Summer Squash season has officially begun! The plants looking amazing and with all this heat are already producing better than in past seasons! In past seasons we've usually only needed to pick them every other day to keep them from getting too big but this year we are needing to pick every day. Bigger isn't always better and we are picking all the Summer Squash at a size that has ultimate flavor without all the large seeds that need to be scooped up. Besides the recipes included in your emails, make sure to check out http://wabisabi-farm.net/recipes/index.htm for many great Summer Squash recipes sent to me from Share members over the years. Please also feel free to send me any of your favorite recipes to add to this!
Cucumbers are just getting started so this will be the first week they will start appearing in some shares. If you don't recieve any this week, rest assured there are tons of little ones on the vines already so they should be in abundance soon. In past Farm Happenings I discussed how the Spring weather (soooo much rain) put us behind. Normally we would be harvesting Cherry Tomatoes by now but like a lot of other crops, got planted late. I'm happy to report starting to see fruit forming and it should be just a couple of short weeks before they also start making an appearance in the Shares!
This week we are also harvesting Purslane for the Shares. Considered a "weed" by some, we consider it a very tasty and healthy summer green! Purslane vegetable has extremely high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly for a land vegetable, as well as significant amounts of fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, B-family vitamins, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, calcium, and copper. I discovered this green a couple few years ago when I had some amazing African refugees working at the Farm! It has an amazing crisp texture and a slightly citrus taste!
This upcoming week looks to be very hot! The Farm Crew has been great about starting much earlier in the day so we can avoid being out in the extreme heat. There is always a lot of work to get done, but I definitely don't want to jeopardize their health by working when it's above 100 degrees heat index!!! Please take care of yourselves to as this looks to be the hottest week we've had yet this season and it's easy to not recognize heat illness symptoms before it's too late, speaking from experience ; )!
Have a great week,
Farmer Ben and the Crew
