In Your Box:

• Basil
• Beans
• Broccolini
• Cherry tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Head lettuce
• Sweet or green onions
• Summer squash
• Tomatoes

Farm News

We made it to August! Some years there is a magical quality to flipping the calendar, as it seems to erase the heat and humidity, deerflies, and uncomfortable nights of July. This August is off to a great start, with abundant rain falling last Friday and a welcome break to the heat of the past few weeks. 

Just a reminder: Next week is our family vacation. We are off to northwest Minnesota, staying at Maplewood State Park and then crossing into North Dakota for a couple nights at a state park. Thanks for your support and understanding as we take a break from the farm and enjoy some relaxing time as a family. There will be no CSA delivery on August 11 or 13. That marks the halfway point in the harvest year, and we’ll resume with weekly deliveries until MEA break in mid October.

This week’s box

We have finally reached the end of our eternal planting of very large scallions! We’ll still have onions nearly every week of the season, but the rest of the way they’ll be bulbing onions. We start with sweet onions, which are best kept in the fridge and only store for 7-10 days. If the greens aren’t too wilted, they can be eaten as well.

Our eggplants are producing nicely, bringing in a strong early harvest. We don’t grow a lot of eggplant, since it has a very mixed reception with CSA members, but even our small planting looks very vigorous this year. Our go-to recipe with eggplant is ratatouille (see below), usually paired with corn bread. Other ideas for using eggplant:

• Bake it: Pierce eggplant all over with a fork and bake at 400° until flesh is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Flesh can be pureed.
• Stuff it: Bake 20 minutes, scoop out seeds, replace with stuffing, and return to oven for 15 minutes.
• Sauté it: Try dipping slices or chunks in flour or eggs and bread crumbs before sautéing. Sauté in hot oil until light brown. Season with herbs, garlic, grated cheese, etc.
• Steam it: Whole eggplant will steam in an inch of water in 15-30 minutes. Use the flesh for pulp or season with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper, or cover in tomato sauce.
• Grill it: Chop into slices along with other veggies (especially peppers and squash), skewer and grill.
• Fry it: Dip in your batter of choice and lightly fry in vegetable oil.

Ratatouille

• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• a 3/4-pound eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 small zucchini, scrubbed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into thin slices
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3/4 pound small ripe tomatoes, chopped coarse (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat it over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking.
2. Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened. Stir in the zucchini and the bell pepper and cook the mixture over the moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well.
3. The ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving.

Coming up

After our vacation, we are expecting sweet onions, cabbage, head lettuce, broccolini, summer squash, beans, garlic, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and carrots.