the weather is hot and sunny and we are happy to say our 2nd succession of beans with Asian long and yellow romano is doing well with all the rain. Okra is very close, the plants are full of flowers and they will be abundant very soon. In about a month we will have greens and quick roots returning; but for now salads from beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant must suffice.
We are including a few aji dulce peppers in this week’s share. They look like habaneros but have no heat; just a very concentrated tropical, musky, fruity chile flavor. Thinly slice with onion, add some lime and salt and use as a condiment on meat, grilled veggies, or avocado and cucumbers. You can also add when cooking chicken or fish. These peppers are delightful. Check out the recipes and enjoy the share… Autumn and Brian

Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter

Caramelized Onion, Tomato, & Eggplant Pasta

The Last of It: Corn, Zucchini, & Shishito Pepper Hash

Romano Beans with Burrata, Roasted Eggplant, Fresh Basil & Garlic Oil

Romano Bean Salad

Green Beans in Tomato SauceThe New Book of Middle Eastern Cooking by Claudia Roden
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
½ lb green beans, topped and tailed and cut into 2-3 pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
juice of ¼ lemon
Fry the onion in oil till soft and golden. Add the garlic, and when the aroma arises, add the tomatoes and beans. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, add water as necessary to cover the beans, and lemon juice, simmering 15-20 minutes, or until the beans are tender and the sauce reduced a little.

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Weekly Share August 5th – 11th

Sugar Baby Watermelon
Filet or Romano Beans
Sauce Tomatoes
Cucumber
Garlic
Basil
Beets

Watermelon Tomato Salad

Minty Watermelon, Cucumber Salad

Watermelon Gazpacho

Heirloom Tomato, Beet And Burrata Salad With Basil Oil (the basil oil recipe is a great way to use a lot of basil and can store in your fridge for awhile)

Beet, Basil & Watermelon Salad with Honey Crunch Goat Cheese

Summer Beet Salad with Corn, Cucumber and Basil

Spicy Green Bean and Cucumber Salad

Green Beans in Tomato SauceThe New Book of Middle Eastern Cooking by Claudia Roden
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ lb ripe tomatoes, chopped
½ lb green beans, topped and talied and cut into 2-3 pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
juice of ¼ lemon
Fry the onion in oil till soft and golden. Add the garlic, and when the aroma arises, add the tomatoes and beans. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, add water as necessary to cover the beans, and lemon juice, simmering 15-20 minutes, or until the beans are tender and the sauce reduced a little.

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Weekly Share July 29th – August 4th

Tomatillos
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cubanelle or Anaheim Peppers
Italian & Dancer Eggplant
Candy Sweet Onions
Jalapeno & Serrano
Arugula

As we head into August, an extremely busy time on the farm, we are hoping for more settled weather with less heavy unpredictable rains. This is an unlikely reality, especially with the volatile, erratic climate as of late. As soon as the fields dry enough and prep can be finished, we will begin transplanting and seeding for Fall and Winter. We hope for some bouts of cooler weather in the 70’s or low 80’s to aide in good seed germination and to avoid over stressing the plants during transplant shock. All this rain has been very helpful in germinating a few rounds of weed seeds, which we can knock back while they are small and will mitigate a little weed competition once our planting begins. We are excited to begin planting for the fall, getting some greens and quick crops going for early September.
This week’s share includes some tomatillos, sweet onions, a few chilies, and some mild peppers. If you want to make a green salsa remove the husks and put whole on a baking sheet with a jalapeno or serrano, garlic clove and a small onion peeled and halved. Broil till the tomatillos are juicy and have some color, put all ingredients in a blender or food processor, add salt and lime juice and blend till smooth. At this point taste for seasoning. You can also add some avocado for a more creamy sauce. Great on tacos, with chips, or whatever. Enjoy the summer arugula, it is going to be spicy. Check out the recipes and enjoy the share….Autumn & Brian

Shrimp, Corn, & Tomatillo Salad

Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

Pork Chile Verde

Farro Salad with Roasted Eggplant, Cherry Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, & Arugula

Eggplant Sandwiches With Cubanelle Peppers And Baby Arugula

Chicken Cacciatore with Cubanelle Peppers

Caponata from The Kitchen Garden
Lots and lots of olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 head garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chili flakes or fresh hot peppers, to taste
1 pound peppers, cut into large chunks
1 pound eggplant, cut into large chunks
1 or 2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp capers
3 Tbsp chopped Kalamata olives
Few sprigs chopped basil and parsley Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat about 4 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a lid that can go in the oven. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft.  Add the pepper flakes and peppers and sauté over medium heat 5-10 minutes.  Add eggplant and sauté another several minutes. You may want to add more oil to make sure everything is generously anointed.  Add the tomatoes.  Cover the pot and put it in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes.  Everything should be very, very soft.  Season with salt, pepper and the other seasonings.  Adjust sweetness, salt and acidity to taste.  Serve it warm on fresh crusty bread or at room temperature the next day.  Makes a great pasta sauce, too. (The original version contains chunks of celery, too.  If you like celery, you can add it when you add the tomatoes.)

