The big accomplishment from this past week was completing our garlic harvest! The garlic harvest involves not only pulling all of our garlic out of the ground, but also bunching it and hanging it in the store so that it can cure. During the curing process, the garlic loses moisture and gains a stronger flavor. It takes a few weeks for the garlic to fully cure, but once the curing process is complete, it will be able to store longer through the fall and winter. Once it is cured, we will have some available in the CSA and store, but we will also keep a percentage of the garlic to plant in October so that we can have more next year!
Another big accomplishment this past week was opening the Pick-Your-Own flower garden. Currently, the garden is open to PYO Flower CSA members as well as the general public. If you are not a Flower CSA member but would like to pick flowers, we will provide you with a jar to hold your flowers and we'll also have scissors available to borrow. Right now we have lots of beautiful zinnias, snapdragons, bachelor's buttons, cosmos, rudbeckia, coneflower and much more!
In the CSA this week:
- Red Gold Potatoes - these have a similarly rich flavor to the Dark Red Norland potatoes that we've enjoyed for the past couple of weeks. They are great for roasting.
- Fresh Garlic - we have culled out some of the smaller heads and ones that won't cure well for fresh eating. They are a little milder than the cured garlic we'll have later on in the season.
- Fresh Onions - Ailsa Craig and Red Long of Tropea are still plentiful. Try caramelizing them or just put thin raw slices into your sandwich or on top of your burgers. They are milder and sweeter than cured storage onions.
- Cucumbers - both pickling and slicing cukes are abundant this week. Get ready to do some pickling! See the Japanese Pickled Cucumber Pickle recipe below for an idea of what to do!
- Summer Squash
- Zucchini
- Red Ace Beets
- Nelson Carrots
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Chard
- Arugula
- Red Russian Kale
CSA PYO:
- Cherry Tomatoes - the first taste of the season! There will be a small amount of Sungolds, Matt's Wild, Jasper and Grape tomatoes for picking
- Sunflowers - brighten up your home with a few stems!
- Green beans - we'll still be picking from the same planting this week. The next planting is almost ready.
- Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill and parsley
In the store:
In addition to the items listed above, we'll also have mustard greens, tat soi, purple carrots, Happy Rich broccolini, scallions, and some of the first eggplant of the season. Cherry tomatoes are just starting to get going, so we probably will have them in the store starting on Saturday. This past weekend we started offering Verrill Farm sweet corn, which we should have for several more weeks.
The recipes this week are all about cucumbers. One CSA member suggested this delicious sounding Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad from cook's Illustrated.
Tarator (Bulgarian cold cucumber yogurt soup)
Adapted from Nelka on May 15, 2003 on food.com
Lise lived in Bulgaria for 2 years and this is a classic summer dish. Simple but delicious!
- l lb cucumbers
- 1 lb plain yogurt
- 3 -4 garlic cloves
- 2 -3 tablespoons of crushed walnuts (optional)
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- olive oil
- salt
- about 1 cup water (to taste)
Cut the cucumbers into cubes and put them in a bowl. Beat the yogurt with a fork until it gets liquid and pour it over the cucumbers. Add the crushed garlic, the walnuts and the minced dill as well as salt and oil to taste. Add water to make the soup as liquid as you like. Put into the refrigerator to cool for about 2 hours. Serve cold.
Japanese Pickled Cucumber
By Sue Lau on May 21, 2002 on food.com
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons salt ( to sprinkle)
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Place cucumbers in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Rinse cucumbers under cold water to remove salt. Mix together rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over cucumbers.
Marinate cucumbers overnight in refrigerator in sealed container.