CSA Newsletter: Summer 2010 – Week 9
Community News: We hope to see you this coming Sunday, August 8th at our annual
Mama Cass and Zea in the Eggplant
Potluck and Corn Boil! We’ll boil the corn and you bring a dish to pass. We always love this day! We really enjoy meeting our CSA members and sharing delicious food together. It starts at 3pm at our home farm ” 4144 County Road J in Cross Plains (zip = 53528 for all you mapquesters out there). Please note that it is not at the Pioneer location, but rather at what will be our main farm next year. Yeehaw! Come check out our land and our new building.
Okay, now for the veggie news.
From the Fields: Tomato season has officially begun. For the next month or so, you will be receiving tomatoes in a plastic bag. The first thing to note is that you should take these tomatoes out of the bag! We only put them in there so that they don’t roll around in your box, but please don’t store them in the bag. The best way to store your tomatoes is on the counter ” it preserves the flavor (refridgerators do weird things to tomato flavors) and helps you keep an eye on which tomatoes to eat first. Try to avoid putting your tomatoes in a bowl ” not only can you crush them, but it’s a great way to encourage fruit flies, as little drops of juice you may not see will be payday for a fruit fly. In your tomato bag, generally there will be a mix of what we call slicing tomatoes and heirlooms. This week there will probably only be one heirloom, but there will be more as we go along. Slicing tomatoes are hybrid varieties that are your basic (and tasty!) red tomato. Now, just because I say basic, don’t think these aren’t special! These are real tomatoes, not those unripe grocery store types that kind of taste like cardboard. These tomatoes are red, deep red and delicious. You will also find heirloom tomatoes in your bag. If you’ve never had an heirloom, you are in for a treat. An heirloom tomato is an older variety. They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some are small, some striped, some green, some enormous. We grow many different varieites to keep it fun and interesting. The one thing they share in common is their rich taste, and their delicate skin. There’s great tomatoes and knock your socks off tomatoes; heirlooms are the latter. The delicate skin does lead to easy cracking, so remember to store them on a counter or flat plate.
In other farm news, the onion and potato harvests are underway. It’s lots of heavy lifting and hauling these days. A full crate of potatoes weighs 45 pounds. Let’s just say everyone is getting their workout. The onion harvest has been particularly satisfying, as these are the most beautiful onions we have ever grown! We’ll be putting the last of the white sweet onions in shares this week, but as we move forward you can expect some of the storage varieties to appear.
Share News: Speaking of appearing, here’s some information on the food in your boxes this week. First up, the veggie list of who gets what is a little more complicated this week. Let me explain. All EO members should get watermelon and Asian melon. However the REGs will either get a watermelon or a cantaloupe. As for the red cabbage, due to intense weed pressure, we are about 10 shy of all members receiving a red cabbage. Our apologies. Some of the EOs will not get a cabbage. We will make up for this by giving a few extra tomatoes to those members. New this week? Red potatoes! These store best in a plastic bag in the fridge. These will really round out the grilling that many of you are most likely doing. Yum, yum!
ENJOY THE SWEET VEGGIE LIFE!
Sincerely, Mike, Cassie, Zea and Crew
In the Box:
- Asian Melon
- Basil
- Broccoli – * REGs
- Cantaloupe ” * various REGs(orange flesh OR green flesh)
- Cucumber
- Hot Wax Pepper (long, yellow-green)
- Pepper, Green – *EOs
- Pepper, Red – *REGs
- Red Cabbage ” *various EOs
- Red Potatoes (3 lbs)
- Romaine Lettuce
- Scallions
- Sungold Tomatoes
- Sweet Corn
- Sweet Onions
- Tomatoes, Slicing & Heirloom
- Watermelon – *EOs and various REGs
- (Red or Yellow Flesh)
- Zucchini, Gold and/or Green
REGs = regular shares only
EOs = everyother shares only
Recipes
Summer Week 9: Wednesday, August 4th – Everyother Group A
