2015 CSA Share 16

CSA Share 16

Fall is here, and we can tell in the garden. Nights are getting cold, one night in the high 30s, so we close the greenhouse in the evening now. This week we have the last taste of summer with watermelons and the last tomatoes, melons, and cucumbers of the season. Our tomatoes in the greenhouse have succumbed to late blight, so this is the last week for tomatoes. We even get to enjoy fried green tomatoes one last time, since there are so many gorgeous unripe fruit still on the plants. We also get the first taste of fall with the first winter squash. 

We will also have available:

Snacking Tomatoes: $2.50/lb
Green Beans: $1.50/lb
Ground Cherries: $3.00/lb 
Free Range Eggs: $3/dozen

Large Share Pictured: 2 melons, 2 watermelons, 2 acorn squash, 2 lbs green beans, 6 bell peppers, 2 japans, 2 hungarian wax, 2 anaheim, 2 slicing cucumbers, 2 lemon cucumbers, 2 lbs tomatillos, 2 roma tomatoes, 2 slicing tomaties, 2 lbs snacking tomatoes, 6 green tomatoes, 2 bunches herbs. Large shares only: eggplant and okra

Watermelon

New this week are an heirloom variety called Moon and Stars watermelon.

Acorn Squash

The first of the winter squash, these are a colorful variety called Carnival. Try these the old fashioned way, with butter, maple syrup , and brown sugar, for a warming evening dessert on a chilly night. 

Classic Baked Acorn Squash

Tomatoes

The tomatoes in the greenhouse have succumbed to late blight, following our field tomatoes. Enjoy these last tomatoes of the season! We will have a last slicer, roma and bag of snacking tomatoes for everyone. We will have extra snacking tomatoes for sale as well. 

The Mothership Tomato Salad

Bruschetta

Green Tomatoes

Our tomato plants in the greenhouse are dying before the fruit can ripen. So lets take this as an opportunity to enjoy fried green tomatoes one last time. Goes great with watermelon! 

Fried Green Tomatoes

Melon

The last of the melons, sadly all have been pretty undersized and underripe this season, c'est la vie. 

Tomatillos

More tomatillos this week. We enjoy making a salsa verde out of these or for enchilada sauce with chicken or pork. They also go well in a pot of chili or soup! These are easy to preserve for another day, just take out of the paper-lantern like husk, wash and then freeze whole for later. 

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillos Chile Salsa

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Green Beans

Our green bean mix includes purple, yellow and green beans, which will all turn green, except strangely the yellow variety, when cooked. 

Peppers

This week we have a hungarian wax pepper, jalapeño, Anaheim, and a bell pepper for everyone. 

Cucumber-Slicer and Lemon

The cucumbers in the greenhouse are beginning to succumb to downy mildew, so enjoy these now, we won't have them much longer! This may be our last week of cucumbers, which is unfortunate because greens will be starting again. We like to eat the lemon cucumbers raw, like an apple, but they can be pickled or used in salad or cucumber salad just like any regular cucumber. 

Cucumber Salad
Refrigerator Pickles

Eggplant 

For large shares only this week. We like to grill these with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin. 

Okra

For large shares only this week. This is an heirloom variety of Okra called Hill Country Red from Seed Saver's Exchange. Try them fried, baked, in soup, we always like to make cornbread with them. The products of the plant are mucilaginous, resulting in the characteristic "goo" or slime when the seed pods are cooked; the mucilage contains soluble fiber. Some people prefer to minimize the sliminess; keeping the pods intact, and brief cooking, for example stir-frying, help to achieve this. Cooking with acidic ingredients such as a few drops of lemon juice, tomatoes, or vinegar may also help. Alternatively, the pods can be sliced thinly and cooked for a long time so the mucilage dissolves, as in gumbo. The immature pods may be pickled.

12 Best Okra Recipes

Herbs

This week for herbs we have Italian basil and onion chives.