While the official first day of summer was a couple weeks ago now, the recent heat, decrease in rain, and incoming cucumber and summer squash harvest all make it feel like summer has now really arrived at the farm! We are relieved to have the longest day of the year behind us and with it the most challenging time for keeping up with the rapid weed growth. Last week we were able to hill the leeks, put down landscape fabric in-between tomato, sweet potato, and pepper pathways, trellis field tomatoes, and cultivate and hoe our winter squash, strawberries (for 2020!), and upcoming lettuce planting so the fields are looking good! However, there is still more weeding to do as well as an increased harvest list and the start of our every other day harvest of squash and cucumbers. When we aren’t harvesting this week we will finish up planting our fall brassicas, set up more irrigation, continue trellising tomatoes, put up a fence around the watermelon plants to protect them from coyotes, and of course continue to cultivate, weed and hoe our upcoming late summer and fall crops. Let’s hope we all also make it out for some evening swims as it’s going to be another hot week!
On another note, we are looking for an additional Saturday Shopkeeper to help on Saturdays thru October in our farm stand. If you know anyone who might be interested in working with us feel free to send them this link to the job description and have them get in touch with us directly to apply!
This week in the CSA:
Cucumbers - It must be summer!
Celery - Great for adding flavor for cooking! Our celery has a stronger flavor and is denser than store bought so it is best used in recipes rather than eaten as celery sticks.
Mini Cabbage - Green, purple and caraflex (cone shaped!) to choose from.
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Beets- We will have golden and chioggia beets to choose from this week.
Carrots
Collards
Kale
Swiss chard
Garlic Scapes
Fennel
Curly Kale - green and purple
Salanova
Lettuce
CSA Pick-your-own:
Sugar snap peas
Herbs: basil (pesto time!), cilantro, parsley, dill flowers, thai basil, chives, peppermint
Coming soon for pick-your-own in the next couple of weeks: beans and sunflowers!
The CSA is back to regular hours this week:
Tuesday and Thursday 11am-6pm
Saturday 9am-3pm
This week in the farm stand:
We will have all of the veggies listed in the CSA available in the farm store, as well as scallions, salad turnips, baby bok choy, and eggs from Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds.
Pick-Your-Own Flowers:
Picking begins this week for Flower CSA members. Check-in with the shopkeeper when you arrive for supplies and directions! We will also have flowers open to the public for picking (sold by the jar full) in future weeks when more varieties have begun to bloom. This week flowers available for picking include: snapdragons, rudbeckia, cosmos, bachelor button, statice and calendula.
Farm store and Flower picking hours:
Tuesday thru Friday 11am-6pm
Saturday 9am-3pm
Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Arugula, and Pistachios
from chowhound.com by Kim Laidlaw
Ingredients:
1/4 cup champagne or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds (about 4) medium beets (red, Chioggia, or golden, or a mix), tops removed and washed well
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups wild or baby arugula
1/3 cup toasted pistachios
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the beets in an 8-inch square baking dish and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish (about 1/3 cup). Drizzle the beets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until a knife can be easily inserted into the center of the beets, about 40 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes (for small beets start checking after 40 minutes; large beets may need even longer than 70 minutes).
To make the vinaigrette, in a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, shallot, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Let sit for 15 minutes, then whisk in the olive oil in a slow and steady stream; set aside.
When the beets are ready, carefully remove the foil and let them sit until cool enough to handle. Peel and the beets. Cut them into wedges, place them in a bowl, and drizzle them with a little vinaigrette. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Add the greens to a shallow serving bowl. Drizzle with a little vinaigrette and toss to coat. Top with the beets, pistachios and cheese. Serve.