Newsletter - June 25th

NICK’S FARM REPORT
Summer has sprung…
June 25, 2010

This week has been another crazy one for weather in Illinois! We hope that the storms left little damage at your homes when they came through. We were lucky to get only some heavy rains up at the farm. With the hot weather and the plentiful water, the traditional summer crops like zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes are well on their way to producing fruit – in fact, you will receive the first summer squash of the season in this week’s share. It is hard to believe that it is already time to begin harvesting these crops.

If you’ve ever grown squash in your own garden, you know that fruiting plants such as these have a tendency to be prolific. This is great for us farmers, and it also means that, come July, we begin to devote a lot of time to harvesting the fruits of our labors. It is especially important to pick these types of produce regularly, in order to ensure that we get them at the right stages of size and ripeness. I am consistently amazed by how quickly a tiny summer squash can turn into a big honker if it doesn’t get picked in time.

One of the investments in time that we make early in the season is trellising, staking, and tying tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. Not only does this help the plants to support the weight of the fruits they will bear, but it also allows us to harvest while walking up and down the rows, as opposed to bending down. We believe in working hard, but we also believe in working smart.
Finally, we wanted you all to know that we hope that our newsletters have been informative thus far. If there is anything that we can do to improve your CSA experience, please do let us know!

In the CSA Bag This Week:
Red and Gold Beets
Snap and snow peas
Lettuce Mix
Purple Kohlrabi
Tokyo Bekana and/or
Roquette Arugula
Summer Squash

Kohlrabi fans, new and old!
Kohlrabi received a lot of attention at the market last week. Many of our customers identified it as a crop grown long ago in victory and kitchen gardens. We also spread the good word about kohlrabi to many customers who were taken with its odd appearance. Tip of the week: kohlrabi can be marinated in oil, vinegar and herbs and grilled, as you would with summer squash!

Tips and Suggestions from our kitchen:

Look for two interesting new types of greens in your bag this week:

Tokyo Bekana
Tokyo bekana is a mustard with broad, leaf-hopper-green leaves and the mildest of mustard flavors. It does well as an addition to tossed salads, or sautéed as with other greens for one to two minutes.
Arugula
Arugula is a tiny green with a characteristic peppery flavor. Its leaves come in many shapes, some super fancy (like the Roquette in your share this week)! This week’s arugula is quite mild in taste and will appeal even to those who don’t usually care for it. It can be added to salads and sandwiches – we like bacon and arugula on toast!

And welcome summer squash to the share as well! Enjoy the first squash of the season with a mix of other veggies, in a stir fry or as part of a kebab on the grill (perhaps with some sliced kohlrabi!).

The red and gold beets are another favorite vegetable of ours. Red beets have the traditional earthy, sweet flavor, while gold beets are brighter in taste and slightly less sweet. As for the bulls blood beets from earlier in the season, the beet greens in your bag are delicious when sautéed.


Beet and Green Pea Salad

Trim leaves and roots from beets, and boil until tender. When cool, remove the beet skins (they should slip off easily). Slice or cube the beets. Trim the green peas, and cut the pods into bite-sized pieces. Combine the beets and peas and marinate with your favorite vinaigrette or other salad dressing for 2-3 hours or overnight. Serve the marinated vegetables over mixed salad greens along with sliced, hard-boiled eggs, if desired.