CSA Newsletter

Elderberry blossoms - fruit soon

Greetings from the Garden!  This week's box has lettuce and salad greens, braising greens, green onions, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, celery, carrots, radishes, bok choy, snap and shell peas, dill,  cilantro, and the first zucchini, cukes, peppers and cherry tomatoes

 






Field Notes.  Heat.  Summer is here.  The basswood trees are blooming, the bees are buzzing and the crops are and weeds are growing.  With the heat cukes, zukes, peppers and tomatoes are just starting.

In spite of feeling under the weather, Ken has been hanging in there and weeding, harvesting, planting greens,  mowing fence lines, mowing down crops that are done like the strawberries, keeping greenhouses irrigated, and more.  I have been picking peas, and in the heat the bushes have slowed down, so enjoy what we have - the end is in sight!  If you need peas to freeze, call or email me. With the heat comes other opportunities - Ken says if it is a short pea season it could be hot enough for good melons and sweet potatoes.  Each season is different, and we wait to see what will do best.

Snap peas left, shell peas right

From the Kitchen.  Snap peas are edible pod peas.  They have slightly sickle shaped pods, and if you open them the pods are thick and juicy.  Shell peas are cylindrical and when you open a pod the pod itself is thin and if you eat it you have a mouthful of organic dental floss.  There are some of each type in your box this week.  We grow more snap peas as they have a longer season and there is more to eat.  But sitting and shelling peas is a fun activity.  Each year I sell some to a woman who gets them for a snack when her grandchildren visit.  I tend to use shell peas in Asian dishes and pasta salads.  Imagine trying to eat little round shell peas with chopsticks!  I like to mix shell peas with carrots cut julienne - a nice color, texture and flavor pairing.  I also hate to throw the shell pea shells in the compost so I simmer them first to make a tasty soup stock.

Dill likes cool weather and so this is the end.  If you need dill for pickles we suggest you dry or freeze some.  Cilantro is great in Asian and Mexican dishes.  I like it added to a stir fry just before serving.  Ken likes cilantro and fish - ooh fish tacos!

Zucchini is great grilled.  Try it!  We are in that time of year when it is nice to cook out.  When I was a child we would often cook out in the summer, and if the bugs were pesty, we would have a cook out/eat in.  
'Til Next Week, 
Judith