Hi Folks!
Rain is finally coming – supposed to get the CSA wet on Wednesday and Friday during our picking time. The trick is to pick the beans last thing the night before. Bean picking takes time, and right now the beans are really producing. By the way – by experiment it has been shown that cooking your green beans with fresh Basil is a taste delight. This was empirically verified here at the Shilofarm CSA kitchen just tonight. You will have some nice fresh beans and Basil in your box, so, give it a try. This year the Basil is a star – it was moved into the greenhouse from an outside bed, and flourished.
The local grocery store has set out their fall décor squash – if you are interested in that, or corn plants, ask. For corn plants, you will need to come to the farm on a Saturday. The décor squash can be delivered.
The pears took a break last week – the ones that are still hanging on the tree are FINALLY showing some yellow. A taste sample was okay, another day or two on a counter and they are excellent. The itty-bitty red apples are still coming – The best guess is that the tree needed to be aggressively thinned. The usual practice here is to cut them up and put them in something as a kind of fruit crouton. Really. More big apples are coming; they are probably two weeks out.
There was at least one member who put up a giant bag of the red crab apples. The yellow crab apples and the Quince are now ripe and ready for your Jelly. Quince is a bit tart compared with crab apple – crab apple is really annoyed at the entire idea of being a bit tart. The yellow crab makes pretty jelly, although there is one of us here that likes the red look better. Once again, these are jelly type fruit – a steam juicer is essential.
yellow crab apples… lots and lots and lots.
You may recall from the ancient times of last week that you got two ears of the first corn to (finally) get ready. Two is the nominal number this week for personal share, four in a full share. In the event you want more (or less) that can be accommodated. The corn has a long stalk life, which means it is available on through the rest of the main season.
Peppers are still being amazing. The Cozumel hot pepper is determined to fill every possible spot on a plant. Generally, people are getting one or two of these, and possibly a long hot pepper. The Bells are trying to do as well, but they get crowded on the bushes. This week will mostly have the min-bells, called “chocolate.” Some of them are REALLY tiny.
When the next dry spell comes the Sweet Potatoes will be gathered and set to cure. The cure time is 10-14 days at about 80F; that is done in the propagation benches with the heating mats set on “80F.” Of course. uncured sweet potatoes are not good. cured sweet potatoes fresh are really good.
And about those few lucky (or unlucky?) people who got watermelon – it would be interesting to know if they were good; the farmers haven’t even tried them. There are only a few ripe at a time; the idea is to work through the members to get you all at least one. As of this afternoon, it looked like there were about 4 more. Sigh.
And, the best for last: Lettuce returns! The new crop is large enough to not be ashamed to be in your box. It still isn’t super large, but the cool weather and plenty of water makes it so so happy.
And now, here’s what is in the box in lovely week 17:
| Greens | New Lettuce. Spinach. White and/or Red Chard; optional Asian mustard. Kale – not much of it, ask. |
| Crunchies | Misc. Summer Squash: hook neck, patty pan, zucchini. Carrots (Sugarsnax54), Cucumbers, Chocolate mini-bell peppers |
| Herbs | Garlic, Arugula, Green Onions, Chives if you ask, Basil, Cilantro (nice leaf structure), Oregano. Hot pepper, zero to 3 or 4? (The basil. In your green beans. You need to do that!) |
| Other | Yellow or Red Beefsteak, Slicer and Cherry Tomatoes, 1-3″ beets with greens, Pears. No Potatoes. 🙁 Flower of the week will be mystery arrangement or roses. Any preference? Optional Eggplant (ask) – Small red Apples.
Yellow Crabs? Gallon or more?; Quince? Green beans in quart sized quantity, Corn. Any décor squash? Corn Stalks available farm-call only. |
Next Week:
- Sweet Potato Greens – Ask.
On Deck:
- Cauliflower (plants are 6-8″ – no heads formed yet)
- Broccoli: same story as Cauliflower. Bummer.
- Cabbage – 2-4 weeks out
- Pumpkins
- Winter Squash
- Sweet Potatoes
