2020 CSA Newsletter #12
Well, folks, it seems as the calendar is starting to turn to a new month, so is the weather beginning to change. And I am definitely not complaining. I gave up on the rain gauge back in July trying some reverse psychology on the weather but I think the rain that came last week was at least equivalent to what we’ve gotten all season. Who, knows? (Probably folks who are tracking this kinda stuff.) All I know is that myself, all the plants and even the weeds thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed it! In addition to all the precipitation, it was overcast, a bit cooler and breezy and that made for prime working conditions all over the farm.
I direct seeded some arugula and radishes right before the end of the CSA last Wednesday and they’ve germinated nicely. They should be ready around the month, if all goes as planned. A good chunk of time was also spent on the Carrot Liberation Operation, aka CLO. It was perfect weather to weed some of the fall carrots and they should respond great to the weeding and rain. The last big task that got completed last week was to prune some pepper plants. I’ve mentioned previously that we are experimenting with a new trellis system for our peppers and eggplant. Well, the bed of peppers that are growing in the greenhouse were getting so big and unruly that they were falling over. I decided to take off all the fruit and branches that were falling over, hence only the Corno di Toro in this week’s share.
Speaking of this week’s share, I am really excited about the baby(fresh) ginger this week. If you’ve never had it before, it’s quite different than what you find in the store. It’s got great flavor but is super tender. It goes really well in smoothies, salad dressings, stir fry and more. The ginger needs to be stored in a plastic bag in your fridge and has about a 7-10 shelf life. If you don’t think you’ll use it all with in that time, you can always stick it in the freezer. When we do that, we just grate off some when we need it and put it back in the freezer. The new potatoes are amazing, as well. My apologies for not putting in the newsletter last week that they should be kept in the fridge. I think I seriously got excited that I was finishing before the sun had set. (Look at me now, it’s 10:27 pm.) There will be a yellow skinned variety mixed in this week. These little babies wrapped in foil with some butter and spices and tossed on the grill are incredible. There’s also been a lot of slow cooked sliced potatoes with peppers, onions, garlic and spices in a cast iron pan in our house lately. Guess who’s back? Back again? The shishitos are back. I may have forgot to mention that about 1 in 10 are hot? According to my wife, I am not the best person to judge spiciness since my threshold is higher than normal. So, don’t panic if ya get a spicy one. And one more thing about my wife, she found a pesto recipe that came out of left field and was absolutely amazing. She had texted me earlier in the day asking for some basil for pesto for tonight’s dinner. When I came home for dinner she said she was going to try something different and make a brown butter pesto. I think I stopped listening at brown butter and kinda spaced out but it was delectable. We had it over some spaghetti, with fresh tomatoes, sauteed veggies and parmesan. I highly recommend.
Have a great week!