Farm Folk in Nice Clothing: Summer CSA ’11 – Week 8

 In CSA Newsletter

Zea & friend Eullan getting the truck swept before delivery.

I will never forget the shock I felt when I saw Mrs. Darling, my 4th grade reading teacher, out in public. We were at a Cincinnati Reds game (yes, I am a recovering Reds & Buckeye fan).  She was with her two kids and her husband. My nine-year old mind short-circuited. Seeing her outside of our everyday environment of the classroom simply did not compute.  Never before had I considered that she could be something other than my teacher. A mother? A wife? A Reds fan? It was unthinkable.  I spent the whole weekend grappling with this new fact and  I remember how distressed I was. Suddenly the world seemed more complicated, more nuanced. I mean if your teacher could be a Reds fan, what other crazy secrets did the world behold?

This past Thursday, Mike and I had a touch of that old wonderment. We went to a Gillian Welch concert downtown and we kept running into other farmers and many of our employees and worker shares. They all looked so different€¦ so€¦.  clean! There were no muddy knees, no stained shirts, no beat-up heavy duty shoes, no sun-screened shoulders or funny visors. Women were wearing dresses and earrings and nice open-toed sandals. The men we ran into had washed hair and nice pants. We were all giddy seeing each other looking so clean, so non-farm like. It was almost hard to take each other seriously -as if we were all in costume.

On Friday morning, it was like it never happened. Everyone looked just as hair-frizzed and sweaty as they had in the fields the day before. But let me tell you, just like veggies from the field, Primrose Community Farm workers sure do clean up nice.

From the fields this week are an increasing number of heat-loving crops. New this week are hot wax peppers, a pepper a little more mild than a jalapeno. Sungolds will be distributed to the rest of the REG members (so none for Epic REGs this week, since you had them last week) and we will begin circulating them to EOs. More sweet corn! Since we grow organically, you can expect that there may be some friends hiding in your corn cob.  As the season moves forward, more buggy friends find their way into the corn. We know it’s not the most appetizing to find a worm munching on your corn, but just gently remind yourself that it’s way better than a petrochemical.

Globe eggplant is new for the REGs, and the Japanese eggplant will be new to the EOs. If you haven’t tried the greenbean and eggplant recipe from Emeril yet, you’ve got to try it. It’s delicious. You will still be receiving cucumber and zucchini for a while, but we are now past the peak. Expect fewer and fewer cukes and zukes as the season continues.

As the summer pushes on, more heat-loving crops can be expected. Asian melons should be ready next week. The sungolds are just a small taste of the tomato explosion that’s about to come (knock on wood, stay away blight!). And the green peppers, let those be a hint that red sweet peppers aren’t far off. After all, a red pepper is simply a ripe green pepper.   There are just so many things to be excited about this time of year.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your veggies this week! Sincerely, Mike, Cassie and Zea

In The Box:

  • Basil ” REGs
  • Beets – REGs
  • Cabbage
  • Carrots – EOs
  • Cucumbers
  • Eggplant, Globe – REGs
  • Eggplant, Japanese ” EOs
  • Garlic
  • Green Beans
  • Kale, Red Russian
  • Onion, Pearl ” EOs
  • Onion, Sweet
  • Pepper, Green
  • Pepper, Hot Wax
  • Sungolds ” remaining REGs
  • Sweet Corn
  • Zucchini

REGs = Regular members only

EOs = Everyother members only

This Week’s Recipes:

Summer Week 8: Wednesday, July 27th – Everyother Group B