Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has salad and braising greens, beets, bok choy, green onions, celery, cukes and zucchini, snap peas, and green beans.
Field Notes. The hot weather crops are starting to produce! People are asking for them, but with the beautiful cool nights we have had they are a bit slower to ripen than most years. We usually have a couple red tomatoes by July 4th, but they are just starting to blush.
Ken returned from a two state bee meeting in the cities this weekend. He saw a huge honey producer and learned a great deal. It is difficult to leave the farm when there is much to do here, but he learned a lot and came back refreshed and ready to go.
Preparations are in full swing for the Farm Tour Sunday. This is your golden opportunity to learn more about how your food is grown, and ask Ken questions. I also make garden salads to show off the produce. Let us know if you plan to come so I know about how many people I am serving.
From the Kitchen. Cukes, beans, zucchini – summer is here. Both Ken and I love beans. We always eat the first lightly steamed and buttered. I also like beans steamed and served with umeboshi vinegar or paste and some sesame oil. Umeboshi is a Japanese pickled plum so the flavor is simultaneously salty, sweet and sour. It looks expensive in the natural food store, but a little goes a long way.
Ken really enjoys cucumb
er salad. He likes to run a fork down the length of the cucumber to make ridges in the skin- he finds it more digestible and attractive. Then he slices and salts – this is alters the chlorophyll and sweetens the cucumber. At this point he usually adds some onion – green or Walla Wallla and pepper. His preferred dressing is a combination of yogurt, mild vinegar and a bit of maple syrup.
‘Til Next Week, Judith and the gang
