CSA Newsletter ~ Week 11

Weed free parsnip bed

We have had another mini heat wave along with more rain this last week.  Some things are loving the weather some things are not and we are dealing with a few things that we have not dealt with before due to the weather this year!

This newsletter is a note of caution for those of you who grow your own gardens!! More and more people are becoming more aware of wild parsnip.  We have had our own experience with this over eight years ago, Michael got burnt by this plant on his arms and legs so we have always been very cautions of it.  Now we are being more cautions of our parsnips for eating! A week Saturday I spent most of the day weeding our parsnips being very careful (but not careful enough) and within 24 hours I started to get blisters on my wrists. They had been caused by the parsnip sap (in conjunction with sunlight) when I had been placing my arms between the leaves to pull weeds! So for anyone who is weeding their own parsnips long sleeves and gloves are recommended!!

blisters caused by parsnip weeding!!

This week Vegetables:
Onions
Sweet peppers - Ina Garten's Spanish Tapas peppers
Tomatoes - 1 quart field and 1 quart cherry tomatoes. (Thank you to everyone who are returning their tubs please keep bringing them back!)
Eggplant - Roasted eggplant slices is a great base for any topping! Pre heat oven to 450. Slice the eggplant to about 1/4" then place on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Melt some coconut oil and brush onto the eggplant then roast in the oven till cooked. Crispy and golden if possible!!
Then top with what ever you like! Our favourite is sauteed onions, seasoned ground pork and then some cherry tomatoes to top it off!
Cucumbers - Cucumber soup
Celery - It is not the best celery we have grown but it is very juicy with all the rain we have had! If you are not a celery lover then just chop into chunks and place into a Ziploc bag in the freezer then you can just add it to winter soups and stews.
Lettuce
Beans - Roasted tomato nicoise salad
Beets - Beetroot gravadlax

Zucchini tacos, roasted pork hock, onions & tomatillo salsa.

Tomatillos - We are not going to have a bumper crop of these.  We know that most have forgotten the very late frost but that frost killed our first planting of tomatillos even though we covered them with two layers of fleece and kept the plants sheltered by the greenhouse.  We did a second seeding, the plants have grown but do not have a lot of fruit on them. 

If you are trying these for the first time they are a Mexican tomato and all you need to do is peel the paper husk from them.  They can be eaten raw or most like to roast them, saute them or make into salsa. Here is a link to 15 delicious ways to use tomatillos.

Watermelon - They are going to be watery for sure, but not sure how sweet they have become as when we compare the temperatures over the last few years we have not had as hot a summer as usual.

Zucchini - We hear the cheers as we say this might be the last week as the patch is really slowing down! Going to miss them if it is!

Help yourself to Hot Peppers.