I often experience a feeling of dissatisfaction when eating away from home. The idea of eating out for the sake of adventure or not making a mess in the kitchen or trying something new always proves to be less than climactic. Perhaps I have become a supreme food snob after so many years of living and eating on the farm that the bar has been set too high. I know what good food tastes like. I know quality oils, eggs and vegetables and can sniff out the inferior substitutes almost immediately when served a mediocre “meal”. I have learned, because food is my life, that the very best meals are made at home.
I feel both encouraged and disheartened at this realization. Encouraged because I am motivated to refine my skills every time I pull out my cutting board and knife. I am motivated to cook glamorous meals at home because I know that eating out will be both expensive and dis-satisfying. I live with harsh food critics (ages 3, 6 and 9) who will slink down in their chairs at a half-hearted attempt at dinner while pleasing them and watching them fill their bellies with nourishing, wholesome food fills my heart with gladness. My love and appreciation for delicious food fuels my desire to spend the maximum amount of time I can afford to be in the kitchen chopping and alchemizing mere vegetables and herbs into heavenly nutriment. I am disheartened to know that restaurant, or moreover supermarket stuffings of things that look like food wrapped in colorful and eye-appealing graphic designs, are really a result of marketing, profits and the death of creativity in our kitchens and homes.
Excellent restaurants do exist and I have been to a few of them. But we can’t all afford to dine at a James Beard Award winning restaurant as often as we might like. Quality is rare and exceptional. But I do believe that we belong here together in something of a curated group of foodies and locavores that appreciate quality more than most. I am tickled to image you all in your kitchens transforming your roots, flowers, tubers and shoots into sustenance for your family. I imagine you preparing food for the ones you love most or perhaps inviting your friends and neighbors over to share the bounty from the farm. The farm is the river and you are the tributaries.
Food has been shaping our cultures and communities for centuries. It has civilized and has transformed us from being creatures that eat raw and on the go into those that practice patience, self restraint, manners, and who share stories, ideas, dreams and feelings while gathered around a table. Food is shared at our weddings, baby showers, funerals, business meeting and nearly every social event imaginable. It is NOT just fuel for our bodies so we can keep doing our workouts, computer work and studies. It is undeniably the foundation from which we were built that forms culture in all the fertile crevices of this planet that host us.
I feel honored to be part of a system that produces, encourages, fosters and inspires a community of people who believe in the transcendence of the home-cooked meal. The home cooked meal puts power back in the hands of the family and the home rather than the packaged and exploited world of the commercial supermarket. I am warmed, comforted and inspired to know that you’re all out there chopping and sautéing and filling your homes with the smells, sounds and flavors of home made meals feeding your families and fine selves such wholesome food. Chop on!
Yellow Watermelon- These cute little melons are perfect for the CSA farm. They fit nicely into a CSA box with plenty of room for more veggies. They do have seeds and have a yellow flesh. Watermelons aren’t great keepers, so use it up!
Sweet Corn- 4-5 Another great sweet corn week! We are keeping the coons at bay with our fantastic four lines of electric fence that farmer Adam plugs in every night and manages daily! Yummy!
Eggplant- 1-2 The first harvest yielded nice sized eggplants. You may have received a standard eggplant that is round-ish and looks like a normal eggplant or you may have received an Asian eggplant that is long and slender. Asian eggplant varieties are slightly sweeter and generally have smaller seeds and cook up quicker. Eggplant isn’t a great keeper. It stores like zucchini which prefers a 50 degree storage temp. The fridge is a little too cold and the counter is a little too warm, so dust off your eggplant recipes and have fun!
Garlic- Does not need refrigeration. This garlic is not fully cured yet. When garlic is this fresh, you will notice that the membrane around the cloves is still very thick and not a thin dry layer yet. It may look and feel differently when you’re peeling your cloves for dinner.
Onion- One white onion for your everyday cooking needs!
Green Cabbage- We’re still not into our storage varieties of cabbage yet. This cabbage will keep for a bit and would be wonderful in your egg rolls, coleslaw, cabbage rolls, gratins or however you like to get it into your families bellies!
Cucumbers- 6-7 Cucumbers have hit their peak. We expect that cucumber harvest will begin to wane now. We will still have a few more weeks to offer cucumbers, but generally the quality and the quantity begin to go down at this point.
Zuccchini and Summer Squash- 2-3 squash per member. Zucchini and Summer Squash prefer the 50 degree storage temps. Have you made all of your favorite zucchini recipes yet? Fritters, zucchini bread, skewers on the grill? It may feel like they were going to last forever, but they aren’t! Production is waning and they will slowly taper off in a few weeks.
Carrots- 1 lb Gorgeous carrots that we have all been waiting for! Will keep in a plastic bag in the fridge, but I bet you won’t let them! More to come!
Celery- This is the final giving of celery for the season. We hope you enjoyed this absolutely lovely celery season! This is some of the nicest celery we have grown on our farm! We tried a new variety that we really found to do well on our farm! Maybe it was the rain this season, maybe our soil health or maybe the variety. But we’ll take it no matter what it was!
Collards- Greens to keep you getting creative in that kitchen of yours! Pairs well with bacon, but what doesn’t?!
Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper- This is the little banana pepper in your box. Technically the Hungarian Hox wax peppers are a hot pepper, but they are the most mild of all hot peppers. Occasionally you will get one that packs a little punch, they can vary in heat, but are a nice CSA box hot pepper that really isn’t all that hot.
Our farm puppy, Leche (7 months), sits in the driver seat of the pick up truck while we harvest celery;) I tried to tell him to go chase some rabbits, but he prefers the cushioned seat.
Collard Greens, Cornmeal and Sausage Soup (Sopa de Fuba)
Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole
