CSA Newsletter ~ Week 12

It has been hot and humid as we leave August and enter September!

Last week we got all out onions lifted, beds hoed and seeded down to oats, peas and clover.  We also started prepping other areas of the garden for next year.  We have hauled a lot of horse manure this weekend, Michael has harrowed the areas and we are just getting ready to seed it all down to oats and peas.

This week's box is a little taste of summer and fall all together.  We still have lots of summer vegetables but as we come into September we will start adding in more fall type veggies into you boxes.  

Over the next few weeks you will see tomatillos again as they have done really well in this cooler summer, sweet peppers, eggplant, tomatoes (this has been a best year to date for yield) and more cucumbers.  

Tomatoes 

Sweet Peppers

Eggplant

Celery

Lemon Cucumbers

Cucumbers - I was lucky enough a few years ago to be given the opportunity to work in South Korea and I totally fell in love with their food.  If you are feeling a bit bogged down by the cucumbers why not try this amazing salad.

Cucumber Namul - Koren Cooking by Young Jin Song

Cucumbers

Vegetable oil

spring onions finely chopped

1 garlic clove chopped

1 tsp of sesame oil

sesame seeds, and seeded and shredded red chili to garnish.

Cucumber Namul

Thinly slice your cucumber and place in a colander.  Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 10 minutes.  Drain off any excess liquid and transfer to a clean bowl.

Coat a pan with oil and heat over a medium heat. Add the spring onion, garlic and cucumber and quickly stir fry together

Remove from heat, add the sesame oil and toss lightly to blend the ingredients.  Place in a shallow serving dish and garnish with the sesame seeds and shredded chili before serving.

Leeks - Why not try a different take on the traditional leek and potato soup. We will over the remaining weeks, as we add leeks to your boxes, give you a few different ways to enjoy them but we thought we would start with the classic soup first! If you are not in the mood for soup then remember leeks can be sliced into 1cm chunks placed in a Ziploc bag without blanching and straight into the freezer to be used during winter.

Swede/Rutabaga - In England we call them Swede in North America it seems to be a Rutabaga. What ever it's name it is not waxed!! This did freak me out seeing these waxed in the store a few years ago! I think due to the cooler weather and rain they are huge!!!!!!!

Swede with onion and sage - Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

50g butter

1 swede, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes

1 large onion chopped

12 sage leaves finely shredded

sea salt and black pepper

Heat the butter in a wide pan over a medium heat,  Add the swede, onion, half the sage and some salt and pepper.  Stir well.  When the vegetables are sweating nicely, cover the pan and reduce the heat a little.  

Cook, stirring from time to time, for 40-45 minutes, until the swede is tender and the onion is sweet and caramelised.

Stir in the remaining shredded sage, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, and serve.

Watermelons - After this week we are hoping for at least one more week of watermelons. 

Beans

Potatoes - This week you have Estima.  We have given everyone 3lbs after having such a good yield.  We do not wash your potatoes as they keep longer if the dirt is left on them.  Potatoes can be stored in a cool dark place if you are not going to use them straight away.  Please remember they have not been cured so you will find you just need to wash the skins before using, you will not need to peel these potatoes.

Kohlrabi - This will be the one and only week of kohlrabi.  We are very sad about this.  For the fall seasoning we like to grow a storage variety and this year it seems to have struggled with all the rain.  It has split and with the continued rain that has sat in the slits it also rotted.  We have managed to salvage some. You may find them looking a little odd like the one in the picture but please do not be put off by it's ugliness, you will find plenty of juicy flesh inside these for eating. 

Onions - We are doing bags of onions from now on.  We won't be giving them out every week as you will be getting larger quantities in one go.

At both the farm and at pick up points you will have the additional options of help yourself hot chilies and also some lovely fresh sage.