Still life with melon...
At the peak of melon season - where here on the farm we eat blemished melons at all three meals during the day - it is easy to see why open ripe melons are somewhere on the table in so many famous Baroque still life paintings. Look at this gorgeous musk melon! I am stunned every time I cut one open. Of course, there is also the smell that bursts from the cut melon, and the sticky sweet juice running down the board - and then we eat. Yummmmmm......
Still life with melons!
Of course, melons are pretty gorgeous sitting out in the field before we take them in, too. Summer harvests are a bit grueling - heavy buckets of melons and tomatoes and cukes that have to be brought in daily - but so satisfying in their intensity and beauty that they quite make you forget the effort. And there is always an amazing meal waiting to be assembled with minimal cooking!
Still life with Deathstar!
I just couldn't resist. All of the melons we picked and packed this week are at the peak of ripeness. We don't pick them before they are ready and let them ripen in refrigeration, the way grocery store suppliers have to, since we don't ship. Instead we pick them at "full slip" - the day they are ripe enough to come away from the vine with the just the slightest pressure. Like our vine-ripened tomatoes, such melons are rarely sampled unless you grow them yourself. Like eating a piece of the sun! Read about "The Miracle of the Full Slip" here.
And now for the rest of the story! Here's what's In The Box:
And now for the rest of the story! Here's what's In The Box:
Basil – A great week for basil - enjoy pretty Caprese salad with several colors of heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and thin snips of basil leaves. Spray with a light spritz of olive oil and sprinkle with a high-quality vinegar. Coarse salt, pepper, a few slices of bread - a heavenly dinner on a hot night.
Raspberries – We could pick these twice a day and still miss some. The vines are LOADED and the berries are bursting with flavor. Doesn’t get fresher than this. My favorite are the golden ones. Eat soon, store in the fridge, and don't actually store sealed in the clamshell. They'll mold.
Wild Plums - We've never put these in the boxes before in all our 8 years of CSA growing. Sometimes our little plum grove produces nothing, other years it makes something. When we were lucky enough to get some fruits, we've just eaten them up ourselves! But we pruned the prickly little trees heavily last year, and this year the fruits are big and juicy and tart and terrific. Not sure you'd call them pretty - but we don't spray at all, even organically allowed pesticides and fungicides, so they are rather rough. If you don't like the tartness of the skin, you can slip it off, but I think it's the best part!
Melon! – Lovely green-fleshed muskmelons or orange canteloupes for you this week. They are perfectly ripe, brought in from the field on the day they were ready to slip from the vine! A drippy, sweet treat.
Tomatoes! – This could be peak week for tomatoes – you’ve got a TON in these heavy boxes. Remember – color doesn’t count! We’ve got tomatoes that’ll be ripe when green, when orange, when purple, when pink and when red, so go by feel. And the cherries - wow! Mostly Sun Golds, these are sweet and juicy. Check out the wonderful recipe for Tomato Jam given to us by a lovely bed and breakfast guest this week. BTW - don't store your cherry tomatoes closed in the clamshell. They'll mold from all the moisture of their respiration. Dump into a pretty bowl and enjoy nibbling right off the counter!
Tomatillos – Some years I don’t grow these and some years I do. If you’ve ever grown them, you know they are just such a pain to harvest! They grow in little paper bags, so you can’t see how big they are and you have to feel them to find out if they are full in the bag, which is when they are ready. Often, they fall from the plant RIGHT as they ripen. Frustrating, but SOOO YUMMY. I must say I am glad I grew them this year. We’ve been roasting them and making salsa verde with the lovely big scallions and Hungarian hot wax peppers. We wish we had cilantro in the field, but we are buying it, just like you! The hot dry weather last week sent them all into bolting. Check the Farmer Kriss Pinterest page for recipes.
Herbs: Thyme and Chives - We've been getting lots of requests for MORE CHIVES PLEASE, so here they are. And by the way - just ask if you'd like some plants of your own. We've got more than we need and we are moving our perennial herbs this fall. There will be lots of chives for the taking! Thyme is a necessity in tomato and eggplant season.
Cucumbers – It has been a great year here for cukes! You've got mostly the Lemon Yellow variety - which are getting so pretty with their fall colors!
Peppers – Not a lot of ripe color yet, but lots of lovely greens. Tiny peppers are FIRE-Y hot.
Eggplant – Dice and enjoy sautéed with squash and pepper. Don’t peel! At this size they are not bitter skinned.
Brussels Sprout Tops - We top the Brussels sprouts now so the plants will put energy in to sprouts on the side and not into getting taller. These are like little niblets of sprouts - in cabbage leaf form. Sautee in bacon for a ridiculous treat!
Aronia Berries - Yay! These are a wonderful, nutritious, native berry that is being grown by our close neighbors at Barham Gardens in Blanchardville. Kim and Roberta have been nurturing these pretty bushes on their place for several years and now they are selling them at the Dane County Farmer's Market, at HyVee and other Madison locations. And you've got some, too! They aren't really to be eaten raw, but cooked into muffins, desserts, chocolate treats and breads, they are delicious. Like rhubarb, they play well with other fruits. I've been making Aronia goat cheese - you can get it this week at the Argyle Farmer's Market, and I'll have more berries there, too. Oh, and Aronia muffins and scones for sure! We've put some great ideas for you up on the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page, but also we've got an easy Aronia Lime Jam over at the Recipe Blog.
