Share 13 - week of Aug 25th
In the share this week:
1.5 lbs mixed tomatoes
1 lb Roma beans
1 lb mixed onions
1 head napa cabbage
1 bunch green onions
Mixed sweet peppers
1 bunch sweet basil
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
The end of August is proving to be quite a busy time (as it is most years). We've been working on getting the last fall plantings in - things like kohlrabi, turnips, radishes, bok choy, lots of lettuce, and mixed greens. These are crops that have shorter days to maturity than other fall crops like cabbage, kale, carrots and peas - which were already planted several weeks ago. The timing on fall plantings are much more critical than spring plantings. We are starting to lose daylight at a quicker pace these days, so these crops need a little longer to fully mature than spring planted veggies.
I've learned over the years that I'm always a bit anxious toward the end of August. We are doing great and meeting most of our dates, but I think I'll always be somewhat worried and channeling that energy into making sure it all gets done. The dry weather this week has been really helpful in getting some weeding done in addition to preparing more beds for planting. Fingers crossed it all goes well and we have some awesome fall crops to share with you all soon!
The share this week is lots of summer favorites plus some late summer napa cabbage! I love the mix of veggies in the shares this week and think they will be easy to use. This is the first time we've tried to do a planting of napa in this time slot. The heads grew really well with the wet summer we've had, but unfortunately they've been plagued lately by the many late summer pests. We've even had these covered with insect net while they've grown, but those buggers found their way around it. All that to say, that we are doing our best finding the best heads out in the field, but you will likely see some bug damage on your head this week. Hopefully you can just cut around that part (or just wash and cook with it - there is nothing unsafe about insect damage).
I'm thinking you could either make a yummy stir fry with your napa, sweet peppers and onions - or you could make a tasty Asian-type slaw like this:
The beans this week are the flat pod Roma style beans. One of our long time farm crew members, Carley, made some delicious sesame beans and peppers for our farm lunch this afternoon. Something simple like this recipe:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/87590/japanese-style-sesame-green-beans/
The tomatoes are still going strong, but definitely slowing down. You should still expect to see them in shares for at least a few more weeks. We've been doing a lot of simple pasta dishes these days with fresh tomatoes, basil, lots of olive oil and a good hard cheese. It's great to have those simple recipes to turn to when life gets busy!
Hope you all have a great week!