Can't beet it!! Aspen Moon Farm beets are so delicious, CSA members report that their families squabble over them at dinner. Colorado soil grows great beets, that's why sugar beets have been a large crop in this area for over 100 years. And they are so good for you! Beets are a blood strengthener, they are an anti inflammatory food, they detoxify the liver, and they are loaded with antioxidants. Chocolate beet cake anyone? Here are some more good ideas for beets.... Eat them raw sliced thin with the potato peeler on top of salad or shredded raw onto tacos or in quinoa salad (peel them first). Roast them to bring out the sweetest flavor- coat whole or halved beets with olive oil and roast in the oven at about 400 for 20-40 minutes until they are soft when pricked with a fork; you can leave the skins on and they will easily slide off with your fingers after they are roasted; sprinkle roasted beets with balsamic vinegar, goat chevre, and chopped fresh basil- YUM! You can grill them with a similar sweet result. My new favorite recipe is quite simple: shred raw beets and fresh ginger with the cheese grater, add lemon or lime juice, a sprinkle of salt, and maybe a small amount of finely chopped onion; enjoy as a side dish to every meal; stores nicely for a week or so in a jar in the fridge. Boiled beets are easy and yummy too, then you can drink the sweet juice produced from boiling; store boiled beets in the fridge for a week and add to every salad. Beet hummus makes a great snack. Beet Kvass is a traditional fermented drink that is easy to make at home and quite tasty, while packing an incredible nutritional punch. You may have had a cocktail made with it at one of our favorite Boulder restaurants- Shine. Red, Gold or Chioggia (aka "candy-striped")
Please view last week's Farm Happening for great info on eggplant. We are so excited to report that tomatoes are really starting to roll in and we are putting as many as possible in CSA shares. We always prioritize you our CSA members first! Since we do have to predict (ie guess) the harvest days ahead we still sometimes have some for sale at the farm stand and Boulder Farmers market. I can't believe I am writing this, but our field crop of tomatoes is one of the best outdoor tomato crops we have had in years! We really nursed them back to health after that hail storm in June. The wonders of Nature!! At this point, it is the cucumber crop that is struggling with heavy damage by cucumber beetle. We are doing our best with that, but they are a bit ugly on the skin- still taste great though. Sometimes that is how it is in Organic production.
We just did a beautiful Sunrise biodynamic spray of silica on the Farm this week. The silica spray is a wonderful offering to the ecosystem here and helps promote good photosynthesis and balancing of micronutrients in the plants.
Coming soon... Peppers! Sweet and spicy ones!