Onions – Lovely mix of shallots and yellow sweet onions, some squat cippollinis. We had trouble curing our onions after harvest this year - bad timing with rains and intense humidity - so many of these are already trying to re-sprout. We are storing them in the fridge to inhibit sprouting, and you should, too. Use within a few weeks - before the next box!
New Potatoes: Peter Wilcox and Red Norland - Both of these are colored on the outside and white or cream on the inside. Great salad potatoes, wonderful for frying into breakfast hashbrowns. Both varieties are bigger and beefier than the last time we dug and packed, but the skins are still soft, so scrub gently, skip the peeling, and enjoy the extra vitamins!
Raspberries – We could pick these twice a day and still miss some. The vines are LOADED and the berries are bursting with flavor. Doesn’t get fresher than this. My favorite are the golden ones. Eat soon, store in the fridge, and don't actually store sealed in the clamshell. They'll mold.
Wild Plums - We've never put these in the boxes before in all our 8 years of CSA growing. Sometimes our little plum grove produces nothing, other years it makes something. When we were lucky enough to get some fruits, we've just eaten them up ourselves! But we pruned the prickly little trees heavily last year, and this year the fruits are big and juicy and tart and terrific. Not sure you'd call them pretty - but we don't spray at all, even organically allowed pesticides and fungicides, so they are rather rough. If you don't like the tartness of the skin, you can slip it off, but I think it's the best part!
Melon! – Lovely green-fleshed muskmelons or orange canteloupes for you this week. They are perfectly ripe, brought in from the field on the day they were ready to slip from the vine! A drippy, sweet treat.
Tomatoes! – This could be peak week for tomatoes – you’ve got a TON in these heavy boxes. Remember – color doesn’t count! We’ve got tomatoes that’ll be ripe when green, when orange, when purple, when pink and when red, so go by feel. And the cherries - wow! Mostly Sun Golds, these are sweet and juicy. Check out the wonderful recipe for Tomato Jam given to us by a lovely bed and breakfast guest this week. BTW - don't store your cherry tomatoes closed in the clamshell. They'll mold from all the moisture of their respiration. Dump into a pretty bowl and enjoy nibbling right off the counter!
Tomatillos – Some years I don’t grow these and some years I do. If you’ve ever grown them, you know they are just such a pain to harvest! They grow in little paper bags, so you can’t see how big they are and you have to feel them to find out if they are full in the bag, which is when they are ready. Often, they fall from the plant RIGHT as they ripen. Frustrating, but SOOO YUMMY. I must say I am glad I grew them this year. We’ve been roasting them and making salsa verde with the lovely big scallions and Hungarian hot wax peppers. We wish we had cilantro in the field, but we are buying it, just like you! The hot dry weather last week sent them all into bolting. Check the Farmer Kriss Pinterest page for recipes.
Herbs: Thyme and Chives - We've been getting lots of requests for MORE CHIVES PLEASE, so here they are. And by the way - just ask if you'd like some plants of your own. We've got more than we need and we are moving our perennial herbs this fall. There will be lots of chives for the taking! Thyme is a necessity in tomato and eggplant season.
Cucumbers – It has been a great year here for cukes! You've got mostly the Lemon Yellow variety - which are getting so pretty with their fall colors!
Peppers – Not a lot of ripe color yet, but lots of lovely greens. Tiny peppers are FIRE-Y hot.
Eggplant – Dice and enjoy sautéed with squash and pepper. Don’t peel! At this size they are not bitter skinned.
Brussels Sprout Tops - We top the Brussels sprouts now so the plants will put energy in to sprouts on the side and not into getting taller. These are like little niblets of sprouts - in cabbage leaf form. Sautee in bacon for a ridiculous treat!
Aronia Berries - Yay! These are a wonderful, nutritious, native berry that is being grown by our close neighbors at Barham Gardens in Blanchardville. Kim and Roberta have been nurturing these pretty bushes on their place for several years and now they are selling them at the Dane County Farmer's Market, at HyVee and other Madison locations. And you've got some, too! They aren't really to be eaten raw, but cooked into muffins, desserts, chocolate treats and breads, they are delicious. Like rhubarb, they play well with other fruits. I've been making Aronia goat cheese - you can get it this week at the Argyle Farmer's Market, and I'll have more berries there, too. Oh, and Aronia muffins and scones for sure! We've put some great ideas for you up on the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page, but also we've got an easy Aronia Lime Jam over at the Recipe Blog.
Onions – Lovely mix of shallots and yellow sweet onions, some squat cippollinis. We had trouble curing our onions after harvest this year - bad timing with rains and intense humidity - so many of these are already trying to re-sprout. We are storing them in the fridge to inhibit sprouting, and you should, too. Use within a few weeks - before the next box!
New Potatoes: Peter Wilcox and Red Norland - Both of these are colored on the outside and white or cream on the inside. Great salad potatoes, wonderful for frying into breakfast hashbrowns. Both varieties are bigger and beefier than the last time we dug and packed, but the skins are still soft, so scrub gently, skip the peeling, and enjoy the extra vitamins!
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