We finally had almost an inch of rain in the past few days, and the gardens are already looking better. The beets are doing well, and we have plenty on the order list this week. Beets are delicious boiled until tender, sprinkled with salt and pepper and then tossed with butter. Or grate raw beets and toss them with balsamic vinegar and orange zest for a great salad topping. Also see one of our favorite recipes below.
Our slicer cucumbers are producing like crazy! And they're not just for slicing; they're fine to use for pickles too. This week we're offering the smaller ones in quarts, as well as larger ones individually.
The tomatoes are slow this year (due to cold weather in early summer), but the cherry tomatoes are starting to produce, and we've had a few large tomatoes. (We had a problem with blossom end rot earlier because of the very dry weather.)
A new item this week is frozen chicken. These chickens spent their life on pasture at our farm, and are antibiotic-free. They are all about 3.8 pounds in weight.
Here is one of our favorite recipes for beets. It uses the greens too.
Basil Beets
4 medium beets, including greens
1 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut the leaves off the beets, leaving about 1 inch of stem. Reserve the leaves. Boil the beets until tender, then peel and cube them. Steam or boil the leaves in salted water until tender, up to 5 minutes. Set aside. In a pan, melt the butter and add the shredded basil. Then stir in the olive oil, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Simmer gently a minute or two. Arrange the beet leaves on a serving platter and spoon the beet cubes onto leaves. Drizzle the basil butter oil over all. Serves 4.
