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The food is delicious, the flowers are beautiful, the weeds are thriving, and it's HOT and WET. And it's WATERMELON TIME! We've had some staff members out for vacation, and I (Janet) have an injured hand, so that means we brought in our capable children to help out with the first 1,400 pounds of watermelons. This was the day of a HOT 5k race in the evening and the day before our four children's summer swim team champs meet, so this was no small request for us to make. The kids were helpful and cooperative and also carried out a not-surprising amount of squabbling and chucking of melons at each other. We filled our little mini-truck many times
Our Tomatoes are rolling now! (This is somewhat surprising given how much rain we've gotten and how humid it is, but we're harvesting a lot of tomatoes right now. Be forewarned, however -- the plants are likely to tank quickly with this much moisture around. But we can live in the moment and relish these delights now!)
On the harvest side, it's an especially delicious time of year. This season in particular we still have a lot of roots (Red and Gold Beets) for you to enjoy, and we STILL have greens! (Did you see that Kale harvest photo at the beginning of this email?? Staff member Jen knows how to bring in that goodness!) Add in all these botanical fruits and it makes for a delicious spread.
On the planting & weeding side of things, this rain has put us significantly behind schedule. Heads up that we may advertise a volunteer afternoon soon to help us get some hundreds of pounds of potatoes out of the ground!
We grow both Red Beets and Gold Beets and they are so fantastic right now. We have hundreds of them for you! They are so good roasted and served hot or cold. We like to roast or steam a big batch of them in advance and them have them ready and cold in the fridge to serve on top of salads at lunch time (or dinner!) with goat cheese and balsamic glaze. They are wildly delicious! And did you know they are so medicinal?? They make your arteries open up, increasing blood flow to your body. Athletes love beets before workouts or competitions for this reason. Dig in!
Suggestions for crops we're harvesting now include...
GOLDEN ZUCCHINI - These babies are so tasty and beautiful. Stuff with protein and cheese and herbs, or slice lengthwise and grill or roast with olive oil and sea salt...They taste almost like candy. You can also make a raw salad with the zucchini sliced in ribbons. (That recipe calls for green zucchini, but our golden variety is more delicious and more gorgeous. It also calls for Pine Nuts but we always sub nuts that fit better into our household budget!) See our whole collection of Summer Squash & Zucchini recipes on Pinterest here.
SWEET BULLHORN PEPPERS - The heroes of the second half of July and all of August are these Italian Bullhorn peppers. They are like bell peppers, but better! They grow better than bell peppers in organic conditions, and they taste better, too! Eat them raw, roast them, stuff them... the second photo below comes to us from Fine Creek Brewing. We're just starting to harvest these peppers this week, but we hope for abundant harvests from them soon. See our collection of Pepper recipes here.
EGGPLANTS - remember these beauties are best thought of as sponges. They soak up deliciousness that you put on them. We love them doused with olive oil, roasted, and sprinkled with sea salt. Roast at 400 F until their edges are a little crispy! See Eggplant recipe collection here.
SHISHITO PEPPERS - These are frying peppers. Saute them WHOLE (stems and everything!) in the oil of your choice until they blister, then sprinkle with sea salt. To eat: pick up a pepper by the stem, bite the pepper up to the stem and enjoy their amazing flavor. So, so good.
LUNCHBOX PEPPERS - These are snack size sweet peppers. We prefer to eat them raw, on their own, as a snack. But you can slice them on salads or stuff with cheese and roast.
Bread Share members: You just got a SEPARATE email to customize your bread share a few moments ago.
To Customize Your Share:
Each time you are scheduled to have a share, you'll receive an email from us 2 days prior. It should have subject line "Time to Customize Your Share." The software will create a default share for you (based on your indicated preferences and what we have available to harvest) and list those default contents in the email. The email also contains a link saying "Want to make changes to your share or add extras?" Click on that link to customize your share! Customization ends between 6 and 7 am on the day before your pick up day (depending on the time of year and thus how early we start harvesting). The cut off time is always specified in the email.
For Pick Up:
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (eggs, fermented vegetables, etc...See below for more info.)
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are in your email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.
EGGS: Steve Ault of Aults' Family Farm and Ring-a-Bell Farm in Pamplin offer their eggs for sale through us. Their chickens live on pasture and are fed supplemental non-gmo feed from Sunrise Farms. Their eggs are fabulous and we trust their farming practices completely. You can purchase their eggs in our self-serve FarmStand at our farm and you can order them through the Harvie system "Extras" when you customize your share.
We so deeply appreciate the opportunity to farm for you. Thank you for being the most important part of our farm! We love you!
With blessings on your meals ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Siera, Leah, Erica, Tait, Alisa, Jen, and the farm kids)
