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CSA Produce Subscription Distribution-- Week 30


This post expired on July 24, 2023.

Your box for Week 30!

Farm Where Life is Good

Produce Subscription (Week 30)

An absolutely perfect harvest day! I actually went bug-shirtless. Shh, don’t tell them. Sun, breeze, perfect temperature. Couldn’t ask for more (well, 20 more bodies picking beans maybe).

Many new items in the boxes this week, and the boxes are tipping the scale at 16.5 lbs, so use caution when hauling. I don’t want to hear about filet beans and carrots and cherry tomatoes rolling down the hill (I do believe I would cry harder than you!)

Colors of the rainbow headline this week, with orange carrots and purple peppers and red cherry tomatoes, along with the rest of the gang in your boxes this week:

Snack pack, peas and cherry tomatoes The last of the peas and the first of the cherry tomatoes, packed up for a quick snack.
Cucumber We might be seeing stabilizing of the cucumber trouble in the high-tunnel; cross your fingers.

Zucchini They’re heeeeeerrrre.
Zephyr squash Rog’s favorite— sauté with sweet onion and Tofurky Italian sausage. Incredible.
Beans, wax filet-type You get gourmet, hoytee toytee mini-beans right in your very own box. Don’t overcook them now.
Beans, green The old standby, but better! Cuz they are lovingly picked for you (grumble grumble) by your farmers.
Cabbage, caraflex Love the new shape addition. Cut into quarters, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt/pepper, these grill up nicely on the BBQ.

Carrot Love the new color addition.
New potatoes Rog just asked if he could lick the plate after eating his new potatoes!

Napa cabbage FYI— we purposefully leave the extra non-pretty leaves on these and other leafy heads so they can act as protection during packing and transport. Maximizes your produce volume and minimizes bagging.

Sweet peppers These purple “islanders” are amazing in their earliness and their fun color.

Mini- onion More little purplettes to season your fresh and cooked eats.
Garlic Note— this is “green” garlic, i.e. not cured, so eat it this week or set it in a warm spot out of the sun to cure 2wks. Then it will keep.
Basil DO NOT refrigerate your basils. They will get black spots of cold damage. Trim and place in a nice glass of water on your countertop and enjoy the aromas.

Basil, lemon You can tell this from the photo— use your nose. Incredible aroma.

Recipes for your consideration

Just have to share our fresh meal tonight. Having missed potatoes and beans and sweet peppers for awhile, we brought them all to the plate.

Sautéed sweet peppers and mini-onions in olive oil. Added crushed/minced garlic cloves after turning off the heat. Covered and let sit.

Boiled new potatoes and green beans.

Served the new potatoes topped with sautéed vegetables next to a huge pile of green beans with a light dusting of sea salt.

It wasn’t much, but oh my, was it something!


Zucchini and Summer Squash Noodles
A simple little treatment of the various squashes.
1 zucchini or squash per person
Sea salt and ground pepper
Olive oil
With a vegetable peeler, carefully “peel” long strips of squash. Work your way around the squash so you end up with a small round core, instead of ½ a squash too flimsy to hold. (Toss the chopped core into your next pasta sauce, fresh salad or smoothie.)
Mound the “noodles” on a cookie sheet and sprinkle w/ salt and pepper; drizzle olive oil over “noodles” and pan. Now comes the fun part! Massage and toss and swirl the “noodles” to coat them with oil and seasoning. Then distribute them relatively evenly over the pan, such that they are in somewhat of a 1-2 layer arrangement.
Bake @ 350F for 15min. Serve as a side or on the center of a dinner plate topped with pasta sauce.


Gingered Cabbage and Rice Noodles
Another Asian-style preparation of cabbage and noodles for the ginger-lovers in the audience.
3 Tbs olive oil
8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
Sauté mushrooms in oil in a large skillet until browned.

1.5-2# Chinese cabbage, 1/2-in slices
¼ cup maple syrup
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Add the cabbage, maple syrup, salt, and pepper and sauté over very high heat until most of the juices have evaporated.

2 Tbs cornstarch
¼ cup dry sherry
1-1.5in ginger root, grated/zested
1 cup vegetable stock
Add the cornstarch + sherry + ginger mixture and vegetable stock and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

1 lb wide rice noodles cooked (for easier serving, break into 3in pieces before cooking)
Stir in the noodles and heat through.

2 scallions green and white parts, chopped
½ cup roasted chopped cashews
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Garnish with chopped scallions, nuts, and cilantro.
(Adapted from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by E Schneider, Wm Morrow, 2001)

Everyone feel free to add your favorite recipes to the website.

For Your Reading Pleasure

Well, not exactly “reading” but rather listening. If you are not privy to TED talks yet, have a listen to this one with Michael Pollan. And then explore their 500+ offerings. Most are amazing.

TED talks (an acronym for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”)

Mission: We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.

TED Talk with Michael Pollan, A Plant’s-eye View

And check out the one on mushrooms saving the world!

Farm News

Weeds are on the rise, everyone take cover! Pigweed most notably this year. This succulent weed grows 12" overnight, I kid you not. It forms a dense circular mat of thick leaves, then they must talk to their friends and they all meet up patchwork-like. Amazing from one day to the next.

Oh, and speaking of pigweed, back where I met the HUGE caterpillar last week. (Rog found another one today, and I snapped a better photo while my big, burly man was standing guard nearby) Well, I need to print a retraction and an apology. It appears I spoke too soon in condemning this big fella as a Horned Tomato Worm. Turns out she/he is in that group, but this particular green spotted gargantuan is actually the hornworm caterpillar of the— well I can’t figure it out, but I do not think she/he is going to go after the tomatoes with any vigor.


Produce Bonus: Find the carrot shaped like a tuning fork, and then drop us a line with the photo and you win a prize next week.

The winning beet from 2wks ago

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the vegetables.

Roger and Lara