Remember to collect Tomatoes in paper bags with your name on it! - (We don't put them in cold storage with the other vegetables that we keep in our walk in cooler for the night before your pick up day.) They are in a crate right beside the green boxes/cold vegetables. (Same for breads, flowers, and a cooler for fermented vegetables, and eggs...)
Every season is different, and moments within a season are different. Right now we are experiencing a moment of intense crop loss of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, and Head Lettuce. Whew! Aphids, squash bugs, and groundhogs are the culprits. (The photo above shows heads of our favorite head Lettuce that the ground hog hasn't eaten yet...it's apparently his favorite lettuce as well, as he has targeted eating that variety!) We still have some of each of these crops, just not the abundance that we planned and hoped for. This is why we are a diversified farm! Thank you for your flexibility as we have lesser amounts of these vegetables while troubleshooting like crazy to figure out how to fix these problems.
Summertime meals for our family very often are a combination of three of our favorite things:
- GRILLED vegetables (whatever we have...scallions, summer squash, eggplant, non-spicy jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese...)
- SAUCE: Pesto/chimichurri with whatever herbs we have an abundance of (food-process with olive oil, garlic, and salt)
- SALAD with our succulent lettuce plus whatever toppings (tomatoes, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast...)
- Add to it some protein and carbs
THIS IS SUMMER to us! It's so delicious and makes all our hard work feel worth it. Enjoy this seasonal eating!
There are some very delicious and sumptuous herbal options for you in the "Extras" section today! Our family is really, really loving the tea blends, the herbal mixes to use to make fudge, and the divine body oils. Our friend Katherine at Gathered Threads has prepared the following Herb kits for you that you can purchase as a one-time, a la carte option:
:: Tea & Wellness Box: Mint Blend (for tea or to make simple syrup), Winding Down tea, 2nd Chakra Tea, Milky Oat Tops (for tea or as infusion to use as liquid when making rice, etc.), White Chocolate Vegan Fudge Kit (herbs to combine with cocoa butter, cashews, and sweetener to make your own fudge).
:: Herbs for the Kitchen Box: Asian Salad Dressing (herbs provided - you combine with oil and vinegar), Lemon Basil Mojito (you add the rum!), Cornbread Seasoning, Rose Sugar, Salt-Free Seasoning
:: Herbs for the Body & Soul Box: Moisturizing Rose Body Oil, Calendula Oil Kit, Sunburn Soak - Herbal Bath Salts, Rosemary Hydrosol, 3rd Chakra Tea
---> An informational sheet is included in each box to provide you with details and instructions. Adding herbal diversity to your life is so enriching!
The delicious fermented vegetable options listed here are also from Katherine at Gathered Threads. We've been making our own fermented/cultured vegetables for years, and hers are the most delicious we've ever tasted! Give them a try. Your taste buds and your gut flora will thank you.
A note about Eggs - We offer them to you when our egg farmer friends (Steve Ault and/or Robert Hutchins) have enough available for us to list them here. It is often unpredictable and erratic, but Steve Ault is increasing his number of hens (he has plenty of pasture room!) in order to make more available soon.
Enjoy your options this week as summer really begins!
Blessings on your meals ~
