Week 10 newsletter: Welcome tomatoes!

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables: Lettuce (bagged), summer squash, red fingerling potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet onions, green peppers, hot peppers, parsley, green beans and a sunflower bouquet.

This newsletter includes a roundup of news from the farm as well as information and recipes. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the newsletter to find the section titled, “This week’s veggies and recipes.”

News from the farm

It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the 10th week of our 16-week summer CSA season. This weekend, we took a moment to compare how things are progressing this year with previous seasons. As we’ve mentioned many times before, we’re currently facing a severe drought. However, we’re also enjoying a very successful season. Carrots, in particular, have thrived this year thanks to Heather-Marie’s meticulous planning. Lettuce and lettuce mixes have also had a remarkable year. Looking ahead, there are many reasons for optimism.

We’re nearing the completion of our fingerling potato harvest. Following that, we’ll be harvesting Yukon Gold and russet potatoes. The onion crop is also showing fantastic growth. We’re harvesting the last of our sweet onions. They’ll be followed by yellow onions, red onions, leeks, and scallions in the weeks to come.

And, of course, the highlight of this week is the arrival of tomatoes. Several factors have delayed the tomato harvest this season, with the primary reason being cool nights that have slowed the ripening of our field tomatoes. The tomatoes in this week’s share come from our high tunnel and include varieties called enroza, estiva and gin fizz, which has a beautiful orange color and is lower in acidity than traditional tomatoes.

Two weeks ago, we harvested our garlic, and it looks fantastic. We’ve done an initial cleaning and preparation, and it’s curing in the barn. We have about 300 pounds of garlic. CSA summer share members will receive garlic in a couple of weeks, while fall share orders will receive a larger quantity. We’ll also be selling garlic to those who ordered bulk shares in advance; however, we anticipate being able to offer additional garlic available through our online store.

In the cabbage family, both red and green cabbage are looking splendid. We’re hopeful to include these in shares soon. We’ve also made additional plantings of broccoli and cauliflower. We’ve finally overcome some of the challenges that these plants faced early in the season and are very pleased that we’ve been able to provide all our members with cauliflower for two consecutive weeks.

This past weekend held special significance for us as we managed to get away for a quiet getaway to the Twin Cities to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. A year ago, our family and friends gathered at the farm for a truly special day. Heather-Marie and I couldn’t have envisioned all the wonderful things that we’ve been blessed with over the past five years together. Not only have we become a couple and a collaborative team running our own farm, but our vision of a farm with a community-centered focus has become a reality.

It’s truly incredible the variety of wonderful people who visit our farm each week. This week’s visitors included the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, who set up their easels at various spots around the farm to capture the landscape.

We’ve also had the opportunity to spend time with our families. While balancing family time with farm work presented challenges, the visits recharged us and reminded us of why we do this.

In these remaining weeks of the summer share, there will be some transitions. Our intern, Olivia, will soon be leaving to return to school and her other commitments. John will also be returning to his role as a professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Time to sign up for fall shares and bulk orders of garlic and other fall crops

This time of year also marks the beginning of our fall crops becoming available. Our field tomatoes are beginning ripen, allowing us to offer harvesting and preserving shares to those who ordered them. We’ll also be delivering potato shares and accepting orders for fall shares and garlic shares, to name a few of the items we sell in larger quantities. We’ll give our CSA members the first opportunity to access these offerings before opening them up to the general public.

If you are a CSA member and have not yet signed up for these extra items, contact us and we will share the link to the form with you.

Thank you for the feedback

We’re grateful to those who took the time to provide feedback on how the season has progressed thus far. As we noted, the earlier shares were smaller than we would have preferred, but we’re still very pleased with the quality. The feedback we received from all of you indicated that you felt the same way. Overall, many people expressed satisfaction with this season so far and praised the online store’s functionality.

Two remaining farm events

We’re appreciative of all of you who joined us this season, especially those who are new to our farm this year. We’re eagerly looking forward to the final two farm events of the season.

The first event is a floral arranging workshop that Heather-Marie and CSA member Kristina are organizing for August 26. Please note that the registration deadline for this workshop has been extended until Saturday. Simply email us if you are interested in attending.

Lastly, we’ll be hosting a CSA potluck on September 16. We hope that all of you can join us and bring a dish prepared using some of the vegetables from our farm.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Of course, for many, tomatoes and summer go hand in hand. This week, we can officially call it summer with the harvesting of the first tomatoes of the season. We’ve spent the week enjoying open-faced tomato sandwiches. We’ve also really been enjoying summer squash. We slice them and salt them and let them sit for a bit and then we have them raw in salads, with dips and just to munch on. The fingerling potatoes are tender and wonderful and don’t need to cook for long. John likes them best roasted and topped with a little butter and parsley.

Squash Ribbons with Tomatoes, Peanuts, Basil, Mint and Spicy Fish Sauce 

From Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden

• 4 firm zucchini or other summer squash
• Kosher salt
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup salted, roasted peanuts
• 1 bunch scallions sliced on a sharp angle

Spicy fish sauce

• ¼ cup seeded, minced hot chiles
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Sauce preparation

Stir ingredients together until sugar dissolves. This sauce is better if made the day before and will keep for a month.

Preparation

Use mandoline slicer or sharp knife to create long ribbons of squash. Toss with 1 teaspoon salt and put in a colander to drain for 30 minutes. Blot with towel to remove moisture and pile into large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss. Add more salt if needed. Finish with olive oil.

Loca-frittata

From PBS “L” is for Locavore, Joy Turnbull-Dunham

• Olive oil
• 1/4 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 2-1/2 pounds local veggies: summer squash, potatoes, onions, green peppers
• 4-8 oz mushrooms
• 1 T. fresh parsley
• 1 T. flax seed 
• 5-8 eggs, scrambled
• 1/3 cup milk or half & half
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I like cheddar, with a bit of Parmesan on top)
• 2 oz.tomatoes, chopped

1. Coarsely chop all of the vegetables.

2. In a cast iron skillet over medium – low heat, sauté the onions until the edges have browned. Add the garlic, broccoli, zucchini and carrots. Sauté for 10 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms, kale, basil, oregano, and flaxseed. Sauté for five minutes.

4. Add the spinach; sauté until wilted. Turn heat down to low.

5. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk or half & half, and the shredded cheese together. Pour into the skillet, over the vegetables. The eggs and milk will sink down and surround the veggies; the cheese will mostly stay on top. Let simmer on low about 15 minutes, (more time if you use more eggs). 

6. Place cut cherry tomatoes (& Parmesan cheese if you like) on top; broil for 5 minutes in oven until cheese has browned.

Makes 4+ good-sized servings;. Easy to expand for a bigger crowd: add more eggs and cheese; simmer a bit longer. Great for a hearty breakfast or brunch. We often have for dinner with sausage, soup, or good hearty bread.

Farmer Sandwiches

I’m not a big fan of mayonnaise but I LOVE these sandwiches and can easily eat two in one sitting!

• Bread of choice
• Sliced tomatoes
• Mayo (real, vegan, etc)
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Optional toppings: Pickled veggies, microgreens, lettuce, etc

Toast bread.  Slather mayo on one slice.  Layer tomato slices on top of mayo.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil..  Top with other piece of toast, or eat as an open-faced sandwich.  Add optional toppings or eat as is.  Delicious!