As the harvest season winds down we enjoy the mix of vegetables the fall brings us. We have been eating up the sweet potatoes like candy. We are lucky to be able to enjoy the small ones that are too tiny to put in the shares that roast up as little sweet potato fingers. Looking at our Facebook page, it appears that sweet potato fries are happening in many of our CSA member households. Hopefully we will see the recipe mentioned for sweet potato chips in a future post.

The brassicas are a nice compliment to the roots in the shares. We love to stir fry this time of year—greens, broccoli, gai lan, peppers, hot peppers, turnips, they all bring so much flavor to a meal. Take member Emily Akins advice and try some bok choy soup. Her many efforts and local food experiences landed her on the radio last week talking about how our CSA and local farming in general is one of the steps we can all take to shape a more sustainable future.

And as the frost potential heightens, we look to emptying the fields of the hot peppers. They remain on the bulk list and we suggest getting them while you can. It is so simple to broil them for 15 minutes or so (turning once) and enjoy them whole. The Hungarian hot wax and jalapenos pack some punch while the NuMex are a bit milder. Their flavor is great.

It’s been a nice start to sweet potato season. The orange Beauregard’s are out of the ground and hit the shares last week. This week we hand out the cream-colored O’Henry’s. They are one of the three varieties of organic sweet potato starts that Kansas State grows each year for sale. They are truly delicious baked, mashed or fried. A favorite of mine is white sweet potato soup.

I got a chance to have an elevated view of the home field this week while attaching plastic to the high tunnel peak. We are glad to be able to see a view with cover crops and chickens in it. These areas are getting prepped for the coming year and revived after a tough season.

What an enjoyable time the weather has been the last few weeks. We have been fortunate that the last 70 days have been so much better than the previous. At one point we did not know if we would even have any peppers or eggplant, but things turned around. It was great to see such resiliency in the plants and are further refining the varieties we grow based on what did well.

Another sign that it became a warm summer are sweet potatoes. We have harvested about half of them, and they will be in the shares starting this week. My go-to recipe for these nutritious tubers is as spiced wedges. Sweet potatoes are quite savory if you let them be.

Sage is in prime condition right now, and it is perfectly matched to the sweet potatoes. It is another example of the savory nature they have. Our post from September 2011 talks about this and many other facts about sweet potatoes.

There have been some glorious days over the past week. The weather has included lots of sunshine and fair conditions. Riding the weather through the year has its good days, and they are a real treat to experience.

Last week we enjoyed a wonderful dish I found on my FB feed from Seeds from Italy. It led to a recipe for Italian Flat Beans and Fresh Tomatoes. Beans, tomatoes, garlic, oil and salt are all that you need. We put them over rice we had melted some Goatsbeard cheese into. As good as it sounds.

Most of the braising greens bunches this week have some gai lan in the mix. Remember from our post of May 26 this year that you can chop the whole thing…leaves, buds and stems. We hope to learn more every year about how to grow and harvest this great vegetable. It has a lot of potential.

It seems that the idea we had three years ago to have the harvest dinner at the farm is a hit. A splendid time was had by all, and the food was so delicious. The craft beers were a nice addition too.

The sweet peppers are in full ripeness these days, and they are a treat to pick and wash. The colors are vibrant and the taste is sweet. Do as the farmworkers do, and eat them like a hand fruit.

Another peak performer is the French fingerling potatoes. Their elongated shape makes it  easy to cut into fries or wedges. The simplest of recipes is to then lightly oil them and coat with the herb rub of your choice before baking at 400 deg F for about half an hour. They are a favorite here on the farm.

This morning I captured Momma prowling the grounds near a couple buckwheat patches. These cover crops are a wonderful morning sight, and perhaps the source of a cat’s breakfast.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we wondered if summer would ever come. But once it did, it kept going. Last week’s warm days and nights were a nice boost to the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. The occasional inch of rain has also helped. So the summer vegetables continue on.

It has given us a little peak in our okra production this week. We hope that those of you who enjoy okra as much as we do get a chance to enjoy it this week. We get to cook up the extra long ones that won’t fit into the bags. While larger than you want them ideally, the top 2/3rd of the Red Burgundy are quite tender.

As usual with okra, I recommend the wok-fried recipe from our 2010 Week 15 blog. We cooked up a variation tonight, baking instead of frying, and with a coating of olive oil, paprika, marjoram and salt. Cut the okra into chunks and bake at 425 for 10 minutes, or until tender and browned.

