Farm Happenings for August 2, 2023

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Farm life is so very seasonal! And July is the month of heat, our biggest harvests, and the most delicious variety of food from our farm. As we've mentioned here, we've also had a number of staff out for vacation, and I, Janet, injured my hand quite badly during a mountain bike ride gone awry. I had surgery Friday to repair the damage and I'm doing well, though I have very limited use of my left hand and arm. During this time of high harvest, staff vacation, and limited physical ability by one of our owners we've brought in our children and a number of willing friends to help out. 

Here's what our littlest looks like at our harvest-intake station. They learn at a young age how to weigh and record every harvest. Note the walkie talkie. That's what shows you're really a part of our crew. 

Our Tomatoes are rolling and delicious! We have BULK SPECIALS on our Tomatoes this week. Swap out all your vegetables for a load of tomatoes or add ten or twenty pounds of Tomatoes to your order. 

The Orange Heirloom varieties, picture below, are especially delicious. While managing my injury and trying to facilitate healing, I've reminded myself that tomatoes are especially anti-inflammatory. A plate of heirloom tomato slices sprinkled with sea salt is a fantastic part of a meal or snack. 

If you’re in the mood (and you should be) for a Beet Smoothie, choose Beets this week! The image below was made with the recipe in that link using red beets. We also improvised a beet smoothie this weekend using one large gold beet, frozen strawberries and bananas, ginger, and milk. It was also delicious!

Compounds in Beets relax/dilate your blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and improving athletic performance (and/or recovery) by increasing blood flow (thus oxygen and glycogen) to your muscles. Win-win. There are also many other recipe options online or in good, old-fashioned, modern nutrition cookbooks 

We've started getting potatoes out of the ground and will have them as an option in next week's shares. We grew white potatoes and purple potatoes this season. 

Meanwhile, our lettuce is still holding strong for now in the fields. We're very happy to have lettuce heads and Lettuce Mix to harvest for you tomorrow!

Suggestions for crops we're harvesting now include...

BEETS - Above mentioned Beet Smoothie. Or steam them then chill them and put on top of salads galore. Or roast them and serve them alongside evvvvverything. 

GOLDEN ZUCCHINI - These babies are so tasty and beautiful. Stuff with protein and cheese and herbs, or slice lengthwise and grill or roast with olive oil and sea salt...They taste almost like candy. You can also make a raw salad with the zucchini sliced in ribbons. (That recipe calls for green zucchini, but our golden variety is more delicious and more gorgeous. It also calls for Pine Nuts but we always sub nuts that fit better into our household budget!)   See our whole collection of Summer Squash & Zucchini recipes on Pinterest here. 

SWEET BULLHORN PEPPERS - The heroes of the second half of July and all of August are these Italian Bullhorn peppers. They are like bell peppers, but better! They grow better than bell peppers in organic conditions, and they taste better, too! Eat them raw, roast them, stuff them... the second photo below comes to us from Fine Creek Brewing. We're just starting to harvest these peppers this week, but we hope for abundant harvests from them soon. See our collection of Pepper recipes here. 

EGGPLANTS - remember these beauties are best thought of as sponges. They soak up deliciousness that you put on them. We love them doused with olive oil, roasted, and sprinkled with sea salt. Roast at 400 F until their edges are a little crispy!  See Eggplant recipe collection here. 

SHISHITO PEPPERS - These are frying peppers. Saute them WHOLE (stems and everything!) in the oil of your choice until they blister, then sprinkle with sea salt. To eat: pick up a pepper by the stem, bite the pepper up to the stem and enjoy their amazing flavor. So, so good. 

LUNCHBOX PEPPERS - These are snack size sweet peppers. We prefer to eat them raw, on their own, as a snack. But you can slice them on salads or stuff with cheese and roast.