CSA Newsletter – Week 11 – August 30, 2017

WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
carrots
potatoes-huckleberry
beets or red cabbage
dill & cilantro or basil & parsley
red onion
lemon cucumber
pickling (aka salad) cucumber
slicing cucumber
lettuce
garlic
assortment of summer squash
tomatoes
broccoli for half
green pepper for almost the other half (West and Tumwater get them next week)

We are passing through another seasonal transition it seems. It feels like we have one foot in summer and the other in fall. Temperatures are slated to be in the 80’s and 90’s through the weekend and all of our favorite summer foods are beckoning to be eaten. However, 6:00 is getting to be too dark to start work. It is especially crisp and breezy lately and I have heard Canada Geese flying over the past few days. The trees are also starting to turn. Sigh…summer is just too short.

LET’S TALK VEG:
Tomatoes: In addition to the Early Girl slicers you have been getting, we tossed in a Juan Flamme (little orange tomato) and Stupice (little red tomato). We planted theses on a whim. We had extra space and extra starts from market sales, and thought, why not? That was on the heels of our super wet spring when we had missed entire plantings of some things and figured we should fill the space with something! I am more impressed with Juan, personally.
Potatoes: These are called Huckleberry. Purple on the outside, yellow on the inside. Purple skins=higher antioxidants, so don’t peel them if you can help it. They are in the middle of the moist-flaky scale, so are very versatile as boilers, bakers, and fryers.
Parsley: “What the heck do we do with all the parsley you give us?” you may wonder. Here is a new idea. Chimichurri. It is a staple condiment in Argentinian cooking. It is basically a parsley based pesto with red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic, lots of olive oil and some other stuff. I know I’m not talking it up that well, but trust me, it is amazing! Below are just 3 of the many recipes I sifted through online. Some include cilantro, which I especially enjoyed. It is good on steak, tacos, sandwiches, and so much more.
chimichurri recipes:
version 1
version 2
version 3– with cilantro
Google chimichurri and you could get lost for hours comparing recipes.
Beans & corn: We are between plantings of both so you will see them again. Fear not.
Peppers: We planted a lot of red and orange bullhorn sweet peppers this year, and even with all the heat we’ve had they are taking an obnoxiously long time to ripen. The plants are loaded, though, so hopefully we will all reap the bounty soon.

Pickling Cukes and Basil: We have a lot of both all of a sudden, so if you want some, let me know and I’ll leave it with your CSA or bring it to the Olympia or Proctor Farmers Market. If you have placed an order earlier and haven’t heard from me yet, please reach out again. Sometimes my little scraps of paper go missing. I think I take on just a little too much this time of year!

Enjoy your veggies!

Jen, Jim, and Crew