(pictured Hannah and Maya enjoying the first ripe honeydew)
The melons have officially arrived! This week we began the twice daily harvest of Melons - and started our new diet of eating a melon a day each. And there are A LOT of melons coming out of the field! This year we have three types of watermelons (yellow and pink flesh) and three types of muskmelons (a honeydew and two cantaloupes).
I am new to growing melons, but it is a crop that farmer Paul before me always grew and so I happily continued it, I think they are one of my new favorite things to grow! They are beautiful plants and fruit and the harvest is like a treasure hunt - you have to pull apart the 6 foot wide vining plants to uncover melons, and then deduce if it is ripe through a number of different tests such as smelling, knocking and feeling for the 'slip' of the melon off the vine. While its a heavy, physically tiring, and time sensitive harvest its also a lot of fun! And it only makes it more fun when you have to taste test and snack on juicy, sweet vine ripened melons all day long!
This week we will continue to have more tomatoes. We will also be offering a few bulk orders of our roma tomatoes for those interested in getting some tomato sauce canned or frozen, they are a small paste tomato that makes for great sauce! We will continue to have the summer favorites such as pole beans, eggplant, poblano peppers (more sweet peppers coming soon!), cucumber and zucchini, lots of flowers. This is probably one of the last weeks for pickling cukes so this week we will also be offering pickling kits - a bag of 8lbs pickling cukes, 1 large bunch of dill and 2 heads of garlic for just $20!
Alliums are also here! We will be offering fresh onions in your CSA share this week for the first time! The onions will not be cured so we recommend keeping in your fridge and using more quickly than the onions you are used to from the store. We are also continuing to sell bulk Red Russian garlic. This is local and organic garlic and it is full of flavor and a crucial thing to have in your pantry! Much of what we can find in the grocery store is imported from far away and the freshness cannot compare to this stuff. We are selling it for $15/lb.
This week with the Eggplant coming on so abundantly, I finally got to make my first round of one of my favorite summer dishes, eggplant puttanesca. So here is a recipe for a simple version that is fantastic over fresh pasta or polenta and uses many of the veggies that may be coming in your share.
Eggplant puttanesca:
Ingredients:
- 2 eggplant
- 2 quarts tomatoes chopped
- 1 red onion
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3T to 1/4 cup capers
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- basil
- olive oil, salt and pepper
- chili flakes
- oregano
1. First chop your onion and eggplant into medium sized chunks
2. heat oil in a large pot and toss in onion and eggplant. Cook until soft and slightly browned.
3. Add garlic and sauté another minute or two
4. Add 1 to 4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar to taste
5. Season with oregano, salt and pepper
6. Add your tomatoes, basil, olives and capers and simmer until reduced to your desired thickness
7. Serve over pasta or polenta
(Maya exhausted and elated from the melon harvest)
