Week 9- Produce Box

The weather is a little cooler this week and much better for garden work. Summer is in full swing and we are spending about 2-3 hours daily in the garden. The kids decided not to grow sweet corn on their own this year but instead have partnered with Raymond, our farm manager who is growing it organically and has much more experience than they do. The kids have harvested the first of the corn this week. We haven't cooked any yet but will tonight. Apparently there is a raccoon that thinks it is good as it has been helping to harvest the corn during the night. The first of the cantaloupes is ready this week. Watermelons will probably be ready next week. Hardy, Alena and Jeffrey are still digging potatoes. John has tilled up their spring garden and they are planting the next round of beans and veggies.

Your box this week includes: red potatoes, yellow squash, large zucchini, blueberries, cantaloupe, collards, bell pepper, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, wax beans, corn, eggplant, red cabbage and dill.

Heirloom tomatoes and slicing tomatoes are just coming in. If you receive tomatoes that are not yet ripe enough to eat, simply put them into a paper bag and close it. They should finish ripening in a day or two. Heirlooms are very fragile and so we don't always wait until they are completely ripe to harvest as they tear easily and won't keep as well. Some of the Heirloom varieties are Mountain Spring, Mortgage Lifter, German Johnson, Sweet 100 (current), Mr. Wyche's Yellow. The Cherokee Purple aren't really ready yet.

The Ping Tung and Japanese eggplant that you are getting in your box this week are mild in flavor. Perfect for stir frys, and baba ghanoush. The wax beans string beans are great saute'ed together with the green beans or in a bean salad.

Here is a recipe for Callaloo, a traditional Caribbean dish using collard-type greens. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/island-inspired-seafood-gumbo-with-coconut-milk-recipe/index.html I haven't tried it yet, but think that I will this weekend.
Also, here is a recipe for fried collards. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/stir-fried-collard-greens-recipe/index.html I would maybe add some Essence of Emeril spice mix to it while cooking. They would go well with catfish and some Hoppin' John.

The zucchini that you are getting this week are big. I know that you might be getting sick of zucchini by now but they will be in your box a lot this summer. With these big zucchini you can stuff them or if you are sick of eating zucchini, I would just wash, don't peel, grate them and store about 1 or 2 cups in a freezer bag. They will be perfect for zucchini bread this fall and winter when the nuts are harvested. Kids always love zucchini bread.

Hope you are enjoying summer. We are.
The Rainbow Meadow Farms family