CSA Newsletter – Week 9 – August 16, 2017
Thank you for your patience last week while I was away. It was hard to leave for 4 days in the height of the summer. I was up until 1:00 AM making lists, printing forms, and making sure all the odds and ends I usually deal with were delegated as necessary. My dear grandmother of 89 years passed away and I traveled to Eastern WA with my mother, sister, and nephew to attend services and be with family. I am so very grateful to Jim and the crew for taking up the slack in my absence. I never once worried about things falling through the cracks. (I think they are happy to have me back, though.)
I am so happy to back on the west side where the temps are reasonable and the smoke is gone. It was brutal over there in Clarkson where it was 100+ degrees and smokey as all get-out. I am back to eating amazing food and reveling in the abundance that is August in the PNW.
The fields are bursting at the seams with all of our summer favorites. Everyone gets cherry and slicer tomatoes in their box, no rotation necessary. Beans are still cranking and summer squash is…well let’s just say we could probably feed all of Thurston County. Corn is very, very close. Alex and Isaac found 2 rogue ears Monday and Isaac was gracious enough to offer me his, which I ate on the spot. Jim and I walked through the patch last night before dinner and thought it should be ready for next week.
Jim pulling potato plants to see how they are sizing up.
POTATOES! We are growing 10 varieties of potatoes this year. Partly because we like to experiment, and partly because we were forced to experiment. When ordering seed potato this spring, we couldn’t get a hold of some of our standbys (yellow finn and Yukon gold) and so we are trialing a handful of others to fill the void. It is frustrating when the seed varieties fall out of fashion or when there are crop failures. For example, we had been growing Nelson carrot for nearly 20 years. It is the absolute BEST carrot for our soil (and taste buds). However, this year it was unavailable and we have been trialing different varieties. The problem is that by the time the first carrot planting ripens, we already have about 5 plantings in the ground. It’s too late if they are crappy. We were not too impressed with the first planting, but the flavor seems to be improving as the weather does. I think maybe the first ones were stressed and confused by crazy spring weather. I hope that we find something that will live up to Nelson’s high standards or Nelson comes back. We’ll see.
Back to potatoes…on Monday Jim and I pulled up plants of about 7 varieties to see how they were coming along. They all looked amazing. This week you will be getting red lasoda. I haven’t eaten them yet, but I hear they are good for potato salad, boiling, steaming, and frying.
Alex & Isaac proudly displaying several of our potato varieties.
CANNING QUANTITIES: Pickling cukes, beans, basil, & tomatoes.
Now is the time to squirrel away the summer goodness. Let me know if you want some extras for canning or freezing and I can leave your order at your pick up site. Refer to the canning page for pricing.
RECIPE IDEAS:
Jim has been making grilled zucchini, carrots, and potatoes at least 3 nights a week and we are never disappointed. He’ll cut the a fore mentioned veggies into planks roughly 1/4″ thick and toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and maybe a few drops of hot sauce. He will then grill them on the gas grill for about 5 minutes per side until they have reached the desired tenderness. We will eat as is or sprinkle Gorgonzola cheese on top. I am salivating just thinking about it. It makes a great side dish, esp if you already have the grill going for burgers or steak.
Enjoy!
Jen, Jim, & Crew