Basket #8 -- fun and abundance!

Sorry, I thought this posted earlier, but I just saw that it did not. Tomatoes, and lots of them. Make sure you rinse the tomato leaf dust off the little ones! Also, a few fun new things:

Cabbage -- this is our first year doing these well; please let me know what you end up making out of it, be it slaw, goulash, gowumpki, whatever... it should be sweet

Teenage (as opposed to baby, or full-grown) carrots -- a colorful mixture of three different varieties, colored white, yellow and orange

Staghorn sumac seed sprigs -- soak in 16-32 oz of water for two days, then strain off the resulting yellowish-orange liquid, add sugar to taste and enjoy over ice on a hot day -- it's an old native American recipe for lemonade!

Variety bonus -- we didn't have enough of each, so you got a random one of the following ootions: cucumber, eggplant, pattipan squash, or baby cantaloupe

Hope you're enjoying the bounty, let us know of you have any questions, or if you arrive at any particularly lovely creations with this fresh and local food pallette!

Share #7... missed ya'll !

Tomatoes galore, everyone.

We have a couple of exceptional-type things to mention: 1) basil somehow suffered from being kept partially in water prior to sharebasket-building... this was an experiment that I thought would give crisper  leaves for leaf-based nom-noms, and which has helped some (kale and chard) but seems to have offended others (basil)... so I tried to give anyone with the strange, wilted-black (usually happens if you store too cold) basil leaves a few extra snippings. 2) We didn't have enough huge zucchini for everyone to get a whole one, so we sliced them in half.

Outside of that, we've got: cherry and slicing tomatoes, Mexican guerkens (like tiny, slightly sour cucumbers), bell as well as serrano/Belgian peppers (sweet to mildly spicy), cucumber, zucchini, New Zealand spinach, kale, beets, and chard. Plenty to get yourself in trouble with!

For byperlocal beef add-on peeps, there was an option of top round or shoulder roast cuts, all weighing in over 3lbs (2lbs min. every two weeks is what we promised)... I think basket #9 will have about 1lb of sirloin steaks, for all members, as a great way to end the celebration of our two veal rescue boys on a high note!

Please send me any fun recipes you discover, along the way to getting the very most out of your basket this week :)

best,
Matt

Share #6 -- fruits starting to come ;)

Nothing new in this week's share that you wouldn't recognize -- although we did grow what are probably the nicest broccoli heads ever. At least, for us... growing good broccoli has been a long time coming!

Peaches are from our trees, no pesticides... so just slice it up before serving, in case there are any spots to cut out. :)

Tomatoes are just starting to come in, and one of your specimens might need further ripening. No worry, they already have more sugar than most picked-when-green store bought tomatoes, they just need to soften. Just place in a paper bag with bananas (best) or old apples (better) to accelerate their coloration and softening!

Mexican sour gehrkins (tiny cucumbers that Doro thinks are cute, but I kinda do not) are also in the tomato containers in each basket. Just eat like little cucumber bites.

Lots of kale right now, extra-curly... I dare you to dip in batter, and deep fry ;)

See you in two Saturdays (on the 25th)
farmer Matt

Basket #5, you lovelies!

Hey ya'll,

Good stuff in the basket these days, here ya go:

Mountain mint -- Very menthol-y, with a hint of the oregano oils... find a way to yum it. Mixed drink? Mediterranean lentils with yogurt and crisped onions?

Swiss chard -- all kinds of uses... you don't know you betta ask somebody!

Mixed salad greens -- exactly as stated

Zucchini and pickling cucumbers -- If you got a huge zuke, only one or two pickles for you... otherwise, a handful of pickles and a medium-sized zuke

Red Russian kale --  share your recipes with this good stuff, if you find surprising ones... we tend to just roast it with oil and salt :)

Green beans -- Self-explanatory

'UFO' aka Pattypan squash -- these roast amazingly, building some umami almost comparable to mushroom (soup, etc.)

New Zealand spinach -- experiment... not a true spinach, more of an edible succulent... a slightly tang flavor. Let me know if you find a special recipe for it

Genovese basil -- we prayed and prayed we'd be able to get this out with red tomatoes, but they just started flowering and we can't wait any longer! If the flavor on the flowers is too strong, let them steep in a ramekin of olive oil, and just have flavored olive oil to use later (sandwiches, etc.)

Beef share people are getting either stew meat cubes, or cubed steak this week.

As always, it is an extreme pleasure to grow food for your family!

Matt

Basket #4

Sorry that the first posts were not being automatically delivered to y'all's emails, as it was supposed to be... I will send you a link to post from now on, until Google fixes email notification system with blogger.

What you will find in your basket today is sprigs of lemon balm, oregano, Rosemary; kale, beet with beet greens, either beans or broccoli, the last spell of radishes w/radish greens, cucumber, and a giant zucchini. Special treats are grab-a-bundle of turnip greens, and a jar of my homemade kimchi (made from Tatsoi greens that came in uber-early for us this year).

Special tip about storing the kimchi -- once you open the jar, you should keep it in the fridge, and even then if left a little too long it will start to continue its lactic fermentation, the main product being slightly white appearance on top (from the lactate, the solid salt of lactic acid) as well as an improved sour flavor. If you are not interested in it getting a little bit more sour but still perfectly edible, a tip is to pour a little bit of olive oil on the top to make sure everything stays submerged :)

No meat this week, as it's an even one -- but Christine, I won't forget the ground I owe you, plus the new cut, next week ;)

Remember to at least TRY out frying your beet (yes!) and radish (maybe) greens, and of course your turnip greens (maybe+), as many cultures have dishes that use them, and they are good for you (if you can figure out how to like them ;).

And finally, if you taste the kimchi and don't like it for any reason whatsoever, put the lid back on and bring it to next week's share pickup... I really love the stuff, and we'll make sure it doesn't go to waste!

Hope u enjoy, as always send a good recipe if you find one, and... eat up!

Test post... did this go straight to your inboxes (FINALLY)?

Including a cutie photo of my son, migrating his late-morning sleeping into the floor...

Please reply, to let me know you got this! And then, I'll know automated delivery of new blog posts is working again :)

I give you... your third share!

Here's your yum for the week!

So, let me tell you who you've got aching to be on your plate this week:

French breakfast radish -- again, use the leaves if you are adventurous... I've heard of an epic pesto recipe, out there ;)

Curly Kale -- do the Kale chips... do it, do it!!!

Day Lilly -- you can dice this up and add it to a salad, its colorful and sweeter than lettuce

Lettuce -- ...ya know

Beet -- OMG pan-fry the greens with olive oil and a splash of honey... or, chop it up and mix it in with...

Rainbow (Swiss) Chard -- You can eat the stems, just need to cook them longer. One trick is to simmer them in the pan first, for 10-15 minutes

Egyptian walking onion -- This perennial (hopefully) bed of ours is only in its first year, so you get the flower stem and 2nd-year bulbils. All are edible... I'd say slice the stem thin and eat raw, and crush the bulbils to add a bolus of onion flavor to anything, really (potatoes?)

Homemade Carolina peach jam -- Forothra's special German recipe, to your buttered toast (or pancakes) ;)

Send me recipes as you find and love them!

Matt