CSA Newsletter

Brussels sprouts - a preview

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, onions, beans, garlic, basil, greens, corn and melon.

Field Notes.  The feel and smell of autumn is in the air!  Ken has been harvesting, planting, cultivating, and working on a chicken coop.  The spring chicks have been in a large fenced in area by the mobile tunnel.  Soon we will be moving them to a coop so pullets can get established before they start to lay eggs.  And the cockerels are nearly large enough to "march into the freezer."  They have been clearing the space of rye, and Ken will plant more green manures after they are moved.  He has been getting beds ready for fall plantings and cover crops by the mobile tunnel, out in the field, and in the garden.

I have been cleaning and organizing the root cellar for the "big dig" this fall.  I have also been canning and freezing produce for next winter.  Now is the time to order canning tomatoes if you plan to can or freeze.  That hot, humid weather led to some stress on the plants, so production has already crested the wave, and is starting to drop.  Call or email me soon for produce to preserve for winter.

From the Kitchen.  Last night I tried Ken's upside down pizza.  It came out great for a first attempt.  I put a large pie plate in the oven and set it at 300.  I sliced eggplant, zucchini, onion, tomatoes, peppers, chopped oregano, and minced garlic.  I got a biscuit dough ready, and before I mixed wet and dry ingredients together, I pulled the pan out of the oven, swirled olive oil, and layered vegetables with the ones needing most cooking time - eggplants in the bottom of the pan, then kept adding vegetables and herbs.  Then I put in a layer of grated cheese, set that aside, mixed up the biscuit dough and covered the vegetables and popped it into the oven and raised the temperature to 400.  Once the biscuit dough browned about 15 - 20 minutes I pulled it out of the oven and let rest a bout five minutes.  Ken did the serving.  I would use more vegetables next time, and add sage to the biscuit dough.

Basil and garlic make a great pesto.  And many people who do not eat butter use pesto to top corn on the cob.  It is a delicious alternative.  I often make pesto for pasta and and serve corn as a side dish.  It is a great summer combination.  Ken likes roasted corn.  He places the ears still in their husks in water, and drains off the water and sets the ears on coals when grilling.  It adds a slight smoky dimension to the corn.  Delicious!  Corn boiled for 6 minutes can be cut off the ears and frozen for winter.  Once it is cut off the cob, corn takes little freezer space.  If you want to buy additional corn to freeze, now is the time.

With the cooler mornings we are returning to cooked greens.  Ken made soup and poached eggs in the clear broth soup with peppers, onion, tomato and greens one morning.  It was a great way to start the day!

New crop of beans today! They are a heat tolerant variety with good flavor.

'Til Next Week!