Greetings Farm Fans -
We are fully involved with the time of year that I like to call "Squash-ageddon!" Lattins is absolutely swimming through a deluge of summer squash! It's truly a good thing that squash is such a versatile ingredient! You can grill it, saute it, roast it, puree it, bake with it, and eat it raw! Please, help a farmer out and add some summer squash to your box this week!!!
From the Bakery to your Kitchen
The master bakers at Lattin Farms are whisking up some delicious CHOCOLATE breads this week. Our selections include Triple Chocolate, Chocolate Raspberry, and Chocolate Nut bread. Thanks to the abundance of summer squash, we are also offering zucchini, zucchini nut, and zucchini chocolate chip! Get one loaf - get six loaves... We won't judge!
Coffee of the Week
For the next two weeks, our featured Telegraph coffee is Guatemala el Regalito Medium Roast. Arturo Villatoro’s family has produced coffee for generations. From a young age, Arturo watched and worked alongside his grandfather (Pedro), and then his father (Jacinto), on their farm in La Libertad Huehuetenango. This deep exposure to the full growing process provided Arturo with insight into the art of coffee production and fueled the enthusiasm that still drives his desire to produce the ingredients of a fantastic cup today.
Having discovered his love for plantations and passion for growing great coffee at an early age, Arturo has since dedicated his life to producing quality beans. Arturo first acquired his own estate, El Regalito, with his wife and family 20 years ago. The farm lies in Aldea Hoja Blanca; 80km west of Huehuetenango, one of the key coffee-growing regions in Guatemala. Coffee is the only crop grown, with the other 120+ hectares remaining as forest. Arturo sees El Regalito as a blessing and believes that without God’s help he never would have been able to acquire the farm; hence the name El Regalito which translates as ‘The little gift’ in English.
El Regalito is self-sufficient with its own wet mill and mechanical dryer operated by Arturo’s family. Coffee cherries are carefully picked according to quality and then separated by density using a siphon. This allows Arturo to remove any inferior, less dense beans from his harvest. The coffee is then fermented for 36 hours, before being washed and prepared for drying. The mechanical dryer allows Arturo to increase his output, with the first harvest between January and February being dried by the sun on patios, and the late harvest dried using the mechanical dryer.
Arturo takes great care of his farm and carries out regular maintenance. The trees he planted 20 years ago when he first arrived still stand today, with new crops planted in five-year intervals as the farm’s output expands.
Produce Update
We continue to have abundant supplies of high summer produce including: cantaloupe, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers. Additionally, Desert Farming Initiative is harvesting a mess of carrots of all shapes and sizes (including Nantes, YaYa and Purple varieties), as well as beets, kale, and their amazing Romaine lettuce.
As amazing as it might sound, it's time for our farmers to start thinking about the fall. Farmer Jaime has started a bunch of seeds for September maturity including mizuna, hakurei turnips, some fancy beets, and other leafy greens. Farmer Rick just told me that tomatillos have set but need another few weeks and yellow-skin melons (sun jewel, canary, and crenshaw) are just about ripe and ready for harvest.
We hope that you are enjoying the summer abundance!
Thank you for your support of Nevada Farmers!
Kelli
