Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, kohlrabi, onions, garlic, peppers, sweet corn, parsley, and basil.
Field Notes. The tsunami of tomatoes has crested; early varieties are about done. Later varieties are still going strong. It has been an interesting season – cooler nights meant later hot weather crops and heavy dew meant more work to prevent molds, fungus and blights.
Ken has moved up those seedlings pictured last week. Now they are in two inch soil blocks outside to harden off before he transplants them. He is clearing space in the next location for the mobile high tunnel for late season crops.
From the Kitchen Now is the time to decide to make and freeze or can tomatoes, sauce, salsa or make and freeze pesto. We recently went to a meeting in Madison and out host, a home gardener makes many things into a paste and freezes them for later use. She has pieces of frozen basil pesto, sauteed shallots, parsley pesto and more. She has large bags in a downstairs freezer and small chunks in the freezer by the stove for convenience. It works great for her.
Over Labor Day weekend, Ken’s mother’s family has a picnic. I sent off a tomato salad. I make the dressing in a large bowl: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thinly sliced basil and onions and or garlic. Rinse and core firm tomatoes, and cut into chunks and stir delicately into the dressing. A friend adds fresh Mozzarella cheese and that is tasty. It is a great summer take along as it does not need to be kept chilled.
‘Til Next Week, Judith and the Gang
