We will be closed for the holiday on Saturday, July 4th, but the CSA will be open instead on Friday, July 3rd during our regular hours (11am - 6pm).
This week is going to be a tough one for us because of the heat. We usually have one or two days per season when we send crew home early because of the extreme temperatures, but we don’t usually have 3 days in a row of this type of heat! We’ll adjust activities as best we can to keep everyone safe and minimize crop loss. That means no pounding tomato trellising posts and definitely no high tunnel projects from Wednesday onward.
Hot and dry conditions are perfect for killing weeds, so after we finish harvesting in the morning, we’ll work on hand weeding and tractor cultivation. Even though these are some of the less strenuous tasks we can do, we still want to minimize the amount of time we’re in direct sun during the afternoon, so afternoons will consist of washing bins and seeding plant starts in the shade. We do still need to water the greenhouses and run irrigation in the heat of the day, but we’ll keep those tasks as truncated as possible and have extra popsicle breaks!
In the past, we have sometimes closed the farm stand during extreme heat, in part because leafy greens wilt quickly. However, thanks to a display fridge that we got though an Economic Vitality grant from the Town last year, we are now able to keep greens fresh on hot days in the farm stand. We don’t have a big enough fridge to do that in the CSA distribution area, so we won’t have really tender greens like arugula this week (we can’t keep arugula from wilting when it’s 80 degrees, let alone 100!). Slightly crisper greens like salanova and kale should fare a little better, but we may try out pre-bagging greens if we’re having trouble.
This week’s recipes are all either no stove or minimal stove usage required!
In the CSA this week:
Summer squash - First of the season!
Zucchini - First of the season!
Cucumbers - Grown in our high tunnel.
Carrots - We’ll have orange or purple this week.
Beets
Garlic scapes - These are essentially the flower stalks of garlic plants. We snap them off to force more growing energy into the bulbs, but they are also edible and can be used much like regular garlic (it’s just a milder flavor).
Scallions - The high tunnel-grown scallions have been cleared out, so these ones will come mostly from the field.
Fennel - From the high tunnel and later in the week, the field.
Cabbage - This week we will have savoy, arrowhead (also known by the name of the variety we grow, which is called Caraflex), and regular round green cabbage.
Mini daikon radish
Chard
Curly kale
Lettuce - red leaf and panisse (oakleaf)
Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer.
CSA Pick-Your-Own:
Herbs: Basil, Thai basil, dill flowers, parsley, sage, mint, thyme
In the farm store:
Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA, we will have:
Cherry tomatoes - From the high tunnel. Limited, but production is picking up
Thin skinned cucumbers
Broccolini- A good supply starting Tuesday!
Arugula - It’s really tender, so look for it in the display fridge.
Flowers - We will have both snapdragon and mixed variety bouquets all week.
Salsa Verde - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro. Mild.
Hot Sauce - Made by Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provision from our own organic habañeros, aji rico, fresno, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and garlic. Hot.
Seasonal Medley Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.
Shiitake Mushrooms - From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.
Dried Mushrooms - 1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms from Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.
Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.
Maple syrup - 12 oz. bottles from our friend Jim at Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, MA. Not Organic.
Raspberry Vinegar Infusion -Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.
Herb seedlings - basil, parsley, and oregano
Zucchini Carpaccio
Recipe from Letizia Mattiacci, adapted by Julia Moskin for NY Times Cooking
Ingredients
2 medium zucchini
Salt
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
2 to 3 tablespoons fruity olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or chopped almonds, and/or chopped fresh herbs
1 teaspoon raw honey, 1 tablespoon raisins or fresh Parmesan shavings (optional)
Preparation
Slice zucchini lengthwise with a mandoline or chef’s knife as thinly as you can, and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place in a colander for 30 minutes to remove the excess moisture, tossing occasionally.
Dry on paper towels and arrange the zucchini in layers in a shallow serving dish, adding slices of garlic between the layers. Drizzle with lemon juice and marinate, refrigerated, for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. If you have more than 2 layers, you may need to turn the zucchini upside down every 15 minutes to coat them evenly with the lemon juice.
To serve, arrange a few slices of zucchini on each plate. (Remove and discard garlic slices as you go.) Drizzle with olive oil and top with nuts and/or herbs. If you wish, add a few drops of runny honey, a few raisins or some Parmesan shavings.
White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip
by Melissa Clark, NY Times Cooking
We’ve shared this recipe many times! It is a perfect dip for the carrots and cukes we’re enjoying this week, and does not require turning on the stove! We found that where it says “more to taste”, we definitely prefer it with more! (We also add more garlic scapes than suggested).
Ingredients
⅓ cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
Preparation
In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.
With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.
Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.
Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
adapted from Cookie + Kate
Ingredients
Spring Rolls
2 ounces rice vermicelli or maifun brown rice noodles
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup torn butter lettuce, ribs removed
1 cup very thinly sliced cabbage
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks or sliced into strips with a julienne peeler
2 Persian (mini) cucumbers or 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced or sliced into strips with a julienne peeler
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup roughly chopped Thai basil
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh mint
8 sheets rice paper (spring roll wrappers)
Peanut Sauce
⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed
Instructions
To make the spring rolls: Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles just until al dente, according to package directions. Drain, rinse them under cool water, and return them to the pot. Off the heat, toss the noodles with the sesame oil and salt, and set aside. Fill a shallow pan (a pie pan or 9″ round cake pan works great) with an inch of water. Fold a lint-free tea towel in half and place it next to the dish. Make sure your prepared fillings are within reach. Combine the green onion, cilantro and mint in a small bowl, and stir.
Place one rice paper in the water and let it rest for about 20 seconds, give or take. You’ll learn to go by feel here—wait until the sheet is pliable but not super floppy. Carefully lay it flat on the towel.
Leaving about 1 inch of open rice paper around the edges, cover the lower third of the paper with a few pieces of butter lettuce, followed by a small handful of rice noodles, some cabbage, and a few strips of carrot, cucumber. Sprinkle generously with the herb mix.
Fold the lower edge up over the fillings, rolling upward just until the filling is compactly enclosed. Fold over the short sides like you would to make a burrito. Lastly, roll it up. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
To make the peanut sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, tamari, honey, sesame oil, and garlic. Whisk in 2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed to make a super creamy but dip-able sauce.
Serve the spring rolls with peanut sauce on the side. You can serve them whole, or sliced in half on the diagonal with a sharp chef’s knife.