Late July is the time when us farmers really start to feel the intensity of our work... the weeds are endless, the harvest is abundant and heavy, and our bodies begin to notice the fatigue of long, hot days-- but the reward is rich and well worth it! And so this week I am writing to you as a tired and grateful farmer with news of what is coming up this week!
We are still swimming in zucchini and cucumbers so more of those will be coming your way hope you can find new creative ways to enjoy these summer specials! This week we are also excited to offer bulk pickling cukes in case you are interested in whipping up a batch of crunchy fresh pickles (more on that below!) and flowering dill - which would go great in those pickles! We also have a small amount of eggplant coming on and some of our first hot peppers so we will be getting some of that out in this week's boxes!
Not sure what to do with so many veggies? Try pickling! It's such a fun way to diversify your veggie consumption and save the summer abundance for winter when your missing those cucumbers and beans.
Each season in the midst of summer craziness, I try to find time in the gaps to squeeze in some preservation so that come winter I can keep eating locally and buying seasonally. When time allows I find myself drying, jam-making, canning, freezing and fermenting.. and this season I've decided to focus my creative preserving efforts on lots of pickling! So far I've got some quick-pickled daikon and carrots in the fridge that I am loving and just got my first batch of fermented dill pickles going last night!
And as I made the carrot-daikon pickles I was thinking of you all, and I got curious how you might be using your daikon. And I thought to myself - these folks are pretty great, eating and sharing all sorts of new (perhaps sometimes strange) veggies and cooking in a flexible seasonal way!
In case you might be looking for more inspiration, I thought I would share with you a recipe for a basic pickling brine that I love that can work with whatever you've got. It comes from my favorite cookbook, Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden. I love this recipe because it invites space for creativity and flexibility with whatever you might have on hand - which is a great way to cook when you are practicing seasonal eating!
Basic Pickling Brine:
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups hot water
5 T sugar
1 T plus 1 tsp kosher salt
- Mix all ingredients in a pot or pitcher and stir until the sugar/salt dissolve. Pack clean jars with your vegetables and any seasonings you like such as garlic, herbs, dried chilies, strips of orange or lemon zest, black pepper corns, other whole spices... and then pour brine over the veggies. Store these pickles in the fridge and consume within 2 months.
note: Joshua recommends using the brine cold (or at room temp) with most veggies but for asparagus, brussels sprouts, fresh chillies and ramps he suggests heating the brine to a boil and pouring it over the veggies
One last note for you all is that I (Carly) will be sneaking a few days off this week for a family wedding. It's not easy to take a break in the summer, and so I am beyond thankful to our fantastic crew and my assistant manager Hannah who will be running the show for making it possible for me to be at this event! I just wanted to let you all know this so that you are aware there may be a delay in response on emails to any CSA related questions, but we will get back to you as quickly as possible and Hannah will be available to troubleshoot any CSA issues while I am away.
Cheers to you all for taking on the adventure of seasonal eating and inviting strange vegetables such as kohlrabi and daikon radish into your homes!
