[CSA Update] Welcome to week 6

August around our farm is filled with fields bursting at the seams, yards constantly in desperate need of mowing, simple dinners that avoid the heat in the kitchen, great temperatures (but wicked humidity), and those spurts of rain for which we are all grateful.

Iced coffee and tea are always brewing, batch cooking, air frying, and grilling are the main ways we're cooking these days, and lots of cold salads with fresh-picked produce are on the lunch and dinner tables daily.

Ever wonder how grandma made sun brewed ice tea? Using that tall glass pitcher with a spigot on the bottom - fill it with water. Add a couple of your favorite tea bags, using their strings to anchor them under the lid or along the lip so you can pull them out later. Put a few drinking glasses in your freezer for later. Set out the tea in the warm sun in the morning. By the afternoon, the tea is dark, strong, and ready. Pour off a small amount into those frosted glasses, toss in a slice of lemon and a handful of fresh ice.

Did you grow up with air conditioning? Do you remember when the cool breeze was cool enough? As August temps are on the rise - there is that constant fear of a brownout as we hear the hum down the street of all the ACs running. Isn't your porch lonely?

Not every home is built to maximize shade and cross breeze, and the air conditioning makes a long workday slide away. But a cool shower, fresh clothes, and a comfy chair on the porch can work wonders. Bringing dinner outside, a sip of that sun tea, and a little less screen time does us all good. You might even get to wave at a neighbor or watch some wildlife.