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Weekly Share July 22nd – 28th

Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Shishito Peppers
Carrots or Cabbage
Kkaennip (Perilla)
Thai Basil
Scallions

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Miso

Three Cup Chicken with Shishito Peppers

Vermicelli Noodle Bowls

Cabbage Cucumber Salad with Miso Sesame Dressing

Cucumbers with Scallions and Chili Oil

Japanese Potato Salad with Cucumbers, Carrots, & Red Onion

Pan-Fried Cucumber with Perilla (Tia To)

Dai Mint and Tomato Salad – Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid
The Dai, like the Chinese, prefer their tomatoes a little green, just before their fullest sweet ripeness. Perhaps it’s an aesthetic question: The mix of green and red is more interesting to the eye than the uniform red of ripe tomatoes. Or perhaps it’s beacuase tomatoes enter the regional cuisine as a slightly sour vegetable, rather than with the sweetness and ripeness as their prime characteristic. All of which is to say that you should, as we do, use the tomatoes that please you. This salad is simple to make and delicious. It’s like a half-pounded Mexican salsa, ideal for scooping up with Thai-Lao Crispy rice crackers or sticky rice or pork cracklings.
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
a little minced chile, jalapeno (optional)
1 cup tender mint leaves or Thai basil, coarsely torn
2-3 scallion, trimmed, sliced lengthwise into ribbons and then cut crosswise into 1-inch lengths
5 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 Tbls hot chile oil
Place the garlic and salt in a large mortar and pound together. Or place them in a large bowl and use the back of a flat spoon to mash them against the side of the bowl. Add the fresh chile, the mint, and the scallions and continue to pound or mash to soften and blend. Add the tomatoes and gently pound or mash until broken up a little. Add the chile oil and toss well. Serve the salad mounded in a shallow bowl, with the juices poured over.
Note: If the mint is coarse or rough, finely chop the leaves; or substitute Asian basil leaves.

New Cabbage with ScallionsThe Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
The first time we would cook and serve our newly grown garden cabbage was on a wheat-threshing day. We would cut up many heads and cook them in a large iron pot with liquid from the pork shoulder and a small amount of fat for seasoning. Cabbage cooked that way was a hearty fare, good sustenance for hardworking men. We children usually had the food that was left over from the midday meal that night for supper and thought it was just great. No other food in the world seemed to have quite the good flavor of what was left over from a wheat-threshing dinner.
1 2-pound head new cabbage
1/3 cup tender green scallion tops, cut into ¼” slices
2 cups boiling water, or preferably stock from boiled pork shoulder
3 Tbls freshly rendered fat from bacon or ham
salt and freshly ground pepper
To prepare the cabbage, trim away the outside leaves and cut the head into quarters. Cut away the core, leaving just enough to hold the leaves intact. Place the pieces of cabbage in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes or so to wash out any dust or bugs, particularly if it has come straight out of the garden. Remove, drain in a colander, then place in a 3-quart saucepan and add the scallion tops to give added flavor and color. Pour the boiling water or stock over and toss the cabbage with two spoons to make sure that each piece is scalded. Add the fat so that it coats the cabbage, then turn the burner low so that the cabbage boils briskly but not too rapidly for 25-30 minutes –any longer and the cabbage will become too soft and its taste will change. Drain. Toss the salt to taste and a good grating of freshly ground pepper to heighten the flavor. Serve hot.

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Weekly Share July 15th – 21st

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Summer Squash & Zucchini
Dancer & Italian Eggplant
Slicer Tomatoes
Genovese Basil
Garlic
Something Extra

Lots of moisture on the farm since last week and everything is very green all of a sudden. Even though it feels like a perpetual sauna outside right now with dew points being in the 70’s, we are very thankful for the moisture and occasional cooler days. The moisture not only helps the summer crops out in the fields but it makes the field prep for Fall plantings over the next month much more effective. Our greenhouse is getting crowded. We have started our first round of bunching greens and radicchio, the celery and parsley are close to being potted up, and cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are looking strong. With the cooler temperatures last Friday, we went ahead and seeded some arugula on Thursday in a high tunnel with a shade cloth. This mid-summer planting is always a crap shoot; but hopefully it will germinate well and grow quickly giving the shares a little greens treat in early August. For now, we are getting into the Summer crops, with an abundance of eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, and basil on the farm. Below we have included many recipes with some versatility of these crops. Enjoy the share….Autumn & Brian

Layered Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Casserole

Blistered Shishito Peppers & Cherry Tomatoes

Sungold Tomato & Zucchini Pasta

Sungold Tomatoes & Crispy Garlic Butter

Lebanese Baba Ghanoush

Alice Waters’ Ratatouille

Zaalouk (Spicy Eggplant Salad) The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
1 ½ lb eggplant, peeled and cubed
5 cloves garlic, peeled
salt
3 large tomatoes (about 1 ½ lbs)
4 Tbls argan oil or mild extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbls wine vinegar
½ tsp harissa or a mixture paprika &ground chili pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Boil the eggplants with the garlic in plenty of salted water, in a pan covered with a lid, for about 30 minutes or until they are very soft. Drain and chop the eggplants and garlic in a colander, then mash them with a fork, pressing all the water out.
Put the tomatoes in the emptied pan and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until reduced to a thick sauce, stirring occasionally. Mix with the mashed eggplants and the rest of the ingredients and add salt.
Variation: Add the juice of 1 lemon (instead of the vinegar) and 1 tsp ground caraway or coriander.

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