TOMATOES (F/P) Five inches of rain bursts a ripe tomato like a balloon, so good “share-worthy” tomatoes are in short supply this week. Not that we are complaining, the rain was most welcome.
RATTLESNAKE BEANS (F/P) The snakes are coming on well now. A big THANK YOU goes to the Saturday crew which picked in the rain and mud with us – we couldn’t have done it without you all!
PINK BEAUTY RADISHES (F/P) The first fresh roots of the fall. I like their light mustardy kick, but if you aren’t so enchanted give them a quick fry to mellow their heat.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH (F/P) The last of the cucurbitae family for the year, unfortunately. Their early demise we think is due to a combination of record heat, record drought and the bugs who didn’t seem to mind either. Thankfully, the drought appears to be over. See Tom’s post for a great curried butternut squash soup recipe.
EGGPLANT, OKRA OR SWEET PEPPERS (F) These three summer fruits will escort us into the fall season and stay with us until first frost.
ARUGULA (F) the plants were beaten up a bit by the strong wind and rain last night, but they are still very nice for a fresh salad. A common (and tasty!) arugula salad is with a red wine vinaigrette, roasted beets and walnuts. Yum! Add a bit of goat cheese and wow! Partial shares get a choice of arugula with their herb choice.
KALE OR COLLARDS (P) The greens are so juicy right now with all of the rain which is just what is needed after a hot, sweaty day in the fields.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Parsley, basil or a dried herb.
GARLIC (F/P) Honestly, with every thing else going on this week we haven’t looked at it lately. Tomorrow we will clean and grade it and we think we should have garlic for all.
ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms CSA shares
NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant, radishes and greens. Lettuce returns! More onions.
FARM REPORT:
It is wrong to appreciate a hurricane that caused the suffering of our neighbors to the south, but we were very happy to receive Isaac’s leftovers. Our rain gauge tops out at 5 inches, so we are guessing we got a bit over that in the last four days. Besides the cracked tomatoes and a few broken arugula leaves we seem to have survived the deluge in good shape. The rain cannot undo all of the damage from a summer of drought and extreme temperatures, but we can already see results in the field. Our young green plants for fall are growing fast and well. The summer fruits have a new batch of flowers and all of the cover crop seeds that wouldn’t sprout without rain all summer are sprouting now.
The farm crew continues on the high tunnel project. Both side walls with their drop curtains are up and finished. The last step for the curtain is to run a rope in zig-zag fashion down the length. Tom caught farm apprentices, Dani Hurst and Ryan Stubby, making shadow puppets as they secured the rope.