A good sign in the fields (and we have lots of them)

The rain from last Thursday and sunshine of late have made for a beautiful week. Hot weather is forecast for awhile and the peppers and eggplant are happy with the heat wave. The hot peppers especially have been putting on the fruit and maturing with very few blemishes or problems.

While not everyone’s favorite, the fiery ones are used frequently in our kitchen. If you are a jalapeno lover you can make short work of your share item. The NuMex Anaheim-type peppers can be treated like a Hatch chile. Just burn the skin of the pepper until it bubbles and blackens, then put it in a closed container to steam. When cool, peel off the skin.

A variety of hot peppers is a treat to grow

While a bit of a repeat recipe form last week, a combination of our summer vegetables, stewed together with ground beef is quick and delicious. The match of color between the Tropea onions and Dancer eggplant is something that I never quite noticed before, but is yet another thing that makes this a wonderful dish.

The ebb and flow of this year continues, as the peppers start to ripen up, beans are ready for a first picking, and tomatoes start to wane. It is a time of year when the recipe is to simply cook whatever you have together.

I suggest two different recipes for this. The first is a hash of potatoes, beans and onions. It is a good way to use the modest harvest of beans that will be in the shares over the next few weeks. As a side note, it is interesting to read the entire newsletter the recipe is in (July 20, 2007) and see what we were up to.

Sorry, no food picture this week, just a slow-opening sunflower.

Another way to blend the share but cook a different combination is eggplant, onion, garlic and tomato over rice. You can use whatever proportions you like making this dish. Ours had a healthy amount of onion and garlic, but consisted mainly of chopped eggplant and tomato. First sauté the onion, eggplant and garlic for a good 10 minutes and then quickly chop the tomatoes and add them to the hot pot. It helps the sauce thicken up.

In reading an article on how last month was the hottest July on record, I came across this map. You can see that for us in Missouri the first half of 2015 was relatively cool. Guess we should consider ourselves lucky.

August is waning, but it does still feel like summer. Tomatoes continue for now, with the paste varieties starting to peak. We normally reserve these tomatoes for bulk sale to the canners among us. This year they will end up in the share.

We grow a mix of paste tomatoes. Some are bush-type hybrids that we grow in tomato cages. They look like the ones you see in the grocery. The remainder are open-pollinated varieties that come from both purchased and saved seeds. The ruffled paste tomatoes even come in a variety of colors-pink, brown, and red. There are plum-shaped ones called speckled Roman, and a pear-shaped one called a pear tomato.

These tomatoes are best cooked. One trick to keep your sauce thick and to keep the juice from separating out is to always put your cut tomatoes into a hot pot. Work with a small amount at a time and keep the sauce well mixed. These tomatoes are meaty and great in sauce making.

On Friday I leave for a short trip to Indianapolis to be part of a medal presentation for my WWII veteran father Frank “Rocky” Ruggieri. He served in a naval group called “Scout and Raiders”, the pre-cursor to the Navy SEALS. Part of his duty landed him in China as one of 2,500 Americans participating in SACO (the Sino-American Cooperative Organization).

His job was reconnaissance and helping the Chinese government fight the Japanese. This government later fled to Taiwan when the communists took control. The medal our family will receive will be presented by the Taiwanese government. A once in a lifetime opportunity.

My dad on the right, about 24 years old.

This point in August is usually a blur, with a little bit of everything going on; harvesting, planting, weeding, mowing, irrigating, chickening and maintaining. Luckily eating makes the list too.

One crop that is coming on strong right now is the hot peppers. This harvest is timed well with the results of a recent study that concludes spicy food may help you live longer. It’s only a maybe, but if you read the article you will find that hot peppers have plenty of nutritional and  anti-inflammatory benefits, while stimulating the kidneys, lungs and heart.

Our blog from August 3, 2010 has a good description of what your choices might be this week (partials shares  next week). The NuMex, hot wax and jalapenos all have similar medium hotness that doesn’t last too long. Some may find them spicier, but they are more mid-scale hotness peppers.

When you cut them open it is the seeds and inner memberane that have the most heat, so stay clear of them if you don’t want you hands to burn. Half of a jalapeno chopped up provides a nice kick to any dish.