2016 CSA Share 16
Some new summer favorites for our shareholders this week--sweet corn, apricots and pears and some ground cherries! We'll be seeing more apricots and sweet corn this week, but we only had a small harvest from our pear trees, so enjoy these this week!
Some of our basil has gotten some early cold damage, so enjoy the basil while we still have it. Fall is coming and nights are getting cooler, we have a few more weeks of shares from the garden left, but summer is beginning to wane.
In other news on the farm, we had piglets born last Friday, starting early in the morning and going into the evening and having 9 piglets in all. Our sow Buffy did a great job, needed no assistance and had no stillborn or mummified piglets, a great relief to these farmers. Buffy's previous liter had been all of three dead piglets, and if she had a similar liter this time around it would have meant she wasn't a good breeder and would be sausage.
We're very happy she did well and will be staying with us as a breeder. All her piglets are orange with black spots, great fall and Halloween colors. Soon we'll be castrating the boys, but for now they are all happily exploring their pasture with their mom. We'll be selling all of the piglets because we prefer to raise ours on pasture and seasonally. We're asking for $90 for each, contact us if you are interested! We have a very cute video of them suckling on mama on our Facebook page, check it out there!
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| Large Share pictured: 4 summer squash, 2 cucumbers, 2 lbs pears, 2 lbs apricots, 14 corn cobs, .5 lbs ground cherries, 2 lbs green beans, eggplant (optional), 4 red tomatoes, 2 heirloom slicers, 2 lbs snacking tomatoes, 2 lbs tomatillos, 6 okra, 2 cubanelle peppers, 2 bell peppers, 2 jalapeños, 2 bunches herbs |
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| Small Share pictured: 1 lb pears, 1 lb apricots, 1 lb tomatillos, 2 summer squash, 1 cucumber, 1 jalapeño, 1 cubanelle pepper, 1 bell pepper, eggplant (optional), 3 okra, 7 corn cobs, 2 paste tomatoes, 1 heirloom slicer, 1 lb snacking tomatoes, 1 bunch herbs. |
Corn
New this week are the first of our corn, better late than never! We found some worms in the corn cobs, so we shucked them to make sure everyone got good whole, worm free cobs. The sugar breaks down quickly in sweet corn, so the sooner eaten the sweeter they will be!
Pears
New this week, Pears from our orchard! We got a small harvest of pears this year, but enough to share with our shareholders.
Apricots
New this week, apricots from our orchard! This is the first year we've gotten a harvest from our apricot trees, so the fruit is small but tasty!
Ground Cherries
This strange golden berry is related to the tomato plant, and is indigenous to the new world. It has a similar texture to the tomato, but in flavor is more like strawberry or pineapple. The fruit are rich in cryptoxanthin, and contain pectin and can be used in pie filling. They can be eaten raw and used in salads, you can add them to dessert, use as flavoring, make into fruit preserves, or dry and use like raisins.
Ground Cherry Jam
Ground Cherry Pie
Okra
More okra this week. We like to use our Okra by slicing it and dicing a jalapeno and adding them to a cornbread recipe. Okra can also be grilled, sauteed, fried, stir-fried, or added to soup.
More okra this week. We like to use our Okra by slicing it and dicing a jalapeno and adding them to a cornbread recipe. Okra can also be grilled, sauteed, fried, stir-fried, or added to soup.
Eggplant (optional)
Not everyone's favorite, we don't have quite enough for everyone this week, so please only take one if you want one! Also known as aubergine, brinjal or garden egg, the fruit is widely used in cooking and is related to both the tomato and potato. The raw fruit can have a somewhat bitter taste, but become tender when cooked and develops a rich, complex flavor. The great is capable of absorbing large amounts of cooking fats and sauces, making for very rich dishes. Try is roasted, skinned, mashed, mixed with onions, tomatoes and spices and then slow cooked. It is often stewed, as in the French ratatouille or deep fried for eggplant parmesan. A simple way to try it is sliced and grilled with cumin, salt and pepper seasoning.
Easy Eggplant recipes
Cucumbers
The last of the cucumbers this week, just the long green cucumbers left. Enjoy these while we have them!
Tomatillos
Also known as the Mexican husk tomato, this plant is in the nightshade family along with tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. It bears small, spherical green, yellow, or green-purple fruit inside paper-like husks. They are the central ingredient in Mexican and Central-American green sauces. They keep longer with the husks removed and refrigerated in plastic bags and can be frozen whole or sliced.
Tomatoes
The greenhouse tomatoes are slowing down, but just as our field tomatoes are kicking in. We have heirloom slicers, snacking tomatoes, and red paste tomatoes this week!
Peppers
Cubanelle, bell peppers, and jalapeños this week! Enjoy some fresh salsa with this mix of hot and sweet peppers. Cubanelle peppers have sweet, mild flesh with rich flavor great for cooking and frying. It is thinner-walled, best suited for quick cooking. Popular in spanish, italian and slavic dishes, many cooks prefer it to bell types.
Summer Squash
Try these sautéed or grilled with our carbonara recipe or in a cooling summer pasta salad. The larger zucchini are great shredded and then made into muffins or bread. Summer squash are starting to slow down, so enjoy them while we still have them.
Green Beans
More green beans this week. The yellow beans are yellow throughout, and will keep their color when cooked, the purple beans however are only purple on the exterior and will change to green when cooked.
Herbs
To preserve your herbs you can hang them to dry out of the sun and rain where there is good air flow until dry, then crumble into a paper bag and transfer to a storage container. Tarragon leaves can be frozen or dried. If left to dry for too long though, the leaves lose their flavor, so make sure to store them in airtight containers as soon as the leaves are dry.
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