There's a change today:

Pickup Today on the FRONT PORCH

This week’s share:

broccoli

chard

cucumbers

wax, purple & green beans

sweet peppers or hot peppers

kale

thyme ?

musk melon

rutabaga

summer squash

tomato

This Past Week…

We planted more lettuce, radish, and carrots. We also replanted the buckwheat that we planted previously. That got washed away with the rains, so we’ll try it again. Buckwheat helps keep the weeds down, is good erosion control, and also adds nutrients to the soil for the next crop next year.

Thyme and marjoram were grown from seed, and now that both are mature, this amateur doesn’t know which one is which. If you know what your mystery herb is, please let us know!

The muskmelons have ripened, and are so ripe that you can chose to take one if you wish. They really should be eaten right away.

Much of your produce has been washed, but we want to remind you to wash your food before you eat it.

Some of the broccoli has a disease that kills the plants. Some of the plants are just getting it, and we sorted through the side shoots as best as we could. If you see any that are turning black or grey, this is a sign of the mosaic disease. Just throw that piece away.

Summer squash…are you tired of it yet? It just keeps on coming, so if you want more of it, feel free to take some. The kids have had their fill of it at my house.

Until next week, enjoy life!

~ Kathy


Enchiladas

(using spinach, kale, chard, etc.)

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch greens
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.



R and R Pudding
(Rice and Rutabaga!)

1 cup water
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
1 pound rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash ground nutmeg
2 eggs, separated

Place the water into a saucepan, add the rice, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir once, cover, reduce heat to low; and simmer until all moisture is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the rutabaga into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until the rutabaga are tender and can be pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

Drain the rutabaga, and place into a mixing bowl. Add the milk, butter, sugar, salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg. Beat or mash the rutabaga until smooth. Stir in the cooked rice, and beat in the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into the rutabaga mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole dish.

Bake in preheated oven until top is lightly browned, about 1 hour.

This week’s share:

broccoli
cauliflower
cucumber
wax, purple & green beans
musk melon
red onion
summer squash
tomatoes

This Past Week…


Our vacation to South Dakota was very memorable, and we sincerely THANK YOU for your flexibility. We cannot thank you enough!

This week’s share includes a mix of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness. The green tomatoes will ripen in a few days if you let them sit on your counter.

The ripening of the cauliflower doesn’t seem to happen when we need it to happen. For today, the cauliflower heads have been cut and portioned out so that everyone gets some. You’ll need to refrigerate it promptly.

The musk melon is here! And it is super sweet when ripe. It is likely that yours is not ripe right now. All you will need to do is put it in a brown paper bag on your counter over night, or maybe two nights. Enjoy!

There will be some containers of extra food - cucumbers, squash, and sweet corn. Take as much as you can use or give away. The sweet corn was given to us with instructions that “it must be eaten or frozen by Tuesday.”

The peppers have been appearing, as are the eggplant, and we hope to have some for next week’s share. The watermelon is huge, but are not showing any signs of ripeness yet.

Not to put a damper on things, but signs of fall are also showing up. The pumpkins are huge, and some are turning colors already. The acorn squash have magically appeared while on vacation, and the corn is starting to turn brown.

Speaking of corn, the popcorn is ripe! It will be picked this week and left to dry out so that it will be ready for you to pop this fall. The sweet corn is almost ready, but the ears seem small to me. That doesn’t seem to matter to the raccoons, who have been snacking on it.

As we head toward fall, we have been making plans for next year. One thing we would like to add is a worker-share program. If you have any experience or knowledge of worker share programs, we would love to hear from you. Specifically, what worked well and what did not work so well. Kathy is looking forward to having some help next year!

Cucumber Freezer Pickles

Submitted by Mary Jo, CSA Member

3 ½ cups unpeeled, thinly sliced cucumbers
2 T. sea salt
Salt cucumbers and set aside for 2 hours
Rinse off salt
Add 1 medium onion slice
½ green pepper – sliced or chopped
Add brine to cucumber, onion, and pepper. Mix well and put in freezer containers.

Brine

1 cup sugar
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ tsp celery salt
1/3 tsp mustard seed

Mix all ingredients until sugar is dissolved



Fried Green Tomatoes
From equinoxcommunityfarm.com

4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
½ c cornmeal
½ cup bread crumbs
2 tsp course kosher salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Slice tomatoes ½ inch think, discard the ends. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper on another plate.

Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is ½ inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes – they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain on paper towels.