In your box

• Basil
• Beans
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Head Lettuce
• Summer squash
• Sweet Onion
• Tomatoes

Farm News

Thanks so much to the Hillman, Maddy, Ramos, and Free families for their help with onion picking last weekend! We had a great group and we made quick work of bringing in the onions and cleaning off the dried garlic. Thanks again for your help!

We still have one more farm day planned, with an open house and picnic coming in late September. We’ll give more details in a couple weeks.

This week’s box

I HAVE GROWN CAULIFLOWER! This is the one crop that has eluded me for the whole of my farming career. I’ve grown it successfully for a harvest in early November, when it’s not much good for our CSA. I’ve planted it too early and had it frozen off in spring. I’ve had whole years where it grows large plants that never produce heads. Last year I came close, with enough cauliflower for the full shares despite rabbits eating three-quarters of our baby seedlings. But this year, I HAVE DONE IT. I only hope you enjoy eating it as much as I’ve enjoyed overcoming all of the obstacles in my way to successfully grow it. Some people said it couldn’t be done. Others said that they don’t even like cauliflower. I heard rumors that I was getting too old to reach success with a new crop. But I have proved all the critics wrong and now I have a poem:

“Haters gonna hate.

But there’s cauliflower on your plate.”

Cauliflower is my favorite vegetable, and it’s been in high demand the past few years with new uses in gluten-free pizza crust and riced cauliflower dishes. I think it’s best roasted in olive oil in the oven, but it’s also great cooked with garbanzo beans and rice. Cauliflower should be stored in a bag or the drawer in a fridge and is best when used in 4-7 days. For best flavor, don’t chop it up until you’re ready to use it.

At this point in the season I’m afraid I’m giving up on cucumbers this year. They sustained too much damage from cucumber beetles back in June, and the drought stress prevented them from bouncing back. Next year I’ll try covering them with netting until the plants start to flower to keep any pests off the fragile plants. Speaking of cucumber beetles, they have now decided to move onto our green bean plants. I’ve never seen this before, but they are gnawing on the small beans and causing minor damage to some of the beans. I tried to toss the most damaged ones but I certainly can’t inspect each bean. If you do see any markings on the bean, it’s purely cosmetic and the beetles don’t actually get into the bean itself. They are fine to eat as is. But still not as delicious as cauliflower!

Vegetable Pilaf

From Vegetarian: The Best Ever Recipe Collection, by Linda Fraser

Ingredients:

• 1 c. basmati rice
• 2 tb. Oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 4 cloves
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 carrots, finely diced
• 1 c. mixed frozen veggies or chopped green beans
• ¼ c. cashew nuts
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash the rice in several changes of cold water. Put in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the cumin seeds for 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, cardamom and cloves and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until softened and lightly browned.
4. Stir in the carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes.
5. Drain the rice and add to the pan together with the frozen veggies or beans and cashew nuts. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add 2 cups water, ground cumin and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat, until all the water is absorbed. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6

Coming up

Next week we are expecting cherry tomatoes, beans, red onion, beets, head lettuce, kohlrabi, summer squash, sweet pepper, garlic and tomatoes.